tech e blog

5. The "Amazing Q-Ball"

Students from Quincy High School's Creative Problem Solving Course decided to make a geodesic structure using CDs and an aluminum frame.

...use CDs, one for each vertex of the zonohedron. Drill holes in them corresponding to the edges adjacent to the vertices, and fasten them together with rivets. For stability, assemble the CDs around an aluminum frame. It sounded straightforward enough.

[Source]

4. Hand Gesture Based iPod Remote

Zhuan, Derrick, and Colin of Purdue University created "Handy", a prototype "hand gesture based remote control". The setup consists of a Handy box, an iPod Nano, and a BOSE Sound Dock.

3. Fully Automated Dorm Room

Two students from MIT have created the world's first fully automated dorm room, featuring web control, voice activation, security system, large continuously running information displays, electric blinds, and one-touch parties. Party mode demonstration above. [Source]

2. Rubik's Cube Solving Robot

University of Michigan students Doug Li, Jeff Loevell, and Mike Zajac created this strange yet fascinating "Rubik's Cube Solver" robot for their final project -- it does the job to say the least, and quite well (54 seconds). [Source]

1. Indoor Roller Coaster

Students at Royal Oak Intermediate School have built a roller coaster in their gymnasium that stands 24 feet tall while occupying approx. 10,000 square feet. This fully functional coaster includes three lifts/drops, a figure eight, and a 360 degree loop. The track is 400 feet long and students claim you'll reach a top speed of 35mph coming down the tallest drop .

"Our kids wanted to do something bigger," Rubio said. "We literally had to stop because the back light was in the way. The only thing that stopped this being bigger was the size of the gym."

[Source]