Physics Students Build Drivable Couch

Radish03 writes "Some of my fellow members of The Society of Physics Students at Purdue University have, in an effort to preserve our beloved, antique couch, motorized it. The blue vinyl couch, named Mojo, was spotted driving around the Purdue campus on Thursday. Mojo, which has been extensively reupholstered with duct tape, features headlights, a glove box, and a radio and sound system will be added soon. Mojo has recently received sponsorship from Duck Tape and after appearing in several local newspapers, is in on the road to New York and set to appear Monday morning on Good Morning America. There are also a few pictures and videos of the couch in action."

Comments

Well, what else

[Anonymous Coward]

Are physics students going to do with a couch? Make-out? Have sex? Hahahaha!

Re:Well, what else

[Anonymous Coward]

And sadly, you were a tenured professor.

Re:Well, what else

[Anonymous Coward]

Wait, you think it's normal to make out and have sex with couches?

Arg

[GigsVT]

They need a sponsorship from Kodak to get a competant photographer.

Those pictures look like they were taken by a drunk 5 year old.

Re:Arg

[Radish03]

Yes, I apologize for the bad pictures, our webmaster is away with the couch so I couldn't get new ones on the club page, but here is a page of newer, much better quality pictures.

so. fucking. old.

[RomulusNR]

like how many motorized couches have there been in geek history?
burning man
mit
alabama-huntsville

huh?

[MustardMan]

As someone who was once a physics student... how the hell do physics undergrads have the time for this stuff? If you have time to do things that are fun, your physics program isn't hard enough ;)

Re:huh?

[Radish03]

Many of those involved are in applied ;-P

Re:huh?

[Jazzer_Techie]

As a physics major at MIT, I think I'm qualified to comment on this one. Technically, you probably don't have the time to do this kind of thing. However, by sacrificing sleep and working diligently, you make time for crazy projects. If you don't take time to have at least one fun, non-academic project/activity you will go crazy. It's well worth the time for self-preservation alone.

Re:huh?

[Thatmushroom]

We are also blessed with the advantage of numbers. Because the club is very diverse with regards to people's individual talents, people often mix up what they're involved with so that they don't get burnt out.

Re:huh?

[Spock the Baptist]

Being a physics major is no fun...

I beg to differ...

I had a great deal of fun as a physics major.

Of course once you get your baccalaureate, and advanced degrees;
you get to have the real fun when people ask what your occupation is.

Avg. Joe: So what do you do for a living?

Physics Dude: I'm a physicist.

Avg. Joe: (Incredulous look) For real???

Physics Dude: Yep, afraid so.

Avg. Joe: (Look of awe and astonishment!) I barely passed high school physics...

Majoring in physics won't bring you love, but it will bring you respect.

Re:huh?

[Thatmushroom]

My solution to finding time has been to cut out /. and sites like it. I'm pretty sure I haven't been here in over a year, and I'll stop checking it after this story fades away. It's amazing how much time one recovers in doing that.

Sorry to Troll

[XBL]

This has been done before, as a previous post links. NOT an original idea. Also, I'd be more impressed if this thing was electric. Driving around with a 2-cycle lawnmower engine doesn't sound very... high tech or comfortable. Whatever... hope they enjoy their geeky short-term fame which is not deserved.

Re:Sorry to Troll

[mughi]

This has been done before, as a previous post links. NOT an original idea.

True. But there is one that one bit that makes this somewhat more geek-worthy. They actually got sponsorship from the Duck tape people themselves. Not bad for a little week's hack.

Re:Sorry to Troll

[cbiltcliffe]

This has been done before, as a previous post links. NOT an original idea.

So? It's not like they're trying to patent it or anything.....

nice couch, but.....

[ChrisGilliard]

What's with the hat?

Must be the tractor transmission...

[Anonymous Coward]

The couch travels at about walking speed and can carry three people in the front and pull three more with a small trailer on the back.

Awesome work, guys: I can't even get my lawnmower to cut grass.

Re:Must be the tractor transmission...

[Thatmushroom]

Yeah, it is the tractor transmission. Although it hasn't been tested yet, we pretty sure that we will be able to tow our trebuchet with the couch, albeit very slowly.

Note: This is not a small trebuchet by any means, the counterweight is 750 lbs. and I would guess that the frame moves it close to a half-ton.

Call us back when....

[Dachannien]

I'd be impressed if they managed to get the thing to be street legal and then got license plates for it.

Police Officer: "Dispatch, I need you to run a plate for me."
Dispatch: "Go ahead."
Police Officer: "Adam Charlie Robert, Six Three Three Zero. It's a blue 1983 Barca."
Dispatch: "Reported stolen 27 January '06."
Police Officer: "I'm in pursuit. Send me some backup."

Moments later....

Police Officer: "TC! TC! 10-52! Oh, the humanity!!"

physics students...

[Spy der Mann]

...and they can't resize a picture. Sheesh. Let the slashdot effect teach 'em a lesson.

the beuty is in the eyes of the beholder

[wikinerd]

• physics nerd: we have a drivable couch!!!
• chemistry nerd: how can I make it to explode?
• business marketroid: how can I squeeze money out of it?
• mathematician: how long would it take to travel to Portland with the couch at half speed?
• lawyer: where is the license plate?
• insurance agent: you need to buy an insurance, Sir; this couch is prone to accidents!
• tourism agent: looks like it could become a new tourist attraction, let's print some tickets
• Eric S Raymond: Let's open source it!
• Richard Stallman: I will create a copylefted version, GNC (GNU's not coach)
• computer geek: doc, does it run GNU/Linux?
• troll: not new, others did it in the past, nothing to see here
• photographer: you should have hired me sir, your pix suck
• RIAA: We have the copyright, you are screwed
• government: Let's regulate it, so that we can tax it easier
• urban planner: This will cause further traffic congestion, and people will sleep on their drivable coaches while on the road
• network expert: Imagine a beowulf cluster made of those...
• American: Can I sell it on ebay?
• British: I am sure the inventor must have been British, let's knight them
• Canadian: eh!
• Ballmer: Developers! developers! developers! er...
• 133t5p34k3r: n34t!

Re:the beuty is in the eyes of the beholder

[NetRAVEN5000]

You forgot one:

Clippy: It looks like you're riding a couch! Would you like to use the couch-riding wizard?

Re:the beuty is in the eyes of the beholder

[DJNW]

People in Britain _have_ been doing this for ages linky
I've also seen on tv a settee and a road-legal shed.

Re:Sponsored?

[jericho4.0]

Why are you wasting your time here, when you could be feeding the homeless?

And at my college...

[skogs]

Instead of letting some moronic students suck bandwidth...we would have gotten expelled. Seriously, go to a 'normal' university with rules and such where 'free thinking' is not so purvasive and you get in trouble for things like this.

While I do think its a waste of time, I also think it was worth it for the entertainment value to the people involved...whether it should be newsworthy that some nimrods put a couch on top of their mower or not...

wow. This is sad. Can't wait till these guys get into the real world and try to get jobs...what have you done? ...err...well I went to MIT...but really I'm most proud of my extracurriculars...reallY? did you help the homeless or solve the problems of some inner city children? ... no I built a couch that could go down the sidewalk, jee I loved that couch...