Chinese inventor Tao Xiangli controls his self-made humanoid robot with a remote controller as he poses with it during a photo opportunity at his house located in a old residential area in Beijing August 8, 2013. The self-taught Chinese inventor built the home-made robot, named "The King of Innovation", out of scrap metal and electronic wires that he bought from a second-hand market. Tao completed his creation in less than a year, with costs of production and living expenses amounting to 300,000 yuan ($49,037). However, the robot, which measures 2.1 metres (6.9 feet) in height and 480 kg (1058 lbs) in weight, turned out to be too tall and heavy to walk out of the front door of his house. It can perform simple movements with its hands and legs and also mimic human voices.
Ding Shilu (L) tests the engine of his home-made aircraft before conducting a test flight on the outskirts of Shenyang, Liaoning province, August 6. 2013. Ding, a 65-year-old migrant worker, spent around 2,000 yuan ($327) to build this 5-metre-long, 4.5-metre-high plane using components from motorcycles and electric bicycles. Ding failed his fourth test flight on Tuesday since he started his project four years ago, local media reported.
Wen Jiaquan (2nd L), 54-year-old motorcycle mechanic, moves his self-made helicopter in Qingping township of Chongqing municipality, July 28, 2013. Wen and his family spent over 10,000 yuan (1,630 USD) and more than three months to build this 4.2-metre-long, 2.8-metre-high helicopter using mostly motorcycle components and a used car engine, local media reported. Picture taken July 28, 2013.
An ethnic Uighur man Abulajon drives his self-made motorcycle during a test in Manas county, Xinjiang Uighur autonomous region, April 27, 2013. Abulajon, a 30-year-old Uighur worker from a sewage treatment plant, spent a year making his 0.3 tonnes motorcycle measuring 4.3 metres (14 feet) in length and 2.4 metres (7.8 feet) in height, although it makes it impossible for him to drive it on the street. It cost him about 8000 yuan ($1300) to buy all the parts from salvage stations and the converted engine can power the motorcycle with a speed of 40 km per hour (24.8 miles per hour), local media reported.
Zhang Wuyi looks up as he squats under a suction pipe of his new submarine that captures sea cucumbers at his workshop in Wuhan, Hubei province, March 25, 2013. Zhang, a 38-year-old local farmer who is interested in scientific inventions, has independently made eight miniature submarines with several fellow engineers, one of which was sold to a businessman in Dalian at a price of 100,000 yuan ($15,855) in 2011. The submarines, mainly designed for harvesting aquatic products, such as sea cucumber, have a diving depth of 20-30 metres (66-98 feet), and can travel for 10 hours, local media reported.
Workers move a tyre near spherical pods named "Noah's Ark", designed by Chinese inventor Liu Qiyuan in Xianghe, Hebei province, December 12, 2012. Liu, who has spent 1.8 million yuan ($288,000) on building six "Noah's Ark"s in 8 months with the help of his former furniture factory's workers, is working on his seventh pod. The 17 cubic-metre volume vessels were built to serve as lifeboats in the event of earthquakes, tsunamis and floods.
Villagers help to push Zhang Xuelin's self-made aircraft before its test flight in Jinan, Shandong province, November 29, 2012. Zhang, a farmer who dropped out of primary school in his early years, spent around 2,000 yuan ($321) to build a plane around a motorcycle, using wood and plastic boards. The plane, which took 11 months to build, failed in its test flight.
A Chinese inventor, Yang Zongfu celebrates on his six-ton (5,443 kg) ball container named Noah's Ark of China after he succeeds in a series of tests of the vessel in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, August 6, 2012. According to local media, Yang spent two years and 1.5 million RMB (235,585 USD) to build this four-metre diameter vessel, which has been tested capable of housing a three-person family and sufficient food for them to live in 10 months. The vessel was designed to protect people inside from external heat, water and external impact.
Zhang Wuyi sits in his double-seater submarine during a test operation at an artificial pool near a shipyard in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, May 7, 2012. Zhang, a 37-year-old local farmer, who is interested in scientific inventions, has made six miniature submarines with several fellow engineers, one of which was sold to a businessman in Dalian at a price of 100,000 yuan ($15,855) last October. The submarines, mainly designed for harvesting aquatic products, such as sea cucumber, have a diving depth of 20-30 metres, and can travel for 10 hours, local media reported.
Zhang Wuyi sits in his double-seater submarine before taking it underwater during a test operation at an artificial pool near a shipyard in Wuhan, Hubei province May 8, 2012. Zhang, a 37-year-old local farmer, who is interested in scientific inventions, has made six miniature submarines with several fellow engineers, one of which was sold to a businessman in Dalian at a price of 100,000 yuan ($15,855) last October. The submarines, mainly designed for harvesting aquatic products, such as sea cucumber, have a diving depth of 20-30 metres, and can travel for 10 hours, local media reported.
Li Jingchun (top L), a 58-year-old farmer, works with his family members on his self-made aircraft on top of his house in Xiahe village located in Shenyang, Liaoning province, China, February 28, 2012. The 5m long, 1.5m wide plane, mostly made of recycled iron plates, cost the aircraft enthusiast and his family two years and more than 40,000 yuan ($6,349), according to local media.
Zhang Yali, 49, tests a giant bicycle designed and made by him and his friends outside a rented warehouse in Jilin, Jilin province, China, December 25, 2011. The 3.2-metre-high and 5.5-metre-long three-seated giant bicycle, weighing over one tonne, cost Zhang more over 20,000 yuan (3,156 USD). Zhang spent two months making this bike as a gift for his son, a 25-year-old part-time cartoonist currently living in Shenzhen, Guangdong province.
Local farmer Shu Mansheng hovers above the ground in his self-designed and homemade flying device during a test flight in front of his house in Dashu village on the outskirts of Wuhan, Hubei province, China, September 21, 2011. The round steel flying device, which cost more than 20,000 yuan ($3,135), is the fifth model made by Shu, a junior middle school graduate. It measures around 5.5 meters (18 feet) in diameter, and is powered by eight motorcycle engines. Shu managed to hover for 10 seconds at about 1 metre (3.3 feet) above ground during a recent test flight.
Ding Shilu, an automobile mechanic, carries out a test-flight for his self-made aircraft at a frozen reservoir in Shenyang, Liaoning province February 25, 2011. The aircraft which weights about 130 kg (287 lbs) and made of recycled materials including three motorbike engines and plastic cloth, cost about 2600 yuan ($395), local media reported.
Lei Zhiqian rides a modified bicycle across the Hanjiang River, a tributary of the Yangtze River in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, June 16, 2010. The bicycle, equipped with eight empty water containers at the bottom, was modified by Lei's instructor Li Weiguo, who hopes to put his invention into the market.
Gao Hanjie installs the rotor blades on his homemade helicopter in Shenyang, Liaoning province, China, June 9, 2010. The graphic designer and helicopter enthusiast, with help from his friends, has spent more than a month building the 6-meter-long and 350kg helicopter. Gao claims he will eventually fly the contraption as a personal project according to local media.
Chinese farmer Yang Youde pushes his homemade cannon near his farmland on the outskirts of Wuhan, Hubei province, China, June 6, 2010. Yang's cannon, which is made out of a wheelbarrow, pipes and firing rockets, is used to defend his fields against property developers who wants his land.
Farmer Shu Mansheng prepares to take off with his homemade ultralight aircraft in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, May 10, 2010. The 4.5-meter-long (15ft) ultralight, powered by two motor engines, took Shu eight months to build and cost him 5,000 yuan (733 USD), local media reported.
Tao Xiangli gets out of his homemade submarine after operating it in a lake on the outskirts of Beijing September 3, 2009. Amateur inventor Tao, 34, made a fully functional submarine, which has a periscope, depth control tanks, electric motors, manometer, and two propellers, from old oil barrels and tools which he bought at a second-hand market. He took 2 years to invent and test the submarine which costs 30,000 yuan ($4,385).
Wu Zhongyuan, 22, a local farmer, turns the wooden rotor blades of his self-made helicopter in preparation for its maiden flight, in Jiuxian county, Henan province, China, August 1, 2009. The local government later halted Wu's flight out of safety concerns. The aircraft, powered by a 150cc engine, took Wu two months to build and cost more than 10,000 yuan ($1,460), China Daily reported.
Farmer Wu Yulu drives his rickshaw pulled by a his self-made walking robot near his home in a village at the outskirts of Beijing January 8, 2009.
Tao Xiangli stands beside his homemade submarine in a courtyard in Beijing July 10, 2008. The amateur inventor says his submarine is made from old oil barrels but fully functional with a periscope, depth control tanks, electric motors and two propellers.
Zhao Xiuguo drives a homemade model of Formula One car in Tangshan, Hebei Province, some 180km (113 miles) east of Beijing July 21, 2006. Zhao Xiuguo and his brother Zhao Xiushun built the car from scrap metal and said that they wanted to design and build the first Formula One racecar in China.
Chinese shipbuilders stand on a submarine designed by a farmer Li Yuming (not pictured) on the Yangtse River in Wuhan, central China's Hubei province in this picture taken September 24, 2005. The submarine, 9.8 meters long, two meters wide, and four meters high, was built by some ten shipbuilders in seven months. Maritime Administration of the Yangtse River banned the submarine's trial voyage because it did not undertake any navigational procedure.
A woman rides an unicycle at a park in Shanghai February 28, 2004. The unicycle was designed by Chinese inventor Li Yongli who called it "the number one vehicle in the world."
Han Yuzi, 63, inventor, holds up one of his creations, a hair comb that doubles as a small hand-held musical instrument, in Guangzhou, the capital of China's Guangdong province, September 13, 2003.
A self-styled Chinese inventor tests his homemade helicoptor next to his apartment in Beijing June 25, 2003. Yu Jun follows in the footsteps of his younger brother who lost his life in a national park in central China at the end of a 20 year search for the legendary "Bigfoot", and intends to continue the quest from the sky. Without any formal education in aerospace science, Yu Jun spent five years constructing the helicopter from spare parts belonging to a dilapidated "Lada" automobile (in back).
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