Dean Kamen may be best known for the Segway personal mobility device, but the prolific genius actually holds 440 U.S. and International patents, ranging from the iBOT wheelchair that can climb stairs to the Luke robotic prosthetic arm to a water purification system.
Last night at its annual Breakthrough Awards, Popular Mechanics presented Kamen with a leadership award. I was in attendance, and many of Kamen’s major inventions were on display, including the Segway, the Luke Prosthetic Arm, and a new Coke machine that mixes over 100 different drinks on the fly. I also saw Kamen’s water purification system, the Slingshot.
The Slingshot was actually a working model, so in Kamen’s honor, I decided to drink some of the purified water. According to one report, “Slingshot will work with all kinds of unclean water, even water crawling with microorganisms and parasites, even ocean water, even water that doesn’t come from your tap.” Mmm, yummy.
Please note the color of the original source water, and that I did not fall over dead after drinking the resulting cleaned-up water. More photos from the PM event after the jump.
Post a Comment