ABC Science is out to find Australia's backyard inventors.
What we've unearthed so far are inventions of necessity and creativity, borne out of ill health and the pandemic, a love for music and hovercrafts, and decades of quiet tinkering in the shed.
In the first instalment of our "Edisons of the 'burbs" series, you'll meet three inventors and innovators from different corners of the country, whose creations range from the practical, the ethereal and the gravity-defying.
An enchanted online world for music practice
Sue Hamerton has been a violinist and teacher for over 40 years. Her career has taken her to Germany, England, South Africa and now home to Melbourne, where she teaches in her home studio and a number of schools.
For years, Sue has tried to put some kind of framework around teaching an instrument as complex as the violin.
And the pandemic gave her the opportunity.
"When COVID struck, I was terrified that children would want to give up their instruments, that the motivation to continue wouldn't be the same," she says.
So the 58-year-old decided to create an online game for her students called Enchanted Quest.
Bach had always been one of Sue's favourite composers, so Enchanted Quest was set in Bach's German hometown of Eisenach.
It takes place in an enchanted forest where students can learn the skills needed to claim the legendary Book of Spells.
Those skills include posture, continuity of sound and movement, and right- and left-hand accuracy.
By creating an enchanted story around the skills, Sue hopes the game will give students both a conscious understanding of them, and help consolidate them.
"It's a little bit like driving a car," Sue explains.
"You have to do a lot of different things all at the same time and, for beginners of any age, but especially young children, it can be challenging in the beginning stages.
"By being able to separate out the skills, you can simplify the task, and children can get immediate feedback about what has been successful or perhaps needs a little bit more focus."
Seeing her students enjoy it has been extremely rewarding for Sue.
"It's absolutely magical for me as a teacher, seeing how children respond to it," she says.
The game is now used in several Victorian schools and private studios, but Sue is looking to continue building on her project.
"This is the beginning of the process where I'm hoping people will give me feedback," she says.
Sue hopes to bring out a cello version next year.
"It's been a wonderful project. I've enjoyed every second of it — it's taken three years and many thousands of hours.
"For me it fulfils the ambition to make lessons engaging, fun, curious and supportive for students just as much as possible."
A hovercraft for flood rescue and farm work
Peter Keogh's mission to build a better hovercraft has taken decades and thousands of dollars, but he believes he's finally close.
Along the way, and to help achieve his goal, he's even picked up an engineering degree.
It all started more than 40 years ago when Peter — then aged 19 — became interested in using a hovercraft to travel the coast and check out local surf conditions, similar to the way some surfers use jet skis now.
But most hovercrafts don't work well in rough waves or over long grass.
One reason for this is the "skirt" — the balloon-like membrane that confines the pressurised air that supports the weight of the craft.
Peter wondered if he could build a hovercraft without a skirt — one that truly hovered above the ground.
"I mucked around, experimented with models for a few years, but wanted to come up with something that works better," he says.
A carpenter and builder by trade, he was naturally handy in the shed, but realised he'd have to study engineering to develop his ideas.
So in the 1990s, he went to university and graduated with an engineering degree, but the project languished while family and other challenges took up Peter's life.
By the early 2000s, new kinds of brushless motors and lithium batteries become available for small model use.
"They stimulated my interest in experimenting again," he says.
"I did lots of experiments and realised I could build a model of a skirtless hovercraft that performed as good as a conventional one without the drawbacks of wear and tear and performance limitations over rough water."
Seven years ago, he designed and built a model skirtless hovercraft, about the size of a toy car.
He posted a video of the machine in action.
"I thought it'd lead to interest from the hovercraft industry but I got nothing.
"That killed my motivation a bit for a while."
But not for long. Soon he was building a full-scale version, large enough for a person to sit inside.
The video of the craft in action was filmed recently at his property near Phillip Island south of Melbourne.
This is the first time Peter has made the footage public.
His is one of few attempts to build a successful skirtless hovercraft.
He says it's as powerful and efficient as a conventional hovercraft, but can also be used in rougher terrain.
"Mine can go through straw up to waist-height," he says.
The next step will be to improve the craft's reliability and test it over open water.
"I want to come up with a convincing video to stir up interest," he says.
Peter hopes others will pick up and develop the idea.
"A hovercraft would be really useful in flooding and crisis situations," he says.
"Or as a more day-to-day practical solution to getting around farmland."
Dialysis for the traveller
Doug Nichols worked for most of his life as a computer programmer.
He's also a keen bushwalker and someone who enjoys fixing things when they break.
"My background and the health journey kind of come together for this particular invention," the 63-year-old says.
That's because 30 years ago Doug was diagnosed with kidney disease, a condition that saw a slow decline in his kidney function and which needs regular monitoring.
In 2018 he began peritonial dialysis, a fluid exchange process that can be done at home — but it needs to be done several times a day.
It involves pumping fluid into the abdomen, called the peritoneal cavity, via a catheter, then draining it back out through the catheter some time later.
"This sort involves just swapping or exchanging about two litres of a sort of a glucose solution several times a day," Doug explains.
"Of course when you're on dialysis, [going out bushwalking] just suddenly became not possible.
"But one thing I could do, I thought, was go driving."
Doug planned a three-week holiday from Hobart to Bundaberg to Hobart, mostly following the Darling River from Wentworth into Queensland.
With no mains power and a dusty environment proving a challenge for hygiene, Doug's invention required a creative approach.
"The challenge is that, the couple of litres that you put in has got to be something approaching body temperature, otherwise you've got a problem.
"If it's too cold, it will hurt ... and obviously if it's too hot, that would be really bad.
"I had to solve that challenge ... So I invented this system for warming up a bag using the 12-volt supply from the car.
That system, which included an insulated box with heater pads, a digital thermometer and a LED display, meant he could keep the bag at the right temperature while out on the road.
Doug received a kidney transplant in 2020 so no longer uses the box, but it was a big success for his lifestyle.
His doctors were impressed too.
"The staff at the renal unit in Hobart were quite intrigued by it," he says.
"They've had me along to give a talk about it to other prospective dialysis patients."
Do you have an invention you'd like to share?
*Don't worry, we'll be in touch for permission before we share your invention.
