Page 58 - DWV PROMO BOOK

Yard Sale

After all the work I’d done with “human-powered” vehicles, I got the idea to apply some HP science to the world of lawn mowing.
I wanted to create a mower that didn’t need gas, oil, electricity, or servicing. We did lots of experiments and built a number of
interesting prototypes. Our human-powered lawnmower caught the attention of the Department of Energy and they sent an
“engineer” out to our studio in Westport to review our work and product performance. They were ready to award us a $100,000
prize to help fund further development. That’s when things suddenly got weird. I invited them to visit and review our product, but
I made it clear that cutting grass would be out of the question as it was February in Connecticut. Over the phone they said they
understood. But when their engineer arrived, he demanded that we show him our cutting performance. Turns out he wasn’t even
an engineer. And worse, he was more interested in telling us how we should market the device than in discussing engineering and
development. Bureaucracy at its finest...OMG. – DW

1992 • Enviro•Logic human-powered rotary lawnmower • Finalist for Department of Energy grant