World’s Largest K’nex Ball Machine is in MN [WATCH]
The functioning installation can be seen at The Works Museum in Bloomington.
St. Paul native and U of M grad Austin Granger has been playing with toys most of his life. Nevermind that he's a grown adult, he's also a computer science major, engineer and Youtube sensation. One of his favorite toys to play with, given his talents and abilities, is the hands-on construction system K'nex.
Granger's latest installation is also a record-holder for the largest K'nex ball machine currently standing and can be seen at The Works Museum in Bloomington, MN. Austin posted a video of the installation, which was completed earlier this year, to Youtube.
"It stands 23 feet tall with over 115,000 pieces," Granger shares in the video's caption. "It has a computer-controlled dual elevator lift which sends balls down 12 different paths adding up to over 850 feet of track. It took one year to build."
The Works Museum is a hands-on children's museum that teaches kids to think like an engineer. Granger's K'nex machine is a permanent installation at the museum and can be seen in the lobby.
According to Granger's Youtube bio, he typically builds between 4 and 6 large projects per year. Only 80% of them make it to Youtube. Watch the video above or -- better yet -- take the kids to The Works Museum to see it in person and play for themselves!