Nikola Tesla registered over 300 patents when he was expanding the boundaries of electricity at the turn of the 20th Century. His most noteworthy discoveries were the induction motor, the rotating magnetic field, a remote control torpedo, and the famous tesla coil he invented in 1891. He may not have anticipated the Tesla-3 electric car though.
How Tesla Used His Coils
Tesla used the coils to generate signals at a particular frequency. They are still doing their job in radio equipment, oscillators, filters, tuners, electrotherapy and violet ray devices, and frequency mixers. Tesla’s invention spawned an amateur hobby called coiling. Coilers meet at competitions to see who can make the most sizzling displays of light and sound.
Olympic Games of Coilers
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is the ‘olympic games’ of the coiling movement. Coilers gather in the Colorado desert to share their tesla coil inventions and hope to win a prize. Over and above hosting live music, the Coachella is also a magnet for sculptors, and creators of installation art.
Some coilers are solitary people working on their own. One such person is South Korean engineer Flanon Shin reaching out to friends and fans on Twitter. One day he was astounded to discover he had over a thousand contacts. He wanted to do something special to celebrate his success.
The method he chose was building one of the biggest ever tesla coil robot orchestras. The video starts a little slow but hang in there. It is worth it!
Flanon Shin had to edit his MIDI file to revive the original vibe of ‘Hello’ by OMFG. The result reminds us of a cross between a street accordion and the Bo Jangles song. Do you remember the words Jerry Jeff Walker sang? Here they are again.
Dance, Mr. Bojangles, dance.
I knew a man Bojangles and he’d dance for you in worn out shoes. Silver hair, ragged shirt and baggy pants, that old soft shoe. He’d jump so high, he’d jump so high, then he lightly touch down? Mr. Bojangles, Mr. Bojangles, dance.
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