A new and improved device for opening a bottle of wine

[Glaurung]

This is something that I first saw on the 'Net some years ago; I was reminded of it today, and was rewarded handsomely when I sought it out. It's described as "mechanical sculpture": a quarter-ton machine composed of 382 pieces, for opening a bottle of wine and pouring out a glass. Here it is in action:

There's another recording here (same event, different run) and here (different event + different operator = different explanation).

Its inventor is Rob Higgs - his YouTube channel has more videos of this and his other exuberantly engineered creations. I also found a potted biography for those who'd like to know a little more about him.

[Jubal]

Truly, the Georgian verb of bottle-opening - grossly over-engineered for the job but also really quite cool

[Son of the King]

This is really cool, I kind of want one. I'd also like to see an industrial scale version for catering or something that is steam powered.

[Jubal]

Might need modification other than just scale for wider use - e.g. can it do refills?

[Glaurung]

Might need modification other than just scale for wider use - e.g. can it do refills?

One of the audience asked about this at the end of one of the videos. Apparently, yes, it can do further glasses / refills - presumably it will run happily with a bottle that's already open. But it still has to go through the full cycle, because much of what it's doing is winding up a weight and a spring to provide the energy to lift the bottle and pour it.

[Jubal]

Mm, makes sense. So fine in one sense, but somewhat inefficient

[Glaurung]

Something gives me the impression that pure efficiency might not have been an important design criterion for this...