Invention Of The Day – Page 244 – Just another break-step productions sites site

#463: Meshaping

Finite element methods are commonly used in engineering design. You create a CAD drawing of your component, automatically divide it up into a mesh of a million tetrahedra, apply some realistic loading boundary conditions and material properties and finally compute a detailed stress map within the design. If you are nearing yield stress anywhere, it’s time to think again either about geometry or material spec.

Today’s invention is simply then to use the 3-D mesh of tetrahedra as a specification from which to actually build your design. I’d like to see this happen using a rapid prototyping system. Each tetra could be ‘printed’ as a net of four triangles, joined along three edges. As each is produced, it would be automatically folded and the six free edges bonded into the 3-D ‘pyramid’. The system would spit these physical elements out in the correct sequence (and orientation) for them to be bonded together to create the overall design.

This would already have been shown to withstand the required in-service stresses. It would represent a huge material saving, compared to using bulk material, and although the final shape would still have a rougher ‘crystalline’ outer surface, this would be a structure with low form drag and a genuine wow factor in the marketplace (think Ducati frame taken to extremes).

#462: Soundsearch

Search has become fascinating for two reasons: the recent availability of an abundance of interesting stuff (if only you knew where it was) and the possibility of automating its retrieval.

One of the biggest problems, it seems to me, is that we currently aren’t really making use of all the tools available to us. It’s still hard work to find things visually or kinaesthetically in a reliable way, but sound offers a more tractable approach.

Today’s invention is to store a phonetic representation of every word in a document or webpage. This would enable a search by sound to occur in which we could say “find me things that sound like fandango” or even, in wildcard mode “…things that sound like blahblah_blah_blah_ford.” This is pretty much how I try to retrieve people’s names from my own memory, and it seems particularly good for things whose names don’t mean anything but whose phonemes may be identifiable as words …eg brands like coca-cola or phentermine or whatever.

This makes me wonder if, by populating one’s website with spam brandnames, you would be less bothered by the makers of smarter, targeted spam (the kind of message about which you think ‘is that spam or is it a genuine message?’ ). These people know it’s a bad idea to pepper spam blockers with data that helps them extract a characteristic pattern and thus defend themselves.

#461: Frothworld

It seems that social networks are ‘small-worlds’ -everyone is only six handshakes away from the president because these networks consist of clusters of individuals and quasi-random, long-range links between clusters. These arrangements form because people tend to get introduced to others who are slightly better connected than average.

Small-world networks (and the Internet is one such) have a major problem which is that they can be seriously damaged by the removal of a small number of key people at the centres of a smallish number of clusters. If their identities are known, (and those people are by definition, self promoters) the whole system is at risk.

Today’s invention is therefore a ‘wallflower’ network. One in which newcomers are naturally linked to people who are less well-connected than average. This results in networks which consist of loops surrounding voids…a bit like the structure of lace or froth.

I haven’t yet worked up a simulation, but I believe this means that you get a similar level of connectivity, without the vulnerability -everyone is president in such a network.

#460: Brandnet

Last night, my spam filter detected and removed 779 items. Although I never check the details of what’s screened out these days (I might be bulk deleting some real messages) it seems to be pretty effective in eradicating anything to do with investment scams or phishing ploys. Amazingly, the spam that does get through almost always contains some kind of (pharmaceutical) brand name.

Today’s invention is simply to apply a crude, automated translation program, such as Bablefish. This will come out with results like “xanax nu koopt de bevordering.” Any such system will fail to translate brand names and so messages attempting to sell you things will leave words unchanged after translation. The presence of untranslated words is thus an indicator of unwanted marketing.

Using different translators, across a sequential spectrum of different languages, will enable a higher level of reliability.

#459: Autofelling

Harvesting trees, in even a responsibly managed plantation, is a messy and energy sapping process. Even when they have been cut down, the forest floor is still littered with roots, making it harder to replant.

Today’s invention is a way to allow the trees to grow naturally, whilst making their harvesting more straightforward.

Each seedling is planted in a thin layer of soil under which has been buried a small, square flagstone. The stones are impenetrable to tree roots and they interlock so as to form an effectively continuous surface.

The trees grow roots laterally and within a limited depth of earth. At harvest time, a root cutting saw can be guided along the edges of the square stones (perhaps mounted on a small robotic carriage). This will so destabilise the trees that a moderate wind will then be enough to fell them (pulling up most of the remaining roots at the same time).

Placement of the seedling stem to one side of each stone, when planting, will allow the direction of its subsequent fall to be predetermined.

#458: Tat-two

Disliking tattoos as I do, I’m surprised to find myself suggesting today’s invention.

It’s simply tattoos which are drawn (inscribed?) as a stereo pair. Each image would be of some favoured 3-D object seen from a slightly different angle, so that people could ‘fuse’ the 2 images and see eg a 3-masted schooner sailing across somebody’s backside.

For those people who haven’t yet learned how to fuse two images, by slightly crossing their eyes, it would be possible to tattoo one image in red, one in blue and then view them through a pair of colour-filtered spectacles.

Certainly a talking point at beach parties, athletic meets, biker rallies and high-security prisons.

#457: Dregs dredge

It’s not like I’m tight with money (honestly!) but waste bugs me. (Actually the biggest waste is of human creativity, which is often devalued because it challenges those without it so effectively -rant ends, or at least pauses).

Anyway, today’s invention is yet another way to get at the dregs of something valuable and viscous, rather than pitching it out with the packaging.

A container is made of flexible plastic, in the shape of a cylinder, as shown. It would have a screw-off lid as usual and when this was removed, contents could be extracted by driving a rod (supplied with a hook at the end) upwards against the base, inverting the cylinder.

When enough product has been extracted, at a given sitting, the hook on the rod would engage with a simple bar inside the base and allow it to return the cylinder to normal shape, by dragging it backwards.

This avoids any contact with the content, keeps whatever it is reasonably well mixed and eradicates the possibility that anything remains in the package because it can’t be accessed.

#456: Colourwash

Who can be bothered sorting clothes before piling them into a washing machine? Actually I learned this lazy habit as a student, which accounts for the fact that everything I wore eventually took on a neutral khaki-grey hue (fine if you’re an Engineer, not so good at art school). Nowadays it’s just easier to wear navy blue exclusively.

For people who aren’t rod monochromats and who inexplicably like to wear delicate, coloured clothing, shouldn’t the washing machine be capable of working all this out for itself?

Today’s invention is a simple barcode reader attached to such a machine. Each item has its code scanned as it is passed through the door (it might require that anything you care about be equipped, post-purchase, with an iron-on patch, since RFID doesn’t seem as if it will be available any time soon).

The scanner allows the machine to issue a verbal warning before the item has entered the machine saying eg

“It seems that you are about to add a bright red woollen jersey to a whites load…but this is the fourteenth time this item has been washed, so it should be ok…proceed?”

#455: Layer hook

When hillwalking for example, it can be a major burden to be having to constantly swap clothing layers dependent on the whims of the weather.

Today’s invention is therefore a neck-mounted hanger which allows layers, when not being worn, to hang down the middle of one’s back (protected by the outermost waterproof layer, if necessary. This would be restrained in front using a strap attached to one’s belt in front. A padded ‘spine’ would support the clamps gripping each fleece, coat etc. This would run down one’s back to spread the weight and torque exerted by the hanging clothes.

This presents difficulties when used in concert with a rucksack, but at least the need for such a bag is lessened if it doesn’t have to contain a lot of extra clothing.

It may even be possible to design a narrow rucksack that hangs on the outermost hook of the neck hanger.

#454: Lidspeak

People who wear full-face motorcycle helmets usually have some difficulty making themselves understood by the unhelmetted subspecies of people. This can lead to unfortunate hand gesturing etc.

Today’s invention is a microphone to be worn inside a helmet which then feeds to a loudspeaker on the outside. This allows better communication with fellow road users and pedestrians (eg ‘Get out of the way please’).

In the event of an accident, the system could be arranged so that when in a lying down orientation for more than say 30 seconds, it issues certain messages automatically eg ‘Do not remove helmet’ ‘Call 999’ ‘My name is Tom, call 0181 223 334’ etc pre-recorded in the voice of the wearer.