This might not look like it’s been done in the pursuit of any higher goals, and really, it doesn’t feel that way, but it is still pretty cool. Five years writing code, designing the Dominator, and then realizing the goal of setting up well over one hundred thousand dominos just to knock them down, and gain a Guinness World Record, of course, appears to have been worth it judging by the looks on the faces of those that took part in this endeavor. The work that went into this thing was amazing though, and the ability to visualize this kind of thing and then build it is something that would likely interest quite a few people. Bringing in a domino expert was a nice touch since human error was bound to be a big deciding factor when it came to who could set up the blocks quicker. It’s pretty obvious, but the idea that a human could outlast or outpace a machine when setting dominos is kind of a no-brainer. Kudos to the young woman in the clip though since she is pretty quick.
Watching and listening to dominos cascade as they’re tipped is rather cathartic as the sound and the sight is highly pleasing for one reason or another. Setting them up takes a lot of doing unless you’ve got a machine that can place them 300 at a time, and can even do a pattern thanks to the programming that’s set into it. The system involving the robotic arm, the funnels, and the tray beneath the dominos is ingenious since it allows for sorting, transportation, and delivery using a method that’s definitely fun to watch and amazing to think about. But in all honesty, it does feel as though this is something that an engineer would find fascinating since the entire process is something that allows them to play with the design and the function in a few interesting ways.
A lot of us have played with dominos in the past since they’re fun to set up and knock down, and a lot of people have even gone farther when creating elaborate designs and effects with dominos that are nothing short of brilliant. Watching many of them online is enough to make a person appreciate the fact that someone, or a lot of people, in fact, took the time and effort to set everything up and had the knowledge and wherewithal to set up everything just perfect so that it would react at the right given moment and not before. In one regard, dominos are a bit difficult to work with since they tip over fairly easy and in order to get them set right, they do need to be close to one another. In other words, if you don’t have steady hands it’s likely that you’re bound to tip your creation over a few times. But a sure hand and a keen eye for design can make wonders happen with dominos since it’s all about knowing how they’ll fall when it comes to setting them up. It’s also great if those around the person setting them up don’t give in to the urge to knock them down.
There are a great number of YouTube videos out there that offer a look at the numerous ways that dominos can be set and can grant a great deal of inspiration to those that might want to get into the act of setting up dominos. What might be pretty cool though is to see whether or not Dom could be programmed to create a design that doesn’t utilize the square model. Perhaps a program that could create a 3D effect, in a way, would be possible so that the creation could exist without needing to be bound into blocks. That sounds like something that might take a lot of doing, but it does feel as though it would be worth it since the design might come out looking insanely impressive. But it probably would require a great deal of work and perhaps more lines of code. Of course, being a writer and not an engineer or a programmer I really don’t know, but it does feel as though it would take a great deal of work to make this happen.
Dominos is something that many people enjoy when they’re younger and might forget about when they grow up, but this isn’t the case in this video since the idea of creating a machine to set down blocks of 300 dominos all at once proves that the engineer didn’t really grow out of dominos at all. One can be forgiven for wondering if he ever grew up all the way, but then I might be a bit of a hypocrite given that I’m still into pop culture, like WAY into it. Ah well, we all have our things.
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