• Albbi@piefed.ca
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      12 days ago

      The video shows a robot with variable leg lengths where the excess is stored in a round drum.

      Mickey Mouse eared robot legs is not something I thought I would see when the title of the post is: three-sided zippers.

      • Aussiemandeus@aussie.zone
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        12 days ago

        Immediately when i saw this is thought man this will revolutionise the tent game.

        Then i saw the video and am glad they’re all over it

  • BigBrownDog@lemmy.world
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    13 days ago

    I’m sure people have said similar things about inventions in the past that now shape our everyday lives.

    • Drusas@fedia.io
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      13 days ago

      Article sort of goes into that a little bit, mentioning the origins of the idea and explaining how this one might actually be useful.

  • west2seven@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    13 days ago

    “William Freeman Ph.D., then an electrical engineer at Polaroid and now an MIT professor, saw it and submitted a novel idea: a three-sided zipper. Instead of fastening pants, it’d be like a switch that seamlessly flipped chairs, tents, and purses between soft and rigid states, making them easier to pack and put together.”

    Interesting but useless.

    • Drusas@fedia.io
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      13 days ago

      Sounds like you haven’t pitched many tents before. Or, more importantly, taken them down. Worst part of camping is packing it all up.

      • titanicx@lemmy.zip
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        13 days ago

        It’s really not hard. Most people are just lazy or lack the ability to look at something for more then 30 seconds before becoming frustrated. I camp all the time, just spent a week out at a lake with 3 tents. All of them ended up back in their bags nicely, like they do at the end of every trip.

        • MagicShel@lemmy.zip
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          12 days ago

          I camp all the time

          I used to camp once or twice a year. You don’t develop the “muscle memory” to pack everything up nicely. So just just kinda throw it together meaning to sort it later. The next year you grab it and it’s still all fucky and it’s a huge effort to make it less so.

          You’re right insofar as for someone who does it all the time it’s easy, but not so much for occasional users. To be fair that’s sort of the opposite premise than you were responding to. They would’ve been better off suggesting you either never do it or do it all the time.

          • titanicx@lemmy.zip
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            12 days ago

            Point is even when I first started camping this was never really an issue because I literally took the time to just look at the tent and say oh it goes back together like this it’s really not that difficult of a thing for somebody to spend an extra 2 minutes to look at their camping setup and realize how to fold everything back up.

            • MagicShel@lemmy.zip
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              12 days ago

              Well I would disagree there. I can’t even get a Christmas tree back in the box and that couldn’t be easier to disassemble.

          • Drusas@fedia.io
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            12 days ago

            Even for people who camp regularly, it’s easy because you’ve done it so many times. That doesn’t mean the process is ideal to begin with.

        • Drusas@fedia.io
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          12 days ago

          No one said that it’s hard, only that the process could be improved.

          Yeah, we (mostly) all pack things up fine. That doesn’t mean the process couldn’t be made easier.

    • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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      13 days ago

      If it’s durable and affordable, I can see the use for things like bags and tents.

      Or more specialized stuff like a camera strap that can zip into a basic tripod.

  • AliasVortex@lemmy.world
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    13 days ago

    Hey, that’s pretty cool! I’d be super curious to see how other materials outside of pla (not particularly great for long term outdoor use) or tpu fare, especially with tools like metal printers becoming slightly more accessible.

    Also, it might be worth cross posting to !3dprinting@lemmy.world, it’s always nice to see cool and bleeding edge use cases for the technology.

  • Tyrq@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    13 days ago

    John Zip would be proud that his two dimensional coupler gained an extra dimension of utility today.

        • Wirlocke@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          12 days ago

          Y’see the 3 sided zipper can only exist in cosmic levels of pressure and heat, being constrained by advanced AI controlled magnets to prevent the zipper from getting caught on something.

          • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
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            11 days ago

            A moment of horrified silence for the scrotums/labia of the 18 scientists that collectively discovered this. Their sacrifices will not be forgotten.

            Oops, the AI controlling the magnets just deleted the database with the records, but it says it is very sorry.

  • HubertManne@piefed.social
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    12 days ago

    Finally the time has come. Your primitive species has advanced to the point where we can now make ourselves known and offer you an opportunity to join galactic society.