(2015) Pocket Universe

This is the page for the pocket universe

Physical Description:

The ~10 foot structure is a wooden Icosahedron dome made out of 15 identical equilateral triangles. The inside surface of the dome is wrapped in Mylar reflective film creating a mirrored surface. Controllable RGB LED strip lighting will be attached to inside roof sections.

The light from these LEDs will bounce off the non parallel mirrored surfaces of the dome. This will creates an interesting visual pattern that should be different then most other mirrored boxes.

Inside the dome will be a control box with several buttons and sliders that allow the user to change the patterns on the LED strips. This will create vastly different lighting effects inside the dome.

The LED controller will be an clear acrylic box (12x6x6”) with ten arcade buttons and three slide controls. You will be able to see thought the box into the electronics inside. The box will be powered from 5v 1A power supply and have an Ethernet jack for connection to the LED strips.

To make set up quicker and reduce the chance that people will poke and rip the Mylar reflective film. I will be cutting 15 identical equilateral triangles out of coroplast. Then pasting the Mylar reflective film on to these coroplast panels. On set up I plan to use zap straps to attach the panels to the struts of the dome.

The LEDs are button style 12mm WS2811 individually addressable RGB. I plan to cut holes in the coroplast with a laser cutter and arrange the LEDS in patterns on the ceiling tiles.

The floor will be made out of a combination of Mirrored acrylic with a protective lexan sheet bolted on top. This should take the weight of 2 people as well as being reflective.

Dome height: ~16 ft Dome base: ~16x16 ft

Struct length: 6ft Triangle area: 15.6 ft Triangle height: 5.2 ft Floor area: 61.9 ft square

Requirements

• 20x20 ft will be required to set up the dome, the dome itself only takes up around 16x16 ft of space.
• Set up time is 90mins, take down time is 45-60min.
• 110v AC (Approximately ~75 W) of power.

Budget

• $100 - Dome construction kit. Count 1
• $30 - Lumber for structs on the dome (2x2x8’ @ 1.00 each). Count 30x
• $50 - Nuts, bolts, and washers Count: 50x of each.
  • 50x 5/16” carriage bolts 4.5” long
  • 50 5/16” nuts
  • 50 5/16” washers
  • $80 - 100 ft. Mylar 2 mil Reflective Film, Count 1x
• $80 - WS2811 RGB LED bullet 12mm (5 strings at 20 leds each). Count: 100x
• $26 - 5V 8A Dual Output Iron Case Power Supply, Count 1x
• $55 - BeagleBone Black Rev C. Count: 1x
• $120 - Mirrored acrylic (4x8x1/8 @ $60 each) Count: 2x
• $120 - Lexan sheet (4x8x1/4 @ $60 each), Count 2x.
• $30 - Miscellaneous, Zap Straps, garbage bags, scissors, tape, etc

Photos