A group of high school students from Japan has won an innovation competition by creating a high-tech device that divides pizza into equal slices without any deviation.
An age-old problem around the world is how to cut a round pizza into more than two equal parts without any discrepancies.
This device is called “Let’s Share the Joy.”
Thanks to the ingenuity of a group of students from a high school in Oita Prefecture, southwestern Japan, dividing a round pizza into perfectly equal slices is no longer an issue.
Inspired by fierce family battles over the last remaining slice of pizza, a trio of students from Kundong High School invented a device that can evenly cut round pizzas and cakes, regardless of how many slices are needed.
The students developed a tool that can accurately calculate the cutting angle to divide the pizza into equal portions based on the required number of slices. The device, named “Let’s Share the Joy”, was perfected after a two-month trial and error process.
Wataru Onoda, 16, one of the team members, shared that he was inspired to create this high-tech device by his own family. On one birthday, instead of cutting the cake into 7 pieces for the 7 family members, Wataru’s mother cut it into 8 slices. The leftover piece sparked a battle between Wataru and his sister.
This device cuts round cakes into extremely equal parts.
Along with two other classmates, Rinto Kimura, 17, and Mitsumi Zaimae, 18, the team created a unique device that allows anyone to accurately divide a round cake into equal parts.
The device consists of a rotating table for placing the cake and a laser system that projects the precise cutting angle, allowing easy adjustment to create the desired number of slices. All users need to do is adjust an arrow-shaped slider to the desired number of cuts, and the laser beam will guide the knife to make perfectly equal slices.
Using knowledge of geometry and mathematics, Wataru Onoda and his colleagues calculated the exact size and angle needed to create cuts that are perfectly equal, with no deviation.
The high-tech device created by Wataru Onoda’s team won the Oita Governor’s Award at the 80th Kufu Invention Exhibition, an annual event aimed at nurturing creativity, intelligence, and craftsmanship among students.
