- I built a new massive secret lab
that the average person will never find
because the only way in
is through this fake old, dusty office.
But I'm gonna give you guys a hint.
(eagle sliding and clicking)
(soft mysterious music)
And if you want a small taste for what's inside,
well this is a tennis ball cannon,
and this is my childhood hero Nitro
from the TV show, "American Gladiators."
- [Announcer] Nitro.
- And he's gonna try and shoot me
with a tennis ball cannon from the show
as I try and not get shot.
The only problem is
I've made some modifications to the cannon
and it shoots tennis balls stronger than the original.
Like a lot stronger.
(laughs) Dude.
But before we see if I actually live
I'd like to introduce you
to my brand new Willy Wonka factory for engineering
I've been secretly designing and constructing
over the past year and a half.
Not only have I been making all the builds
for my YouTube videos here, but it's also the birthplace
for the most ambitious thing I've ever done,
which I'll show you in a few minutes.
It's got secret passageways and $10,000 in a glass suitcase,
if you can fire a tennis ball into the bullseye,
the world's longest Hot Wheels track,
rooms that magically reveal themselves,
and a handful of some new engineering inventions
that I came up with just for the lab.
Since I was like eight years old
I've had this dream to design and build my own warehouse,
and this is it.
Welcome to CrunchLabs.
So today, I'm gonna walk you through
my 10 favorite things about this place,
and then at the end of the video
I'll explain how you can actually come out here
to build with me and my team for a day.
With that, let's jump right into number 10,
which is basically a way better version of a fireman's pole.
Now, the best thing about a fireman's pole
is that it's more exciting than using the stairs,
but other than that, they kind of suck.
I either do the thing where I hit the ground too fast
and burn my hands, or I do the thing where I sort
of squeak my way down and I still burn my hands.
So I thought, what if you could walk off the balcony
holding a rope that ran through some pulleys
and was connected to some kind of counterweight?
Well, that works great, and you land at the perfect speed
as long as you weigh just a little bit more
than the counterweight.
But unfortunately, if you weigh less,
you're not gonna go anywhere,
and if you weigh too much more,
you're still gonna land with a crash.
If only there was a way to have a perfect soft landing
no matter what you weigh.
Well, it turns out there is.
Using the power of pneumatics.
This is actually the same tube and piston we used
for the last devil's toothpaste explosion.
Only this time we just let the natural restriction
of the air having to squeeze by the piston slow you down.
So instead of the fireman's pole,
we got the fireman's piston.
It's so fun, and you basically feel
like a superhero every time you use it,
but more importantly,
it works the same no matter what you weigh.
Here's a family friend who weighs half as much as I do
and she sticks the landing like a pro just the same.
Next up, if we walk over here, we see number nine
which is the Nerf armory.
(singer vocalizing) (angelic music)
This of course allows me to pick my weapon of choice
and then to perch myself up here on the balcony
to keep an eye on my team and motivate anyone
that I think just isn't working hard enough.
(gun humming and popping)
But you'll notice
there's a second fireman's piston over there.
Only the rope on this one has a foothold
and lowers half as slow,
which means on the way down
you can get real Jason Bourne with things.
Then number eight, we've got this cool hangout area
on the balcony overlooking the workspace.
Of course for entertainment up here we got Chopsticks.
Hey, Chopsticks, play me a banger.
- [Chopsticks] You got it, Mark.
- (kiss smacks) The perfect choice.
- [Voice] Enchante.
- [Mark] Then right here we've got an original blueprint
from a "Mythbusters" episode,
a couch that transforms into a couch plus
as well as the chair that transforms into a chair plus.
Then my super cool brother Brian
made this super cool, old school, retro arcade game
as a lab warming gift
so I can play all the classics.
(playful music)
Then we stole this claw machine from a Denny's
and filled it with Phat Gus plushies,
and it hides one of the secret passages into the space.
But I'll show you that one in a second.
And now it's time for number seven,
which next to the fireman's piston
showcases my second favorite way
to make it down to the ground floor.
(Mark exhales)
(birds chirping)
Now, don't worry, folks, no Mark Robers were hurt
in the filming of the segment
because down below there was a shipping container
with a giant foam pit.
Nailed it.
And in addition to allowing
for emergency second floor exits,
it also allows you to up your Nerf battle game.
(gun popping)
But importantly the shipping container is on wheels
which means we can wheel it back
to its natural habitat in the arena room.
And giant foam pits are awesome for many reasons,
but foremost among them is if you have a buddy
who's a professional ultimate Frisbee player
he could toss you some throws,
so you can try and be just like him.
(upbeat music)
♪ Oh yeah ♪
(people clapping and laughing)
Just be prepared that when he does it after you
he's gonna make it look much cooler.
(camera clicks)
(people laughing)
Coming in at number six is all the engineering Easter eggs
that we've hidden around here.
As an example, let's take the bathroom,
which I think we could all agree is usually pretty boring.
First off, we found this regal portrait
of what is ostensibly one of Phat Gus's forebears.
But if you look closely here
you'll see there's a magnetic contact switch
and then a magnet on the seat lid.
That's because men are pigs,
and as long as the sensor detects
the seat is in the up position
it will deploy the solenoid and keep the door closed.
And now with nowhere to go,
you've got plenty of time
to reevaluate your terrible life choices.
(door rattling)
And then I've always loved the idea
from this "Far Side" cartoon,
which is like a hand wash detector.
And the best thing about being an engineer
is if there's a thing that doesn't exist
and you want it to exist, you can just make it exist.
So we have a limit switch here
that gets triggered on the flush,
and then a capacitive touch sensor here
that knows if the faucet's been touched.
And then finally
a hall effect sensor here that tells us if the door's open.
And so if the Arduino under here detects
that the toilet is flushed and then the door has been opened
without the signal the sink has been touched
between those two events
then this flashing light goes off
and everyone knows who not to high five. (sighs)
Honorable mention in the bathroom is the air freshener
which is actually filled with glitter bomb fart spray
because subversion of expectations equals comedy.
Then coming into number five
is how we actually keep the lab location super secret.
If you were to walk in off the street
or deliver a package here, this is what you'd see.
And clearly who whoever works here
is not who you would expect would be hiding a high-tech
state-of-the-art Willy Wonka engineering lab,
but when you turn this eagle and the bookshelf slides over
revealing a secret passageway down a hallway
ending on a dope view of my work bench.
But there's an even more secret entrance
hidden in this room and you can only access it
by putting a quarter in here and then pushing this button.
(intriguing music)
Climbing this ladder not only leads you to the underside
of the claw machine where you can put yourself right
in the mix of things, (plush thunks)
but then pushing right here means you've taken the shortcut
straight up to the cool balcony hangout area.
And I brought my niece and nephew out here
to tour the place,
and this was perhaps their favorite part,
which just might have cemented my status
in my ongoing quest to be the favorite uncle.
Were it not for my regrettable actions in the foam pit
at the conclusion of the tour. (Mark screaming)
Now I know what you're thinking.
It's not exactly secret
now that I've shown 20 million people
exactly what the secret entrance lobby looks like.
But after this
I'm gonna give this place a complete makeover.
So next time you find yourself
waiting your turn at the barber
or perhaps stuck in the waiting room at the dentist office,
you might wanna get up
and just start moving everything around on display
because the entrance to the CrunchLab
just might be behind
that oversized tooth decay poster hanging on the wall.
All right, so before we get
to the final four in the countdown,
like the world record Hot Wheels track or the Hidden Museum
or even how you could come out here yourself,
I need to tell you about what else we do here
or why we even call it CrunchLabs.
Three of my favorite things are teaching,
coming up with new ideas,
and getting people stoked about science and engineering,
especially the young folk.
And so for over a year, in addition to building this place
I've been working on a way to combine those three things.
And here it is.
It's called the CrunchLabs Build Box
and it's a monthly tour that gets delivered to you
where we build it together
and then explore all the juicy physics that make it work.
For a long time, I've had parents reach out to me and say,
"My kid is 8 or 12 years old, and they love your videos.
They want to be an engineer like you.
How do I foster that passion?
Like what's the first step?"
And I've just never had a great answer
for that specific situation until now.
Let's do an unboxing and see what's inside.
Oh, and by the way, this is precisely
where the toys are designed, right here in the CrunchLab.
In fact, this first one
is this super cool rapid fire disc launcher.
As you know, I love to take something humans do
and then build a robot to help me do it way better.
Like with kicking field goals, skipping rocks,
setting up dominoes, bowling,
golfing, or even throwing bullseyes.
(bell dings)
Well, now you get to have the same feeling
and build a machine that gives you superpowers
versus someone trying to throw this Frisbee
with their own lame arm.
What kind of superpowers?
Well, I'm glad you asked.
(explosion booms)
(intense action music)
(kid shouts)
(upbeat music)
We engineered the crud out of this thing
to optimize six rapid fire shots
for maximum glide with maximum accuracy.
You will dominate any mere human
who tries to challenge your creation.
So when you open the box,
the first thing you see is a link to a video
where I not only walk you through
how to put it together step-by-step
but then we talk through all the physics
and engineering juicy nuggets
that makes something like this work.
It's like unlocking
your own secret Mark Rober video every month.
Only it's better because you're right there in the trenches
constructing your own build alongside me
allowing the engineering discoveries to really sink in.
It basically bumps into all these stationary air molecules
and it causes it to deflect up.
So for example, in the disc launcher
we learn all about how useful flywheels are
and then each month you earn a gear badge
with a different engineering principle,
and at the end of 12 months,
it will make a really cool gear train like this,
at which point you unlock my signature
to make it all official.
So the first video is up in its entirety for free
over on the new CrunchLabs YouTube channel.
And I'll put a link in the video description
so you can see for yourself
that we're not cutting any corners here.
And then in addition to the video, as backup,
we've also got some simple booklet instructions.
And as a nod to Team Trees, Team Seas,
and my buddy MrBeast, we maximize for sustainability
in our material and packaging choices.
Even the bags inside are compostable.
And the disc launcher is just the tip of the iceberg.
In another box
we built this super cool Rube Goldberg catapult
and the gear badge here is for projectile motion.
Here's a robot guaranteed to outdraw your brother
where we learn about linkages.
Or there's this coin spinner machine
that gives you the superpower
of spinning a coin better than any human.
And there we learned about ratchets.
And you get two of them so you can compete
in a "Beyblade" style fight to the last coin standing.
There's a bunch more
but I want it to be a surprise for you.
So rest assured, we designed our hearts out
on every single last one.
And just like it says on the box,
my goal with CrunchLabs
is to help you think like an engineer.
That means you think critically,
you could break a problem down into manageable steps.
Thinking like an engineer makes you a better soccer player
or piano practicer or math studier because you're resilient.
You know it's not only okay
but it's important to fail a bunch
in order to hit that big breakthrough.
That's why it's called CrunchLabs.
So we can crunch and break
and fail things so we can learn fast.
That's literally the process
of how I make every single one of my robots
that eventually works out awesomely.
There's just no better teacher than a good crunch
along the path to finding the best design
and any good engineer knows that's true.
So if you wanna fight that summer brain drain
and embark on this yearlong journey with me,
go to crunchlabs.com/markrober.
Use the link in the video description,
where, as an early adopter special,
we're giving away two months free.
Supplies are definitely limited on this first run,
so if you don't wanna miss out,
be sure to go check out our lovely website after this.
Speaking of which, I've just got a shout out Shopify
'cause that's how we built it.
They were super helpful,
and I've been friends with them for a long time,
and they give you all the tools
to turn your idea into an actual business.
All right, so continuing on with our top 10 list
of the coolest things here at CrunchLabs.
At number four, if you look right here,
we've got the start and finish line
of the world's longest Hot Wheels track
at over a half a mile.
Here we go.
(upbeat music)
Now the Crunch Labs is big, but not exactly half a mile big
which is why we had to employ some clever switchbacks
to do the trick.
But after doing one, we realized
it only got us like 10% of the way there,
so we scaled it up to fill an entire wall.
Now we're employing over 75 of the official
Hot Wheel speed boosters to help manage the balance
of our potential and kinetic energies
because that's allowed in the rules.
And it's just kind of fun
to watch it go back and forth and back and forth.
(car rattling)
(upbeat music)
(car rattling)
And so after we make it through the mouse hole
(car rattling)
and travel around the bend,
we complete the loop
and set an official new world record.
Next up at number three,
if you press this button, you obviously shouldn't press,
then these mirrors become see-through
revealing sort of a storage room
of a bunch of my previous builds.
And if you come through this incognito door
you could even see them up close
including the automatic bullseye dartboard,
all four glitter bombs,
the original double iPad sweatshirt Halloween costume
from my very first video,
and a handful of other classics as well.
Now, before we wrap it up
with the last two coolest things about this place
(bell ringing)
I just want to submit for honorable mention,
not only this bike with a legit train horn attached
when the bell just isn't cutting it...
(horn hooting)
Dah, that's loud.
But also to the brainstorm room
that has walls covered in floor to ceiling whiteboards,
which is a feature I stole from my favorite conference rooms
at both NASA and Apple, as well as this decorative
massive ant farm we built for the wall.
It's fascinating to see how they organize and work together,
like how both ant colonies
instinctively have made a graveyard in the corner
for all their fallen comrades.
And now at number two,
we're back with the tennis ball cannon.
After Nitro put it through the wall...
Oh, it's literally smoking.
We decided to give it the half inch plywood test.
And you can see it passed with no issues.
(Mark laughing)
Which meant we were left with just one more
official scientific investigation to conduct,
the watermelometer.
(intriguing music)
(glass shattering)
(ball whooshing)
(watermelon splashing)
(cannon pops)
The cool thing here is
you might have noticed this glass suitcase
attached to a chain with $10,000 cash in here.
The deal is you could practice as much as you want,
and I've even set up some additional targets
for that purpose.
(cannon pops) (gong clangs)
But everyone gets only one official shot in their whole life
to hit the bullseye and make it down the tube
and into the box to unlock the $10,000 suitcase.
So for the avoidance of doubt
when you're ready for your official shot
you just sign the wall and now the pressure's really on.
(ball whooshes and clicks)
And as for Nitro...
- I'm gonna be your worst nightmare.
- (laughs) Oh, I love it.
He's talking trash.
Even though I did make him reduce the pressure
to one-fifth full power.
You suck, Nitro.
- [Nitro] You're going down. (growls)
- I still took a beating. (Mark screams)
- [Nitro] Oh, that was a...
(Mark screams)
- But at least I survived.
Retreat. (Nitro laughs)
And finally, the number one coolest thing about this place
is you can actually come here.
Every month before we ship out the CrunchLab build boxes,
I essentially cover my eyes, throw a dart,
and then I open whatever box I hit and set this inside.
It's called the platinum ticket.
And if you happen to be the one who gets the box
with the ticket inside that month,
then you and your family get to come out here
and spend a day with me and my team
making whatever crazy idea it is
you want us to build together.
And because I repeat this every month
that means you have a new chance to win every month.
And you know I'm no statistician
but supplies are kind of limited on this first run.
So early adopters really increase their chances
of winning this thing right outta the gate.
You can see a link
to all the official rules in the video description.
Whoa.
So if you needed one more reason to get your Build Box
so you could have fun hanging out with me
a bunch this summer
while you learned to think like an engineer,
then there it is.
So just head to crunchlabs.com/markrober
or use the link in the video description
to get that early adopter special of two months free.
I've found that thinking like an engineer
and having more of an understanding
of the amazing world around us
is such a lovely lens from which to experience life.
And creating that spark in the next generation
of big problem solvers
is why I can't wait for you guys to see these dang boxes.
Thanks so much for your support over the years
and thanks for watching.
(whooshing)
(bell dings)
(.com pops)