(YouTube Link)
Engineer Carl Morgan's son complained that a certain hill was too hard to climb on his bicycle. Could his dad invent a machine to help him power over these inclines? The answer came in "Joules", an electrically-powered robot that rides in the back seat of a tandem bicycle:
Morgan spent months modeling how to transform a motor’s spin into pedal-pushing legs. The motor inside Joules’s torso turns a series of linked belts and chains that transfer power from one area of the robot to the next. Each upper leg pivots at the hip, raising and lowering its knee and forcing the lower legs to turn the pedals. He also added “bones” (rods on the outside) for needed stiffness.
Morgan was nervous when he climbed in front for the final test, but Joules easily cruised to the top of the hill. The bike could probably do more, even hit 30 mph, but Morgan says he doesn’t plan to find out: “Abject cowardice on my part means we’ll never know for sure.”
http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2009-12/robot-buddy-your-bicycle-built-two | Official Website
Comments (2)
But how lazy is dad exactly? Here's a tandem, does he get on the back to ride with his son? Nope, he invents and imaginary friend for him.
..."Joules"....?
Why not far better chosen "Rube Goldberg the 2nd" ....?
Also enjoy the thought of Scotchdrnkr & his colleague adding sea-monsters to their river surveys - if it wasn't for getting them into trouble, I would love to see their clients' faces if a few slipped through the net and made it to the final version... :--)
When I read this article, I found myself thinking of Scylla & Charybdis from Homer's "Odyssey."