17 votes

The Hotel Bathroom Puzzle

Tags: design

5 comments

  1. [2]
    patience_limited
    Link
    Oooh, that's lovely, but engineer-brain is already speculating about the new problems created by the solution... crawling under the strap to get to the bathtub, etc.

    Oooh, that's lovely, but engineer-brain is already speculating about the new problems created by the solution... crawling under the strap to get to the bathtub, etc.

    3 votes
    1. Kirby703
      Link Parent
      With some pulleys attached to the ceiling, the rope could be attached to both doors and go immediately upwards so as to be out of the way. Trying to open the door would have the rope and doorframe...

      With some pulleys attached to the ceiling, the rope could be attached to both doors and go immediately upwards so as to be out of the way. Trying to open the door would have the rope and doorframe collide, so it still can't be trivially opened. (Amusingly, this creates a new problem for anyone not tall enough to hook it at the ceiling.)
      My second iteration would be just the same, but have it wrap around the walls rather than the ceiling. It's slightly more in the way, but much more accessible.

      1 vote
  2. what
    Link
    Nice little article about some ingenious design.

    Nice little article about some ingenious design.

    1 vote
  3. acr
    Link
    Nice read, thanks for posting.

    Nice read, thanks for posting.

    1 vote
  4. Emerald_Knight
    Link
    It's really easy to succumb to tunnel vision when working on a solution. You can get so focused on one approach that you completely fail to realize all of the other possibilities around you. This...

    It's really easy to succumb to tunnel vision when working on a solution. You can get so focused on one approach that you completely fail to realize all of the other possibilities around you. This is why walking away from a problem is an incredibly useful tool in its own right :)

    1 vote