7 ms·
Chinese DIY Inventions
- chewxy 13y agoThe Chinese seem to have an obsession with submarines. I wonder why
- clicks 13y agoParticularly interesting is #32, Sun Jifa. He couldn't afford prosthesis arms so he built his own. They were apparently so good that others who'd lost their arms requested him to make them prosthesis arms as well, so he made a business out of it, and now sells them at very reasonable prices. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22660393 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22660393
- noonespecial 13y agoThe caption says that he lost his arms in a dynamite fishing accident! Losing a limb is a terrible thing, but if you have to be handicapped, that is one hell of a back story.
- andreyf 13y agoMr. Jifa is obviously very inventive and resourceful, but dynamite fishing is actually quite detrimental to underwater ecosystems, kills more fish than are harvested, and because of this, is illegal in most of the developed world. "Underwater shock waves produced by the explosion stun the fish and cause their swim bladders to rupture. This rupturing causes an abrupt loss of buoyancy; a small number of fish float to the surface, but most sink to the sea floor. The explosions indiscriminately kill large numbers of fish and other marine organisms in the vicinity and can damage or destroy the physical environment, including extensive damage to coral reefs" [1] 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blast_fishing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blast_fishing
- CamperBob2 13y agoYes, that photo of Mr. Jifa should appear in the dictionary under "Karma." Fishing with dynamite is a pretty lame-ass thing to do.
- ntumlin 13y agoThough blast fishing is inconsiderate to the fish, I'm not sure that I would personally justify a man losing his arms because he was acting in a detrimental way to the local wildlife.
- PhantomGremlin 13y agoYes, maybe it was karma. But the man has been without his hands for 32 years. I think he's paid the price for his actions.
- precisioncoder 13y agoKarma is mostly understood to mean "cause and effect". Not "do bad things and you will be punished by the universe". A famous buddhist teacher once was asked why a man had been hit by a car. He answered "He wasn't looking where he was going".
- Scramblejams 13y agoI'll tell you what a lame-ass thing to do is: Criticizing the ostensible environmental insensitivity of a guy who, amidst grinding poverty the likes of which you and I cannot properly imagine, lost his arms trying to feed himself and his dependents.
- CamperBob2 13y agoROFL. With dynamite? Things are tough all over. Now that I apparently have your permission, maybe I'll go camp out in Bill Gates's back yard tonight and spotlight some deer.
- Scramblejams 13y ago
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- westiseast 13y agowait...he built himself a pair of replacement arms...without any arms? Geez...
- shabble 13y agoThe caption for #32 includes "He spent two years guiding his two nephews to build him prostheses from scrap metal, plastic and rubber." That noted, there are some pretty incredible achievements by people missing both hands/arms. One that springs to mind is Jessica Cox[1] (via reddit iama[2]), who is both a black-belt in Taekwondo, and has a pilots licence. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Cox https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Cox [2] http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1ad6n0/im_the_worlds_only_armless_pilot_a_black_belt_and/ http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1ad6n0/im_the_worlds_o...
- DanBC 13y agoProsthetics for developing world is an interesting problem. Here is a story about a UK teen who asked a Formula One team to help him with a fake arm. They didn't give him any money, but they helped with fundraising and engineering and he has an amazing arm now. (http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/2098108_f1_boss_helps_fund_bionic_hand_for_matthew_14 http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/2098108_f1_boss_helps_fun...) Compare that to this YouTube video of people making false arms out of old soda bottles. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yvev6shNvSg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yvev6shNvSg) (http://blog.makezine.com/2009/02/05/plastic-soda-bottle-prosthesis/ http://blog.makezine.com/2009/02/05/plastic-soda-bottle-pros...)
- dchichkov 13y agoI don't like the look of that helicopter with flimsily attached wooden rotor blades. Even on the ground it would be ridiculously dangerous to run. And everyone on these photos near this contraption are truly Darwin Award candidates. edit: I actually have some rights to have an opinion, as I'm a licensed pilot and an experimental aircraft owner.
- geon 13y agoI suppose if he was to actually start it up, he would ask people to stay away. He is just sitting in it for the photo shoot. And wooden blades might not be so crazy. Apparently, the Bell 47 heli uses wooden blades, and the Kaman K-MAX use a wood/fiberglass construction for the rotor: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaman_K-MAX http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaman_K-MAX Smaller props for airboats and such are sometimes made of wood, but the stresses involved might be different. I know model RC helis often use wooden blades too, but the difference in scale and safety requirements would make that a moot point, I guess.
- chenster 13y agoVideo of Wu Yulu's walking robot and other his invention. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49MoNLYFk_k http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49MoNLYFk_k
- noonespecial 13y agoThere used to be a saying, "only in America". Its starting to feel like maybe we replaced that with "if you see something, say something." How many of these things could you realistically build in your back yard without a come-to-Jesus meeting with homeland security resulting? There's a little sign up the the tax assessor's office here that says something to the effect of if you're about to do something around your house and you're not sure if you need a permit, you probably do. So, "only in China" then?
- pnathan 13y agoI would entirely agree. So many regulations in the US! So many of these things would not be legal. What are we stifling in the US by prioritizing safety and security over freedom?
- knowaveragejoe 13y agoParent's comment is a little overblown, there are plenty of people in the US who build all sorts of things just like this and have no trouble(helps to be away from populated areas). Regulations aren't necessarily a bad thing. For example, I'd hate to be in the crowd of onlooker when something explodes/comes flying off, or to have my property crashed into by a DIY helicopter or some-such. Note the kids just feet away from the rotor assembly in picture #37.
- venus 13y agoIt's always good to see people building stuff - anything! - but many of these are less original, viable inventions and more just plain models. Number 34, for example, is quite obviously not a serious attempt to build a working aircraft. In fact I wonder how he managed to spend so much ($6,400) on such a piece of crap. Some of the other pictures, like the artificial arms, are far more worthy of merit.
- andyl 13y agoSome of those gadgets would be right at home at Maker Fair.
- knowaveragejoe 13y agoIt's striking how many of these mention the creator did not complete <some level of education>.
- auctiontheory 13y agoIn some cases their schooling might have been derailed by the Cultural Revolution.
- ckannan90 13y agoThe three primary needs in China appear to be aircrafts, submarines, and... floating spherical homes.
- ww520 13y agoOr what the article wants to present by selecting them.
- jdietrich 13y agoI think there's something of an ulterior motive behind these stories. They present Chinese ingenuity in a charmingly harmless way - uneducated but plucky tinkerers, building some madcap machine out of scrap. In doing so, they subtly misrepresent Chinese industry by omission. China is rapidly transitioning away from low-skill, low-margin manufacturing to high-skill, high-margin R&D. The old jokes about Chinese R&D being a photocopier are wearing increasingly thin, as firms like Huawei become global players. The article opens with the line "One visible sign of China's recent economic growth is the rise in prominence of inventors and entrepreneurs.", as if the photos that follow are in any way representative of invention in China. The real story is that Chinese R&D investment now amounts to over $160bn/yr and is set to surpass that of the US within the decade. I'm reminded of the aphorism "First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." It seems we're still laughing at the 700m Chinese citizens who are uneducated peasants, rather than preparing to fight the 700m who are urbanised and increasingly well-educated.
- CamperBob2 13y agoIndeed. I'm old enough to remember when everybody in the US laughed at Japanese cars and the idiots who were foolish enough to buy them.
- kiba 13y agoWhy fight when you can co-opt them? Rather than thinking the chinese as just competition, we should also think of them as a world asset.
- sliverstorm 13y agoRather than thinking the chinese as just competition, we should also think of them as a world asset. I'm sure it'll be great for the world and all, but what happens when they aren't quite as thankful for you as you are for them?
- lostlogin 13y agoThe opposite is also a possibility. And that's even more concerning.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- rvasa 13y agoWhy are there so many submarines?
- DaBooDah 13y agoThey're used to harvest sea cucumbers, which I'm guessing is a culinary delicacy.
- gbog 13y agoSea cucumbers are very expensive, and the taste is so-so. As the story goes, an emperor did not have offsprings, and his physicians said he should eat those sea cumcumbers in large amounts, and his chefs managed to make some eatable recipes out of this thing, which became a part of the Chinese Imperial Cuisine.
- waterlesscloud 13y agoWhy not? Don't you want your own submarine? I do. Check out this homemade Russian sub. Great pics. http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/home-made-submarine.html http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/home-made-submarine.html
- auctiontheory 13y agoMaybe they can offer their services to the Spanish Navy: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/24/spain-submarine-s-81-isaac-peral-cant-float_n_3328683.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/24/spain-submarine-s-8...
- victorhn 13y ago#14 would be the least "politically correct" of these as the working robot seems to be modeled with the appearence of a black guy.
- worldimperator 13y agoIt's interesting that they have a strong preference for spheres as the basic shape of many larger builds, apparently.
- epsylon 13y agoIt's funny they don't mention the reason why the people in picture #11 wear these weird masks. In China, tanned skin is the distinctive sign of low-status people (farmers who work outside). Paleness is seen on the other hand as a sign of beauty and wealth. The health benefits of protection against UVs are only a side effect.
- Aardwolf 13y agoThere are a lot of super cool things in there! However, two remarks: 1) That first plane really does not look like it can fly (and it also says the test flight failed). Thin carboard wings! 2) The riksha pulling robot: What is that between its legs? :)
- leke 13y agoNumber 17. It's just so funny. Everyone's faces, apart from the rock luncher guy.
- quackerhacker 13y ago3! I think is the best one! I'd be on an elevator all day just to "take the stairs," down :) Politics aside. DIY still implies the same thing as it would in Popular Mechanics here in the US (something simple that all of us can do, under a budget). 5 reminds me of the Red Bull Flugtag
- Lerc 13y agoThe designs seem to show an interesting facet of DIY design. It's better to focus on what something should do rather than what it should look like. The most hopeless of the designs are those that try to mimic the appearance of a successful design. I suspect the hopeless cases are vastly over-represented because they make for an easy news story fluff piece. Actual innovation is frequently subtle and boring unless you look at the detail. I think jdietrich has a point about the implication that this is a Chinese specific phenomenon. Every country has people working on projects like this. I'm in New Zealand and we got jetpacks and cruise missiles made by guys working in sheds. Neither the crazy people nor the brilliant geniuses are representative of the population as a whole.
- bennyfreshness 13y agoThis is state sponsored entrepreneurial propaganda IMO, reflecting the Chinese regime's push towards a more entrepreneurial focused free market. And I love it, I'm hoping Chinese individuals continue inventing products to help all of humanity.
- sytelus 13y agoThe DIY welding mask is pretty brilliant. However that walking robot looks highly suspicious because there is plenty of research that this is hard problem. It's even harder problem if robot is pulling a taxi while walking. It makes me think if this is some kind of propaganda spread by Chinese govt. This kind of information and photos would not be possible to compile without govt support/contribution in China, right?