The NHK program "Magical Modification Night" (General) features Japan's top engineers competing with their most extreme ideas and techniques. The new episode "Plastic Umbrella Flight Time Match" will be broadcast on January 30th from 7:30 pm.
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.
Participating companies include Kyoto-based precision parts processing manufacturer Harutop, global cutting-edge materials manufacturer Tre, and Suzu Manufacturing, which has produced Nobel Prize winners, and will each utilize their respective technologies and ideas in the competition.
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.
