Boy Builds Wall-Climbing Machine Using Recycled Vacuums

Joe McIntosh writes "Hibiki Kono just might be a boy genius. The 13-year-old decided he wanted to climb vertical surfaces like his hero, Spiderman. So, he used two 1,400-watt recycled vacuum cleaners and a little bit of elbow grease to make a machine that allows him to scale walls. Kono has been scaling the walls of his UK school and has told the media that he hopes his invention will help window washers eliminate clumsy ladders from their daily routine."

No more ladders?

[Ossifer]

You'll love those "clumsy" ladders when someone trips on your power cord...

Goodf Idea

[camperdave]

Window washers rejoice! You can now use a piece of technology susceptible to power failure, surges, blown fuses, and seized motors, instead of the centuries old, proven technology that you've been using for years. Imagine how much safer you'll be clinging to a wall by a noisy machine rather than a clumsy ladder.

Re:Impressive? Sure, but it's a rip-off...

[BenihanaX]

Not only is he claiming credit for an "invention" that isn't his, he fails to note the impracticality due to the strength and stamina required. In the BBC show, Jem Stansfield (who is in better shape than the average window washer) is exhausted by the time he makes it up the building, and he didn't do a bit of cleaning on the way.

Re:Impressive? Sure, but it's a rip-off...

[SuperKendall]

Nice to see the original - it seems like he would have had to do a lot less work if the extension cord had been run from above rather than below. A hundred feet or so of extension cord is fairly heavy.

An improvement of the gloves would be some kind of wipe to neutralize oily surfaces...

Health and Safety

[Jamza]

How is he being allowed to do this on the side of his school? To get a pair of safety scissors in a UK school there are like 60 health and safety requirements that need to be met... somehow I think scaling the side of a school building with hoovers might violate the H&S laws.

Re:Oh no he didn't!

[Cylix]

There are a few important differences between the two systems.

Adam's design was not tethered and has a finite amount of power to work with. This meant he had to rely on a few mechanical components. I think overall his gear appeared to be quite a bit heavier.

The kid's design is not an efficient system and has a relatively infinite power source. It gets to be lighter and a bit more lossy in terms of suction. This is how he is able to scale brick walls with what appears to be a few hoses and cups.

However, I think if they adopted some of the simpler aspects of the kids machine it would lighten the weight on the Adam crawler.