RALEIGH, North Carolina (AP) -- An engineering graduate has built a contraption to help remind him of campus life: a refrigerator that can toss a can of beer to his couch with the click of a remote control.

When John Cornwell graduated from Duke University last year, he landed a job as software engineer in Atlanta, Georgia, but soon found himself longing for his college lifestyle. "I conceived it right after I got out," said Cornwell, who graduated from Duke University in May 2006. "I missed the college scene. It embodies the college spirit that I didn't want to let go of."

It took the 22-year-old Cornwell about 150 hours and $400 in parts to modify a minifridge common to many college dorm rooms into the beer-tossing machine, which can launch 10 cans of beer from its magazine before needing a reload.

With a click of the remote, fashioned from a car's keyless entry device, a small elevator inside the refrigerator lifts a beer can through a hole and loads it into the fridge's catapult arm. A second click fires the device, tossing the beer up to 20 feet (6 meters) -- "far enough to get to the couch," he said.

Is there a foam explosion when the can is opened? Not if the recipient uses "soft hands" to cradle the can when caught, Cornwell said.

In developing his beer catapult, Cornwell said he dented a few walls and came close to accidentally throwing a can through his television. He has since fine-tuned the machine to land a beer where he usually sits at home, on what he called "a right-angle couch system."

For now, the machine throws only cans, although Cornwell has thought about making a version that can throw a bottle. The most beer he has run through the machine was at a party, when he launched a couple of 24-can cases.

"I did launch a lot watching the Super Bowl," he said. "My friends are the reason I built it. I told them about the idea and hyped it so much and I had to go through with it."

A video featuring the device is a hit on the Internet, where more than 600,000 people have watched it at metacafe.com, earning Cornwell more than $3,000 from the Web site.

Cornwell said he has talked to a brewing company about the machine, but right now only one exists. Asked if he might start building some for sale, he said: "I'm keeping that option open, depending on interest."

When Cornwell was a student at Duke he participated in the engineering school's robotic basketball contests, said mechanical engineering Professor Bob Kielb. He said students tried to build a robot that could retrieve a ping-pong ball and toss it into a small hoop.

"He always did well in it," Kielb said. "He came up with completely unique ideas."

 

not bad.

 

that's fine if you like the loudest ******* thing iv ever heard in a house and shook up beer

 

Thats pretty amazing if you ask me, hell I could only hope to have one let alone build one ahhahaaa

 

Thats pretty cool but it needs to hold more than 10 beers. Who wants to get up and reload that thing so much? It kinda contradicts the whole "lazy" aspect. I still want one though!

 

Hell I got one of those!! I call her brittany! I've had her for about six years now, she's got too legs, a ghetto ***, and breast that I'd prefer to be larger. (So glad she doesn't know what PT is!) Mine doesn't throw them though, she just brings it to me so there's no abuse to my cold brew! Sometimes it'll act up and not want to cooperate, this usually requires prolonged rubbing to the middle and upper back area but if you do it long enough you can hold this as leverage for some extracuricular activity