Awesome Engineering

Because maker Allen Pan knows no bounds when it comes to engineering stupid things, he thought it might be fun to mow his lawn with lasers. After experimenting with a spinning blue laser rig, he moved on to a grid-style design with multiple lasers. We imagine that it fries some bugs while it’s cutting the grass.

Creating metal parts for cars requires massive industrial stamping machines or labor-intensive hand-shaping. Desktop Metal’s Figur G15 machine can precisely shape sheet metal using a computer-controlled ball tool. In this video, car builder Rob Ida uses the Figur to craft parts to help realize Preston Tucker’s never-built Carioca concept car. (Thanks, Rob!)

R/C aircraft are typically powered by electric motors or gas engines. James from ProjectAir has built a few R/C planes that are powered by rocket motors. His latest creation supersizes the idea with a much more powerful rocket and a lightweight plane with an enormous wingspan. The design was inspired by a basic balsa wood plane from Vintage Model Company.

We’ve driven by the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, a number of times but never had the time to see it up close. Animator Jared Owen goes way beyond a basic tour with an in-depth look at the monument’s incredible structural engineering, how it was built, and the inner workings of its unique tram system.

Venice has defied its watery surroundings for centuries, but the iconic Italian city still stands. Primal Space explains how medieval engineers built a thriving city atop a smattering of marshy islands. Years later, similar ingenuity was used to solve the city’s fresh water and sanitation needs. It’s incredible that so many original wood pylons are still intact.

You can make jumbo soap bubbles with the right bubble wand and soap solution. Engineezy wanted to see if it was possible to make endless bubbles with enough soap and runway. After some experimentation and failure, he settled on a rope strung between fishing rods on the roof of his car. While not limitless, he did make the longest bubbles we’ve ever seen.

We’ve seen some pretty fast and powerful NERF blasters, but as far as we know, none could shoot darts faster than the speed of sound. That’s what maker Mike Shake set out to do with his supersonic blaster. It took a lot of time, money, and experimentation to create a high-speed NERF gun that runs on compressed air and rapidly releases its pressure.

In most cases, if a boat lists enough to capsize, there’s no turning back. But Taiwan’s Lungteh Shipbuilding is testing a boat that can right itself even if it flips upside-down. Built for Hong Kong’s fire service, the boat can roll and return to an even keel in 6 to 10 seconds. There are smaller self-righting vessels, but Fire Boat 12 is the largest yet.

Cam Engineering fabricated a 1/4-scale model of a dragster with plans to make a gas-powered R/C car. But after realizing it would be too tricky to control, he turned it into an electric scooter. Its tubular steel frame is strong enough to hold his weight, so he just added some handlebars and a skate deck. It looks crazy quick and can even pop wheelies.

Located in Saudi Arabia, Al Masjid an Nabawi, or the Prophet’s Mosque, sees tens of millions of visitors each year. On the hottest and sunniest days it protects pilgrims from the harsh conditions under an array of 250 giant motorized umbrellas that deploy over its massive 1.6 million square foot courtyard. The umbrellas were engineered by SL Rasch.

Disney Imagineering has already built replica lightsabers that retract like the ones in Star Wars, but they probably cost a million bucks to develop. On the other hand, YouTube channel HeroTech built a version with a much more down-to-earth budget that can be built at home. The trick is the coiled sheet metal from one of those magician’s canes that springs to life.

Why lock your toolbox with a padlock when you can secure it with Thor’s mighty hammer? Maker B machined and engraved a mini Mjölnir from a block of metal. Hidden inside its head is a latch mechanism that automatically clips around a lock hasp. A twist of the handle unlocks it. We’re impressed with the attention to detail in things like the hidden screws.

Xander Naumenko of From Scratch loves to play foosball, but it takes up too much of his time. So, he built a robot that plays the game for him. His Foosbar machine knows how to pass, block, and kick goals faster than a human opponent can react. It uses a set of 3D tracking cameras to identify the ball’s position and move its players there before the ball arrives.

Dani Clode specializes in the design and development of prosthetics and robotic augmentation. As part of her work with the Plasticity Lab and UCL, she created an extra digit that almost anyone can control, providing a new way to grip and interact with objects. Her third thumb project also included an analysis of how the brain adapts to having extra body parts.

When Mark Rober isn’t taking down thieves and melting stuff with lava, he likes to play around in his CrunchLabs space. To kick off his 2024 Camp CrunchLabs series, he taught kids about friction and the slippery properties of spheres. After an intro about his STEM toy system, he poured 3.5 million Airsoft BBs onto his warehouse floor and went for a ride.

If you’ve seen BattleBots, you’ve probably seen the robot that spins the giant nut. Inventor Hknssn created a similar machine, but it looks way cooler and doesn’t use electricity. Fingerbirgit is a kinetic sculpture driven by a hand crank or a weight. The 1170-piece artwork uses a series of cam tracks to manipulate the globe balanced on its fingertips.