h a l f b a k e r yLeft for Bread
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(with apologies for patronizing association of chopsticks with everything Oriental)
Construction equipment - diggers, earthmovers, etc. - tend to have scoops, shovels etc. on them roughly based on forks and spoons. I think one which moved rocks and earth around with giant chopsticks would look
cool.
(?) Stump Splitter
http://www.ransome-...itter/splitter.html What [UnaBubba] is talking about, only with two fingers, like [PeterSealy]. As close as I could find to what [PS] was describing. [sdm, Dec 05 2001, last modified Oct 21 2004]
(?) Universal Processors
http://www.ransome-...c/cat_mp_shear.html They use these things to tear stuff apart. I see no reason why they couldn't stretch out the jaws to look like chopsticks. Hey, they might even be useful for something. [sdm, Dec 05 2001, last modified Oct 21 2004]
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Annotation:
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isn't this halfbaked in Meccano? |
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And if the chopstics were hollow, you could move liquids more efficiently than the conventional scoops, shovels, etc. |
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Of course, chopsticks require more dexterity than spoons or forks. Somehow, I just can't picture huge earthmovers being dextrous. Cool idea all the same. |
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I don't know the correct name for the machine with a shovel in front and a scoop in back, but watch an operator in one of those things use it to cross a ditch one day, and you'll see dexterity in an earthmover. |
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Why not just use Manga Mechs weilding steel girders? It would continue the oriental theme. |
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know what you mean UB - its like a butterfly on medication |
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Construction workers always make the earth move for me. |
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I absolutely agree with aall of you who said that these
heavy pieces of construction equipment are operated
with almost unbelievable dexterity.
OK, here's the
other half of this idea: The control system for these giant
boulder-moving chopsticks in the operator's cab is.....
(wait for it) ........ a pair of chopsticks. Obviously, wired
up to sense position and movement, and with some kind
of clever force-feedback system. |
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Instrumented, force-feedback chopsticks. Cool image. |
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you can't keep moving the goalposts, I mean chopsticks. |
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I hope they're both on one hand. If you spin an Asian around three times... does he become disoriented? It is Art when seemingly buoyant tonnage balanced in the air is brought to perfect positioning from great distance by hands and eyes and hydraulics. |
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Someone will need to invent giant rice, of course. |
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I have 5000 tonnes of soba noodles to move, soonest! Croissant for Mr. Hippo. |
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...and the operator of this huge piece of equipment will
sit cross-legged on a tatami mat in the cab, (with the
instrumented, force-feedback chopsticks...). |
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What instruments? Would have to be a piano, I guess, for chopsticks... |
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what? you never played chopsticks on the mouthorgan? |
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Whoo! Not gonna touch that one with a ten foot pole. Or even a seven foot Swede. |
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hey what have I done now? |
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brilliant-diggers on stilts |
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[daruma] gets in to his Komatsu excavator and deftly uses the chopsticks to carry a cup of decaf to [blissmiss]. |
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And some nice toast, while I'm at it. |
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Lying awake in bed last night (and having recently seen "Enter the Dragon") it occured to me that maybe "Oriental Demolition Equipment" might be a better idea. Instead of the rather dull spectacle of the wrecking ball and that grabby thing you could have machines which use an awesome array of scaled-up martial arts weaponry, with appropriate Bruce Lee-esque sound effects. |
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[hippo]: Go watch some Japanese animation of mech warriors. Build what you see. A crew of 4 demolition workers in mechanized body armor (and weapons!) could take down a whole city in about 30 minutes. (Or else be thwarted by a 9 year old girl and her pet.) |
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[ravenswood] Not sure about changing the name. The 3 martial arts experts demolishing a house though dredges up memories from the recesses of my mind - I'm sure I saw this on television once. |
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Probably done as a combination benefit and demonstation. |
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(The 3 martial arts experts demolishing a house) 1984-5 "Thats Incredible!" report on a Guinness Book noted accomplishments.
Beaux- The thingy you are referring is a Backhoe.
They already use three arm units to build rock walls; two arm units are used in both construction and demolition, but usually have flat plates or scoops. A nifty posthole digger/rock lifter has been around for about a thousand years. Chopstick shaped devices without tines or scoops or plates would be too unstable. |
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(Just bumping this fun idea.) I also think a "claw game" crane would be amusing, in the style of those arcade games where you try to pick up a plush toy using a clumsy, ultra-loose claw. Try constructing something with that. But pedestrians keep clear! |
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