I would have to assume that there are old-school hammer and anvil type blacksmiths out there who consider these Hebo machines “cheating”, but wow are they cool to watch, and certainly much faster. I wonder is the iron is heated before going in, or is manipulated cold?
Watch in awe as they “Twist, endforge, scroll, emboss, texture, hammer tube, make baskets, and press belly pickets, and much more. ”
via Gizmodo
This time lapse video of an overnight bridge demolition is surprisingly beautiful in its own way. The track excavators look like insects devouring a leaf. It was made with a Canon 5Dmk2. over 18+ hours and 4,000 images.
A Bridge Too Far from James Miller on Vimeo.
This video of a giant xylophone playing itself in the woods is really just a cell phone commercial, but the simplistic beauty makes me smile.
Just in time for the upcoming Pi Day (3/14), YouTube musician Michael John Blake has created a lovely song by interpreting the first 31 digits of pi into musical notes. While there is certainly a lot of creative input involved to get from pi to this song, the connection is still fun, and don’t forget to notice just how many different instruments this guy can play. Enjoy!
Very cute. And silly me trying to juggle with three oranges at once, and wasting time with all that ridiculous throwing-them-in-air nonsense…
Here is an amazing video of someone playing chicken with giant wind turbines with a RC plane with a pilot-view camera in it. Amazing stunt, which I am guessing the wind turbine company would not appreciate at all, though I wouldn’t think he would be capable of actually hurting one with his little plane. Some of the close misses made me gasp…
Playing Chicken with a Wind Turbine FPV from aaron_gx on Vimeo.
[Gizmodo]
Monty Python Royal Society for Putting Things on top of other things
This is a beautiful 1959 video explaining some basic distributed computing concepts which we take for granted today, but were a new idea then. Ramo is the R in TRW.
I love the pre-powerpoint presentation style.
Simon Ramo’s concept of “polymorphic” computing is laid out in stop-motion animation, accompanied by acoustic guitar.
The film anticipates parallel, distributed processing and the architecture of ARPANET and the Internet.
Hydro-Quebec and BCTC have developed an awesome power line inspection robot that can transverse energized high voltage power lines and perform inspections and even some minor repairs. It is capable of moving past obstacles, keeping track of locations with a GPS unit, and transmitting multiple video feeds (including infra-red) to ground based operators. Although not as sexy as those high flying power line cowboys deployed form helicopters, this sounds like a fantastically practical idea. Watch the video below for a bit more information, though I sure wish it had more robot details and less talking heads.
Watch this video of a slow moving performance artist exploding bananas on his face. Go ahead, watch it, you know you want to . . .
Found on [BoingBoing]
On September 21 activist groups around the world temporarily took over single parking places on city streets and converted them in to small public parks complete with grass, trees and benches. Many of the groups accomplished this feat using only human powered vehicles (bikes) to carry in supplies. They pay the meter for one hour and get to work, then everyone is invited to enjoy a little green space until the meter runs out. Then they pack up and are on their way. 47 parks in 13 cities. Whether you consider this a “protest”, public performance art, or just a random act of kindness, this is totally awesome! Things like this make the world a better place to live.
This cat likes to drink from a running sink. Nothing too unusual there. But he has an unusual way of getting the water to his mouth. No cat I have known would do this. Very funny video, thought it is really too long, you can get the whole idea in the first minute.
Number one: a doormat, named Mat
Number two, a wonderful visual pun that speaks for itself (original source unknown):
Number three: a hilarious 20 second video pun, Obama’s Elf:
Just makes me laugh, every time I see them.
Here is a nice tribute to bananas I came across on YouTube. Some cool, fun images here. Enjoy!
Here is a wonderful banana sighting from Japan. Dole has started an ad campaign there featuring a Bananaman who sprouts CGI bananas from his head and hands and even shoots bananas from his nose to cheer up sad women in the park. Bananas consumption has apparently surged in Japan with the popularity of “The Morning Banana Diet” and Dole has decided to capitalize on the trend with these bizarre commercials. Hey maybe this guy should try to get a job at Dole? Enjoy the Banana filled goodness below.
I was a little skeptical at first, but after watching it I couldn’t describe it any better than my brother did when he sent me the link:
“Ah, Sheesh . . . I laughed, I cried . .. its the feel-good hit of the year . . . if you’re a sucker for schmaltz . . . you’ll not regret investing the 16 min!”
Watch it with someone you love. Try to spread a little happiness to everyone you meet.
“You paid for parking . . . for me?”
The students at Ohio Northern University put together an ice cream serving system with two Kuka robots and an Allen Bradley Micrologic 1500 PLC. While this kind of educational automation project may be common in university robot labs across the country, being a big fan of both ice cream and robots I thought I would give a nod to these students’ excellent work. They report that it took 26 students and 5 weeks to fabricate the system including writing all of the code and machining custom effectors. It takes 2 minutes to serve a cup of ice cream complete with spoon and toppings of choice. The students did not want to speed up this cycle time so the user could enjoy “an experience watching the system” and not just get fast ice cream. A nice touch is the way the robot arm moves a little, then lowers the cup under the soft serve machine to produce a nicely shaped point on the top of the ice cream serving. Watch it in action below.
Every year the University of Minnesota Morris (UMM) holds a student film festival (video making contest) they call the UMMys. The entrants vary widely in quality and subject matter and tend to include a lot of teen angst and zombies. Several years ago one entrant stood head and (large metallic) shoulders above the rest. It was called “Rumspringa! The Musical” and was about an amish girl going on her traditional rumspringa to the city and falling in love with a recently unemployed phone answering robot. All songs are written (except the Electric Slide) and performed by the students and it is clever, funny and totally worth watching, cheesy robot costume and all. Sadly the entire 30 minute production appears to no longer be available on YouTube, but two of the best (IMHO) musical numbers from it are still available for your viewing pleasure.
Your robot overlords command you to click the play buttons below…
Every film needs an internet trailer…..
[Rumspringa! The Musical on MySpace]
This guy has redirected the water output from a jetski through nozzles on a jetpack. This is an amazingly awesome idea that I am surprised no one else had come up with yet (or had they?). I think you could do the same thing on land using a firehose or some other high pressure water source. This video makes it look like SO MUCH FUN, a jet pack that doesn’t run out in 30 seconds. Who cares if you can only go 25 feet high or so.
[ Reddit via Crunchgear]
Remember this fun viral video of the guy doing his goofy dance around the world? Put a smile on my face.
You can learn more about the original project at Where The Hell Is Matt? And see his dance videos from other years.
Now some clever person has extended the meme into the world of video games. I like the wide scope of the games, from Frogger to World of Warcraft. Enjoy!
[WeGame via BoingBoing]
Here is another video of some amazing maintenance workers / daredevils. These men maintenance live high voltage power lines from a helicopter using a fire retardant “hot suit” made with metal fibers to act as a Faraday cage. Once they clamp on the line, their body, and the entire helicopter, are raised to the same electrical potential as the wire – 500 thousand volts. They remain safe as long as there is no path to ground. Even without the high voltage, just stepping off a hovering helicopter on to a little seat on the top of a pair of relatively thin wires strung high over the ground is quite a bold feat in itself. Nice mellow video, pleasant music and the guy has a sense of humor about it.
“I don’t give two hoots and a holler about flying inside a helicopter. Put me outside, that’s where I want to be. On a magic carpet.”
via [BoingBoing]
Video reported to be from Straight Up: Helicopters in Action.
Here is an interesting video showing a Eurocopter EC135 being used for maintenance operations on giant offshore wind turbines in the UK. Gives a good perspective on the massive size of these turbines. Around here they work on land based turbines by just opening the door at their base and climbing up a bunch of stairs. These guys in the video appear to be part mechanic, part coast guard helicopter rescue diver. Considering how often these things usually need maintenance (at least monthly I believe) this looks like it could get expensive fast and reveals a potential downside to the otherwise excellent idea of offshore turbines which I have always believed in. Enjoy the video, although I recommend muting the poorly chosen soundtrack.
From Flight Global via Gizmodo
