Robotic Hunting Decoys Canned Tomatoes Scoreboards Lassos
The latest taxidermy trend is motion. Today many museums and nature centers feature wildlife models that move. These robotic replicas look so lifelike that hunters use them as decoys and game wardens set them out to catch poachers in the act. Activated by remote control, the robotic decoy's head turns and its tail wags. More elaborate models have additional moving body parts. The decoys can be set up directly on the ground or installed on a track system, which moves it along as though it is walking. At the decoy factory, they begin by waxing a two-part fiberglass body mold. This one's for a deer. Waxing the mold cavity will make it easy to extract the casting. Next, they put steel reinforcement bars in the legs. The bars stick out the bottom of the hoofs as stakes to prop the decoy on the ground. They apply the other half of the mold and clamp around the perimeter to hold the two parts together. They prepare the mold for the deer's head the same way, then pour in a bit of liquid casting material. They pour about three quarts of it into the body mold... And clamp on the head mold. This casting material is expanding polyurethane foam. It begins swelling immediately and within two minutes reaches full expansion, transforming from a liquid to a flexible solid. Over the next hour and a half, the foam cures to a hard, inflexible state, at which point they remove the clamps and extract the casting. Some foam seeped out between the two halves of the molds and between where the head meets the body, producing seams which workers now sand flat. Using a round drill bit, they make one-inch sockets for eyes. Then, with a miniature router bit, they drill out nostrils. They glue a glass eye into each socket with a bit of wet clay. When the clay dries, the eye is set securely in place. No faux fur for these decoys. Workers scrape any remnants of flesh off a real deer hide, then wash the hide and apply a preservative. Then they slip the hide over the foam deer. They fit the fur to the form snugly using a combination of staples, glue, and stitching. Once the deer is fully dressed, it is put aside for four to six weeks. This gives the preservative ample time to penetrate and do its job, which is to dry and harden the hide. This is essential to ward off insects and prevent the hide from decomposing. The taxidermy phase of production is now complete. Now off with his head... Because it is time to install the robotics, which will make the head move. The first step is to drill out a cavity inside the neck. This creates a pocket in which to install the plastic housing which contains the robotic components. The first of those components is a compact motor. It drives this hard plastic gear. Next, the receiver for the remote control... Then a aa battery pack that powers both the motor and the receiver. All this goes into the neck pocket. They drill out a cavity in the head and install a gear and shaft. The final step is to mount the head on to the body, inserting the shaft into the gear on top of the motor. So now when the motor runs, it rotates the gear, which turns the shaft, which moves the decoy's head. Each moving body part has the identical mechanics, its receiver corresponding to a dedicated switch on the remote control. The remote works for more than 3/10 of a mile away. You can even program it to put the decoy through a pre-set motion routine. Often considered to be a veggie, the tomato is actually a fruit. It is developed from the ovary of the plant and it has seeds. It is also the most popular one on the planet. Mechanization of canning in the last century has made that possible, ensuring that tomatoes are preserved when they are ripe and ready. All you need is a can opener to unlock the juicy flavor of the field tomato. There are more than 2,000 varieties. For canning purposes, they grow a type with a thick skin and firm consistency so machinery can pick and sort them without damaging the flesh. Rotating clippers cut the vines as the harvester drives over the crop. Once cut, the plants ride an elevator belt up into the harvester. Inside the harvester, metal prongs shake the tomatoes to free them from the vines. An electronic color sorter rejects the green ones. A conveyor transfers the red, ripe tomatoes to a trailer traveling alongside the harvester. Once they have a load of 24 tons, they deliver the tomatoes to the canning factory. Here they fill the trailer with water to float the tomatoes out through a door at the side. The tomatoes land on a slatted conveyor. The water, dirty from residual soil, drains away through the slats. The tomatoes land in a clean, water-filled channel, and here any rocks sink to the bottom and are removed. The tomatoes float on into a big tank where jets churn up the water for more gentle cleansing action. The tomatoes then head up to a sorting line. They travel over metal bars and smaller tomatoes fall through the gaps. They will be used to make tomato juice. The others fly forward past 60 tiny cameras that detect pale or yellowish tomatoes. Pneumatic fingers knock those tomatoes out of the batch. It all happens in less than a second. Looking for a damaged or broken fruit now, humans inspect the tomatoes. They send any rejects to another part of the factory to be used to make juice. The rest take the plunge into a very hot bath. This scalds the tomatoes and loosens the skins. The tomatoes then travel on a moving bed of rubber disks, and this gently pulls the skins away from the tomatoes. A spray of water washes away the skins and they fall through the rubber disks so there is no mess to clean up after peeling. The now-peeled tomatoes wash up on to another conveyor where sprayers give them another rinse. This conveyor controls the flow of peeled tomatoes into the processing room by metering the produce as it moves forward. Ahead, the dicer awaits. It has three sets of cross-cutting blades for some serious slicing action. The tomatoes tumble down a shoot into the dicer and are quickly chopped into small cubes. The diced tomatoes ride by workers who pick out pieces that aren't perfectly red. They also remove any core pieces. Exiting a cleaning station, the cans cue up for a fill-up. Ahead, the diced tomatoes flow into metal pockets. This portions them out for the cans. The pockets rotate forward to meet the cans now moving in sync below. The bottoms of the pockets open to release the contents into the cans. And it all happens with perfect timing. They add hot tomato juice and flavorings... And lids advance towards the open cans. They land on top and a machine crimps the lids to the cans, creating a double seam for a complete seal. Now in airtight cans, the tomatoes head into a hot oven for a quick cook. This sterilizes them, eliminating the need to use preservatives. The cans are now ready for labeling. They spin across wheels that apply glue to the sides. They roll over paper labels that adhere to the glue-covered cans. Here is the labeling action slowed down for the camera. The label contains brand and nutritional information as well as the exact time of production. This means it can be traced if there is ever a quality issue. It has taken about one hour for these field tomatoes to be harvested, canned, and labeled, preserving a taste of summer to be enjoyed year-round. In every sport, fans need to know the score. In the early days, scorekeepers climbed ladders to scrawl numbers on a chalkboard. By the time they were done, the score might have changed, and it was time to start again. Modern scoreboards serve up the numbers in an instant. Today's digital scoreboards light up within seconds of a game change, delivering results fast and leaving fans cheering in the stands. They start with the front of the board. A computer program guides a plasma torch to cut out precisely-sized slots in a sheet of high-grade steel. The slots will house the illuminated numerals and indicators like arrows. A worker then feeds narrower strips of steel to a press that bends back the edges to create tabs. These strips will serve as the sides of the scoreboard, and the tabs will be used to install them. Using a special compressed air tool, a worker clinches the tabs to the back of the scoreboard. This tool punches and stretches the steel to interlock it, joining the parts without using screws, rivets, or welds. He fastens four strips to the back panel. He then attaches the plasma-cut front panel to complete the basic structure of the scoreboard. The next worker sprays a powder-paint coating on to the entire scoreboard. Then it is into a giant convection oven for about 14 minutes to cure the powder paint. The result is a tough powder-paint skin that will make it possible for the scoreboard metal to weather the elements. They are now ready for working parts like l.e.d. light-studded digit boards, a data transmitter and receiver. He connects the receiver to the power source and installs it inside the cabinet. He pulls the antenna through a hole so it protrudes from the front, and he bends it out of the way for now. There are several light-studded digit plates on a scoreboard. Each can flash any number. He wires them in a loop, interconnecting them in what's known as a daisy-chain configuration. He also plugs in a ribbon-style cable to link the digits to the scoreboard's processing module. He inserts the digits in the slots on the front and shields them with a sheet of transparent polycarbonate. He screws a metal framework around each digit assembly to secure it. He confirms that the wiring is good and that all the numbers light up. He connects the wireless computer processing module to the numbers and also wires it to a power source. He mounts the module to a panel that will then be installed through the back of the scoreboard cabinet. An evening inkjet printer reproduces the company logo on adhesive-backed paper followed by some fierce-looking team graphics. Later, a weatherproof coating will be applied to the paper graphics. They also use vinyl decals. The worker peels away the unwanted material from around the lettering. This is called weeding. After transferring the decals to applicator tape called the pre-mask, she carefully positions the grouping on the front of the scoreboard. Satisfied that it's in the perfect spot, she tapes it at the top. She then peels off the backing, and the letters cling to the pre-mask. Using a squeegee, she presses the decals to the metal board, smoothing any messy-looking bubbles or buckles. She removes the tape... Then lifts the pre-mask very carefully so as not to lift any of the decals in the process. With all the lettering now in place, the numbers on the board will mean something to the crowds in the stands. They equip the scoreboard with a speaker and horn that will sound off in the event of a touchdown. And no need to run cable from the scoreboard to the keyboard. It is operated by remote control. Using that system, a worker now tests all the functions of the scoreboard. This test is thorough and takes about 20 minutes. When it is done, he declares the scoreboard ready for game action. Today's sports scoreboards come in any shape or design the customer desires. When it comes to drumming up a little team spirit, a modern scoreboard can be a game-changer. A lasso, also called a lariat, is a classic cowboy tool designed for catching running cattle. On one end, there is a moving noose you throw over the animal's head. This loop tightens around the neck or horns safely stopping the animal in its tracks. Working a lasso requires tremendous skill... So much so that rodeos typically hold roping contests and feature performances of jaw-dropping maneuvers. The ropemaker starts by looping five nylon threads around a bushing mounted on a traveling box. He ties the end onto the first of three spinning eyes... Then runs the five threads around the bushing and the second spinning eye, then back to the bushing. He then hops on his cart and drives the traveling box to another traveling box, pulling the threads for this lasso to a length of 15 yards. He transfers the threads from the bushing to a spinning eye on this second traveling box... Then pulls the threads back to make the other half of the rope. When he arrives at the starting point, he loops the threads through a third spinning eye. Then he pulls all the threads to equal tension, cuts them from their spools, and ties them off. This completes what's known as the stringing process. Next comes the twisting process. A motor turns the three spinning eyes, twisting the 10 threads on each one into a strand and the three strands together into a lasso rope that's around 2/10th's of an inch in diameter. The twisting force pulls the two boxes toward each other. The ropemaker puts a certain amount of weight in each box. That determines the stiffness of the rope, which can range from extra soft to medium hard. A rope this length takes about five minutes to twist. The ropemaker now wraps the end with electrical tape so that the rope won't unravel when he cuts it loose. He pulls the rope at the center to release some tension... Then just beyond the taped end snips the strands free. He knots them, then trims the ends with a hot blade that slices the nylon threads by melting them. He lays the rope in piping-hot wax. It seeps into the nooks and crannies, permeating the threads deep inside, setting the twist. After suspending the rope for a while to let the excess wax drip off, he connects it to a pulling mechanism inside a heated room, or, in summertime, outdoors under the hot sun. Stretching for a couple of days pulls out any waves, ensuring the rope lies perfectly straight. Next, he cuts off the knot and unravels just enough rope to tie a knot for what's called a hondo. That's the eye in the rope which lets him build the loop that catches the animal. On the other end, he ties a different type of knot, one which will keep the rope from unraveling. Using pliers and a vice, he pulls both knots tight... Slices off excess with the hot blade of the rope cutter... Then burns the ends with a propane torch to seal them. Now, he ties the hondo. The hondo slides along the rope, loosening and tightening the loop. He hangs the hondo on a hook and, using a specially designed wheel, pulls it tight. Then he sews a piece of rawhide into the eye of the hondo. This piece of leather is called the burner. It prevents the eye from burning through, meaning wearing out, as the rope slides through it. He bangs it with a hammer to seat it in the rope grooves... Then stamps the company name on it and marks the rope's stiffness. Lassos come in various degrees of stiffness for different types of animals and purposes, such as roping cattle by the head or by the heels.