It has been announced that a new episode of the NHK program "Magical Modifications Night" (General), in which Japan's top engineers compete using their most extreme ideas and techniques, titled "Plastic Umbrella Air Time Match," will be broadcast from 7:30 p.m. on January 30th.
The theme this time was a "plastic umbrella." The participants were to create a mechanism that would transform in mid-air and compete for the longest flight time. They tried various methods to make the umbrella lighter and catch the air, as well as incorporating a flapping mechanism, but they ran into many problems, such as if it was too light it was unstable, and if it was too complicated it was too heavy. The engineers spent a month and a half making repeated modifications.
The participating companies are three representatives of Japanese science and technology: Kyoto-based precision parts processing manufacturer "Helltop", global cutting-edge materials manufacturer "Tre", and "Stsu Manufacturing", which has produced Nobel Prize winners, and they will be taking on the challenge, utilizing their respective technologies and ideas.
The program will be advised by Hikaru Ijuin and Asa Ito, professor at Tokyo University of Science, with commentary by Takeshi Yano and commentary by Keisuke Nagato, associate professor at the University of Tokyo Graduate School. The highlights of the program will be the struggles of engineers taking on unknown challenges and how their innovative ideas are embodied.
