4 ms·

2010's Most Innovative Tech Product Is Not a Damn Jetpack

33 points by J3L2404 16y ago

icegreentea 16y ago
The water-jet blade idea is innovative, but it's not revolutionary. Bomb defusing robots are often equipped with water-jets to disrupt/cut through bombs.
- jessriedel 16y ago
  What is the purpose of using water rather than just some metal projectile? The US army brings so much equipment, I can't imagine it's the fact that water is particularly easier to come by than (say) a metal disk.
  - harry 16y ago
    Water doesn't ricochet like a high velocity metal disk would.
  - oiujhygtfyhjuk 16y ago
    A cutting blade needs to be held against the device, either by a clamp or it's own heavy (expensive) weight. A projectile will generally just bounce off. So the current solution is to attach an explosive charge and disrupt the device ie. 'a controlled explosion' which is slow, specialized and noisy. Or fire a shotgun at it which often doesn't do anything other than to move the suspect device a couple of feet and make it a lot more suspect.
  - ximeng 16y ago
    Maybe some answers here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_jet_cutter http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_jet_cutter
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
b_emery 16y ago
And it's not "sticky silicone that's part Silly Putty, part duct tape". Robot f'n cars people! Ok, maybe it doesn't qualify for 2010, but in terms of quality of life impact, beats silly putty hands down.
igrekel 16y ago
Surprised to see sugru on the list. I've had some for nearly a year now and although it has been extremely useful from reshaping handles to rebuilding unavailable replacement parts. It is close to being like duck tape... if only it hardened faster! That being said, its not life changing and I wouldn't qualify it as most innovative product.
oiujhygtfyhjuk 16y ago
I hope the incubator works but I'm not hopeful. Not only can you not sell it in the developed half of the world because getting XXX approval would cost millions. You probably can't sell it if your company is registered in the developed half of the world! Even if you have no intention of selling it in the US, just tell your US corporate lawyers that you plan on selling medical equipment anywhere and they will have kittens. You can sell it in the the 3rd world (sorry - human resource rich) countries but that means selling it either to a local government who will want a large payment of approval fees, - generally in cash. Or to a UN style inter-government aid agency which will want all the same sort of XXX approval as the FDA but also requires the same sort sort of cash 'consultancy fees' on the ground to actually get the stuff used. I was involved in a similar project to make wheelchairs for mine victims - it's legally a lot simpler to build and import/export the mines than the wheelchairs. The only way to get it used is to put the plans on the net and hope people build it for themselves.
RyanMcGreal 16y ago
Does anyone have any experience playing with Sugru? Looks fascinating.
tomcat81 16y ago
It's refreshing to see product based innovation instead of the dozens of social media startups.

33 points by J3L2404 16y ago

The water-jet blade idea is innovative, but it's not revolutionary. Bomb defusing robots are often equipped with water-jets to disrupt/cut through bombs.

jessriedel 16y ago
What is the purpose of using water rather than just some metal projectile? The US army brings so much equipment, I can't imagine it's the fact that water is particularly easier to come by than (say) a metal disk.
- harry 16y ago
  Water doesn't ricochet like a high velocity metal disk would.
- oiujhygtfyhjuk 16y ago
  A cutting blade needs to be held against the device, either by a clamp or it's own heavy (expensive) weight. A projectile will generally just bounce off. So the current solution is to attach an explosive charge and disrupt the device ie. 'a controlled explosion' which is slow, specialized and noisy. Or fire a shotgun at it which often doesn't do anything other than to move the suspect device a couple of feet and make it a lot more suspect.
- ximeng 16y ago
  Maybe some answers here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_jet_cutter http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_jet_cutter
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]

b_emery 16y ago

And it's not "sticky silicone that's part Silly Putty, part duct tape". Robot f'n cars people! Ok, maybe it doesn't qualify for 2010, but in terms of quality of life impact, beats silly putty hands down.

igrekel 16y ago

Surprised to see sugru on the list. I've had some for nearly a year now and although it has been extremely useful from reshaping handles to rebuilding unavailable replacement parts. It is close to being like duck tape... if only it hardened faster! That being said, its not life changing and I wouldn't qualify it as most innovative product.

oiujhygtfyhjuk 16y ago

I hope the incubator works but I'm not hopeful. Not only can you not sell it in the developed half of the world because getting XXX approval would cost millions. You probably can't sell it if your company is registered in the developed half of the world! Even if you have no intention of selling it in the US, just tell your US corporate lawyers that you plan on selling medical equipment anywhere and they will have kittens. You can sell it in the the 3rd world (sorry - human resource rich) countries but that means selling it either to a local government who will want a large payment of approval fees, - generally in cash. Or to a UN style inter-government aid agency which will want all the same sort of XXX approval as the FDA but also requires the same sort sort of cash 'consultancy fees' on the ground to actually get the stuff used. I was involved in a similar project to make wheelchairs for mine victims - it's legally a lot simpler to build and import/export the mines than the wheelchairs. The only way to get it used is to put the plans on the net and hope people build it for themselves.

RyanMcGreal 16y ago

Does anyone have any experience playing with Sugru? Looks fascinating.

tomcat81 16y ago

It's refreshing to see product based innovation instead of the dozens of social media startups.