NASA JPL hosted their 10th annual Invention Challenge last week, with teams being asked to create a machine that can "play...part of a song with proper tone, tempo and meter" without human intervention or speakers- only a single action, like flicking a switch or pulling a lever is allowed.
The competitors had copper pipes, balloons, glasses filled with water, magnet powered harmonicas and lots of creativity and color. The Arcadia High School Advanced Robotics class entry was a big hit as it played the "Girl from Ipanema" with drums, xylophone and tambourine. They were followed by a huge contraption of organ pipes, powered by deflating green balloons, that played the "Phantom of the Opera" theme "with aplomb" noted the Press Telegram. Perhaps the most elegant in it's simplicity, was a slew of marbles each taking winding paths of different length before plunking down on a xylophone key.
Some of course, did not work at all causing the announcer to remind us that in in this business, "The higher the tech, the larger the wreck."
The contest was originally started for just JPL employees. "I wanted to show everybody that engineers know how to have fun," said founder, organizer and JPL engineer Paul MacNeal, according to the Press Telegram article. Over the ten years they have have a wide variety of mechanical challenges including jelly bean tossing, match lighting and bowling ball dropping. Students were invited to join the fun eight years ago.
JPL engineers still get in on the fun though, and this year a retired JPL engineer and his family built a self-playing recorder, powered by an air mattress pump, that gave an impressive rendition of Gershwin's "Summertime."
In the end though, "Girl from Ipanema" took home the gold, and the bragging rights, until next year...
Success is music to their ears [Press Telegram]
Students Hit High Note in JPL Invention Challenge [JPL.NASA.GOV]
Image: JPL
