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Prosthetic Ass

2000
Science Faire at the Old Lab, Portland, OR.

I built a chainsaw-powered walking machine called the "prosthetic ass". It didn't walk very well. Still, it was named Best Prosthetic Ass in Portland. I used a chainsaw because of its centrifugal clutch. This was supposed to help with the large difference between engine RPMs and the leg crank RPMs.

It was inspired by a cartoon by Carl Hawk in "Robots on Your Doorstep" by Nelson B. Winkless and Iben Browning. The cartoon imagined a sort of donkey robot that would attach to the user and walk behind them carrying heavy loads. I was intrigued by the idea and the pun.

The prosthetic ass was demonstrated at the Science Faire at the Old Lab in 2000. Happily no one was hurt in the process.