Elderly people with Alzheimer’s Disease or dementia sometimes forget to use the manual brakes on their wheelchairs, which then fall out from under them when they try to stand or sit. When this was brought to the attention of crop farmer Jerry Ford, he decided to do something about it. His invention is a rather clever automatic brake system for manual wheelchairs. It’s even designed in a way that still allows the wheelchair to fold up for transport.

This portrait is just one from a series of videos and photographs about inventors by photographer David Friedman.

A father who lost his arm in an accident six years ago has been given a new lease of life by a hi-tech bionic hand which is so precise he can type again. Nigel Ackland, 53, has been fitted with the Terminator-like carbon fibre mechanical hand which he can control with movements in his upper arm. The new bebionic3 myoelectric hand, which is also made from aluminium and alloy knuckles, moves like a real human limb by responding to Nigel’s muscle twitches. Incredibly, the robotic arm is so sensitive it means the father-of-one can touch type on a computer keyboard, peel vegetables, and even dress himself for the first time in six years.

Related videos: prosthetics.

Thanks, @MarbleSpark.

NPR’s Human-Powered Helicopters: Straight Up Difficult!

How difficult? The Sikorsky Prize from the American Helicopter Society has promised $250,000 to anyone that build’s a human-powered helicopter that can “hover for a minute, reach a height of 3 meters (about 10 feet), and stay in a 10-meter box.”

No one has claimed this prize in 30 years. And not for a lack of trying. 

But students at the University of Maryland, Team Gamera HPH, are now closer than most to reaching this goal. Watch the video above and read more about them on NPR.

via Kottke.

This LEGO machine, or LEGO Great Ball Contraption, is 17 different modules of incredible. Transporting 500 mini soccer and basketballs over 101.7 feet (31 meters), this hypnotic project was created in two years from over 600 hours of build-time by Japanese LEGO machine mastermind Akiyuky (of previous LEGO machine fame).

This video! Every new piece of machinery was surprisingly surprising. And thanks to Gizmodo’s Jesus Diaz for making a list of the modules, in order: 

1. Ball factory
2. Zigzag stair
3. Zigzag lift
4. Pneumatic
5. Cup
6. Screw T1
7. Basket shooter
8. Mechanical train
9. Screw T2
10. Screw T3
11. Spiral lift T2
12. Elevator & coaster
13. Fork
14. Spiral lift T1 & step
15. Catch & release
16. Belt conveyor & pinball
17. 5-axis robot S750

Thanks, @kvetchup.

Related watching: Metropolis II at LACMA, how balloons are made, processing mushrooms, marble machine, Clockwork and all things Rube Goldberg.

This engineering marvel is called “Clockwork” and was built by K’nex enthusiast Austron, who has built five K’nex ball machines. This one is his most ambitious endeavor: 

It took 8 months to build, has over 40,000 pieces, over 450 feet of track, 21 different paths, 8 motors, 5 lifts, and a one-of-a-kind computer-controlled crane, as well as two computer-controlled illuminated K’nex balls.

Thanks, @RaySadler.

Related videos: kinetic sculptures and toys.