Cars as raw materials

May 28th, 2012
quito, tech
Julia and I visited a town in rural Ecuador this weekend. One thing that struck me was how many things were made out of cars. There was a small fair with some rides, and one of them was a ship that would swing back and forth. As we approached it, I kept hearing the sound of an engine revving up and then tires squealing. I thought I was hearing someone practicing peeling out, but it was actually the ship ride. Power came from a repurposed and rearranged car, where the operator sat in a driver's seat and shifted the transmission between forward and reverse depending on which direction the swing was currently moving. Then they'd give it some gas (two pedals: gas and clutch, not brake) and a drive wheel would spin up. That wheel pushed the bottom of the boat and accelerated it. The controls, along with the engine clearly from a car:

At the same fair was a "gusanito" (little worm), a ride where people sat in a series of trailers and would be pulled all around the town. The front segment was a Land Cruiser dressed up as a worm head:
We took a "tarabita" (aerial tram) across a valley to see some waterfalls. It hung from one strong cable while a car engine pulled it with a second loop of thinner cable:

Comment via: google plus, facebook

Recent posts on blogs I like:

Animal Welfare and Capabilitarianism

All ethics is a special case of animal welfare science

via Thing of Things December 18, 2024

Developing the middle ground on polarized topics

Avoiding false dichotomies The post Developing the middle ground on polarized topics appeared first on Otherwise.

via Otherwise November 25, 2024

How to eat vegan on Icon of the Seas

Royal Caribbean has a new giant cruise ship, Icon of the Seas, which has a large selection of food options.

via Home November 21, 2024

more     (via openring)