Technabob » treadmill

Slinky on a Treadmill Cannot Be Stopped

Shane McGlaun — Thu, 24 May 2012 16:00:39 +0000

Back when I was growing up, Slinkies were actually made from metal. I got up to more than a little mischief with my Slinky, after discovering if you threw that spring at your little brother just right, it would wrap around his head and get stuck. I was my own superhero wielding a Slinky and lassoing the bad guys. It was also cool that the Slinky could walk down the stairs should ever need to escape the fiendish clutches of little bro.

Most of the Slinkies I see today aren’t the same. Being made from plastic, they don’t seem to walk down stairs as well. A geek with a real metal Slinky and an old ragged out treadmill decided to play with a simple, yet epic idea. He started the treadmill to rolling at an angle, and let the Slinky start walking and videoed the result.

Naturally, video ended up on YouTube with all the Slinky walking action. A few times the slinky appeared ready to jump off out of exhaustion, but the little metal guy kept on walking, and never gave up. Check out the video for yourself, and prepare to be mesmerized for the next 3+ minutes.

[via JWZ via BoingBoing]

Treadmill Computer Plays Portal 2 Theme Song: For Health and Science

Lambert Varias — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 12:22:25 +0000

GLaDOS is that you? YouTube member evi1wombat made waves on the Internet a few years ago when he hacked a busted treadmill computer that had been discarded at the back of his school’s gym and made it play Still Alive, the soundtrack to the first Portal game. With Portal 2 out for a while now, it’s only natural for evi1wombat and his trusty Cybex to do a rendition of the sequel’s theme song:

Evi1wombat replaced the computer’s CPU, wrote an engine and drivers and used the machine’s source code to figure out how to make music on it. Now prepare your best imitation of a synthesized voice and sing along!

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

How awesome would it be if Valve had a character named Cybex – and evi1wombat! – on the next Portal?

Climbstation Endless Rock Climbing Wall Makes My Arms, Legs and Wallet Hurt Just Looking at It

Technabob — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 13:20:14 +0000

Now I can barely stomach the idea of ascending one of those rock climbing walls you see at the gym, and now some masochist had to go and invent this.

The ClimbStation combines the concept of a treadmill with rock climbing to create a never-ending wall of pain. The system consists of a moving treadmill that continually advances the wall of grabby rock-like formations, torturing its victims until they fall. Thankfully, there’s a nice big comfy mat underneath.

The treadmill can move as fast as 17 meters a minute (just under a foot per second), which is way faster than anyone should ever have to climb anything. It’s also got a hydraulic tilting mechanism which lets the whole treadmill adjust between +15 to -30 degrees angles. At least it’s smart enough to automatically adjust its speed based on the skill level of the climber.

Here’s a video of the ClimbStation having its way with a willing victim (its inventor):

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Prices for ClimbStation systems start at €29,900 (over $42,000 USD), so you probably won’t be getting one of these for your home gym.

[ClimbStation via PSFK]