Adam Savage tell stories as he remembers Grant Imahara. Grant recently died from a brain aneurysm.
Grant made Geoff Peterson, a snarky, remote-controlled skeleton which was used on the Craig Ferguson Late Show. The creation became so popular it even has its own Wikipedia entry and ironically, that entry is significantly longer than Imahara’s.
Grant made the Battlebot, Deadblow. Deadblow competed in BattleBots in the middleweight division using a fast pneumatic hammer as its weapon. Deadblow won 2 rumbles and was ranked number 2 among middleweights, right after Hazard. It had 7 wins and 6 losses.
Deadblow most notable use came in 2009 in “Driving In The Dark” episode of Mythbusters, which saw Imahara, Tory Belleci and temporary Build Team member Jessi Combs testing the myth that smugglers can beat checkpoints at the Canada–US border by turning off their headlights while not crashing or navigating wrongly due to lack of light. To simulate an oncoming car with its headlights ablaze, Imahara fastened halogen lamps to Deadblow – which earned it the nickname of “Blinky” – and drove it towards Belleci, who was playing the role of a smuggler in a go-kart with its headlights off, causing him to veer and crash into the tire wall.
Jessi Combs passed away in 2019 when she tried to set a land speed record.
SOURCES – Tested, Mythbusters, Battlebots, Wikipedia, Star Trek Continues
Written By Brian Wang, Nextbigfuture.com
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.
A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts. He is open to public speaking and advising engagements.
A lot more, considering his contribution to Tv and culture.
Still unimaginable that something like that happened to someone that young. He was like a staple personality to many, likely inspiring many young souls to pursue engineering. RIP.
His passing deserved more airtime
Good Sir