NHK's "Magical Modification Night," a program in which Japan's top engineers compete with the most extreme ideas and techniques, will broadcast a new episode, "Office Chair Beach Flags," on January 29th at 7:30 PM on the general channel. This time, the "magical modification" is an office chair. The chair, equipped with a motor, runs 20 meters to capture a flag placed on it, taking on the challenge of "Beach Flags."
The participating teams are H-Lyche Construction, a global manufacturer of hydraulic excavators and other construction machinery based in Ibaraki, and A-Ishin, a major global company based in Aichi that develops and manufactures automatic transmissions and other automotive parts. This will be the first time in the program's history that two teams will face off against each other, a major global manufacturer of construction machinery and a major global automotive parts company.
The two teams compete in a "time competition," where they compete to see who can take the longest time, and in a "match match," where two teams run together and the first team to grab the flag wins. The rules are the same as beach flags, with the office chairs facing backwards at first. Then, they turn forward, run 20 meters in a straight line, and then reach out and grab the flag.
The key to victory was how to form the hand that would grab the flag and how to extend that hand. It was also difficult to turn the chair around and make it run quickly and in a straight line, but after a month and a half of hard work, both teams created a monster machine.
Will this office chair, which incorporates a complex mechanism, be able to successfully grab the flag? What will the outcome be?
