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Crazy Inventions — Parallax Forums

Crazy Inventions

mctriviamctrivia Posts: 3,772
edited 2009-04-07 12:18 in General Discussion
I have been building and desinging electronics since I was in grade school and my dad bought me a 30 in 1 electronics kit. Since then I have made lots of cool things and a few that worked but were really crazy. So my question to everyone out there is:

What is the craziest invention you ever made.

For me it was the mouse zaper. The basic idea is that air has a break down voltage of 1000V/cm so I made a box 15 cm long and 5 cm wide and 5 cm tall. Chese was placed at the end of the box to attract the mouse(penut butter turned out to work just as good and much cheaper and does not go bad.) Electrodes were placed on each side of the box in the middle. I had an electronic circut called a Marx Generator whch created a 4000V high current power source.

It worked. When a mouse(or anything else that conducts electricity wider then 1cm like a finger) walked between the electrodes it was killed instantly. The problem was the generator would continue to zap the mouse every couple seconds after it built up enough power to jump the gap. The other problem was the current was more then enough to kill a human that stuck there finger into it(not that I ever tried).

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Need to make your prop design easier or secure? Get a PropMod has crystal, eeprom, and programing header in a 40 pin dip 0.7" pitch module with uSD reader, and RTC options.

Comments

  • LeonLeon Posts: 7,620
    edited 2009-04-05 04:37
    When I worked at English Electric-Leo-Marconi Computers Ltd., Kidsgrove, in the 1960s, I and a friend of mine built a sex detector machine for a party. The subject had to stand with his/her legs apart on a pair of metal plates, a button was pressed, lights flashed, relays clicked and uniselectors whirred, and one of a pair of lamps marked "Male" or "Female" lit up. It was very accurate, getting two people out of about 50 wrong - the girl I was with and a male guest.

    Leon

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    Amateur radio callsign: G1HSM
    Suzuki SV1000S motorcycle
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2009-04-05 04:49
    Leon,

    Pray tell: what was the principle behind this marvelous device's operation?

    -Phil
  • Carl HayesCarl Hayes Posts: 841
    edited 2009-04-05 04:55
    Are you certain it was wrong about your date?

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    · -- Carl, nn5i@arrl.net
  • mctriviamctrivia Posts: 3,772
    edited 2009-04-05 04:59
    you could guess sex by resistance of boddy. if i remember correctly guys usually have higher resistance then girls.

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    Need to make your prop design easier or secure? Get a PropMod has crystal, eeprom, and programing header in a 40 pin dip 0.7" pitch module with uSD reader, and RTC options.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 7,620
    edited 2009-04-05 05:34
    It actually used a light source and sensor: the light shone on the legs and the sensor measured the amount of reflected light. Most girls then wore short dresses/skirts and nylons, and most men wore dark trousers. My date was wearing a long black dress, and the man had light-coloured trousers.

    Leon

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    Amateur radio callsign: G1HSM
    Suzuki SV1000S motorcycle
  • sylvie369sylvie369 Posts: 1,622
    edited 2009-04-05 17:21
    mctrivia said...
    you could guess sex by resistance of boddy. if i remember correctly guys usually have higher resistance then girls.
    I have a pretty strong feeling that you're remembering that wrong.
  • mctriviamctrivia Posts: 3,772
    edited 2009-04-05 17:49
    yep your right resistance gives fat content of a person.

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    Need to make your prop design easier or secure? Get a PropMod has crystal, eeprom, and programing header in a 40 pin dip 0.7" pitch module with uSD reader, and RTC options.
  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    edited 2009-04-05 18:26
    Mctrivia, what you needed was a DMC (Dead Mouse Conveyor) that dumped the mouse into a container after it had been zapped.
  • mctriviamctrivia Posts: 3,772
    edited 2009-04-05 19:20
    that would have been a good idea.

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    Need to make your prop design easier or secure? Get a PropMod has crystal, eeprom, and programing header in a 40 pin dip 0.7" pitch module with uSD reader, and RTC options.
  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    edited 2009-04-05 19:47
    What do you think? Should we build a better mouse trap and have people beating a path to our doors wink.gif
  • mctriviamctrivia Posts: 3,772
    edited 2009-04-05 19:52
    would be cool but we could never sell it. way to dangerous. as i said power levels were leathel but you are welcome to build one for fun and I would love to see a video of it in action.

    here is all you need to know to build the part that kills the mice:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marx_generator

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    Need to make your prop design easier or secure? Get a PropMod has crystal, eeprom, and programing header in a 40 pin dip 0.7" pitch module with uSD reader, and RTC options.
  • TeslaTesla Posts: 55
    edited 2009-04-05 23:54
    Well not for electronics but i build an 8ft golf ball gun. 4in x 4ft ABS combustion chamber. 2in x 4ft barrel. Ran it off propane or MAP gas. Only shot it a few times down at a rocket launch in the black rock dessert.

    Shot pink golf balls and half the people watching could not even see them leave the barrel. Used folded paper towel as wadding and a stun gun for ignition.

    WARNING i do not suggest you make one of these. I coated the whole guns outside in a very strong elastic Polymer that is used in blast resistance coatings and ballistic armour. This way if it failed from pressure no one got hurt.

    Range was over 2miles, that is as far as i rode a dirt bike away from camp looking for the balls.
  • mctriviamctrivia Posts: 3,772
    edited 2009-04-06 01:15
    cool. the black rock desert is a great place for stuff like that hope someone found your balls don't want to make moop

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    Need to make your prop design easier or secure? Get a PropMod has crystal, eeprom, and programing header in a 40 pin dip 0.7" pitch module with uSD reader, and RTC options.
  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2009-04-06 17:37
    A safer Better Mousetrap that doesn't kill the mouse.· =)

    http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=536994

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    Chris Savage
    Parallax Engineering
  • mctriviamctrivia Posts: 3,772
    edited 2009-04-06 17:49
    the only problem with that is you have the find job of killing the mouse yourself after it is trapped

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    Need to make your prop design easier or secure? Get a PropMod has crystal, eeprom, and programing header in a 40 pin dip 0.7" pitch module with uSD reader, and RTC options.
  • Chris SavageChris Savage Parallax Engineering Posts: 14,406
    edited 2009-04-06 17:50
    Nothing so harsh...we simply took them to a remote field and let them go. Mice serve a purpose in life...we just don't live together well. I have no desire to kill them. Just relocate them to a more natural setting. Take care.

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    Chris Savage
    Parallax Engineering
  • LeonLeon Posts: 7,620
    edited 2009-04-06 18:00
    A LEO Computers engineer once designed a storage system based on the hysteresis property of rubber, as a joke.

    A similarly-inclined engineer at Xerox Research (UK) Ltd developed the concept of an on-line shredder - a shredder on the output of a photocopier for disposing of secure documents so that no-one could see them after they were copied.

    Leon

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    Amateur radio callsign: G1HSM
    Suzuki SV1000S motorcycle
  • mctriviamctrivia Posts: 3,772
    edited 2009-04-06 18:17
    not crazy but I once saw a cat door with a video camera and computer. would not let the cat in if it had anything in its mouth.

    guess in the country you can let the mouse go away from houses. I could only let it go if I didn't like one of my neighbours.

    my uncle has a really good mouse trap. barn cats

    ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    Need to make your prop design easier or secure? Get a PropMod has crystal, eeprom, and programing header in a 40 pin dip 0.7" pitch module with uSD reader, and RTC options.
  • John BondJohn Bond Posts: 369
    edited 2009-04-07 12:18
    In the 1950s, he US Army manufactured a “trench” mortar to lob 1.4 K Ton Atomic shells. I’m told that an atomic bomb this size has a total kill zone of about 5 miles. The only slight problem was the mortar had a range of only 3000 yards (could you say the crews were just dying to try the mortars out) The experts realised the difficulty and then supplied the mortar crew with spades and steel covers. They recommended that before use, they should dig a foxhole. As the mortar was fired, they should jump into their hole and cover themselves. (could you say it was an explosive experience)

    The army made 1000 of these and several thousand atomic shells. Someone quickly saw the absurdity and the mortars and shells were recalled from Germany. (Could you say this was a flash of brilliance)

    Luckily, the atomic threat has moved on. (I would hate to have been blown away by this idea).

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