================================================================== ::::::::: About the UFO Installation ::::::::::: ==================================================================
Zurich, Sept. 2005
BubbleBoy, bubbleboy@fabelabs.com
I.
Background
Motivation
After my first Burning Man in 2001, I was intrigued by all those amazing installations
I've seen and wanted to build an installation myself. But right after my first
burn I moved back to Switzerland from California, I would have a transport challenge
to overcome.
Ever since this first Burning Man my creative energy has been running really
high - both in work and in play. For Burning Man 2003 I built an El-wire jacket
with microprocessor controlled sensors, but in spring 2004 I decided it was
finally time for something serious. I happened to be bored at work the right
time to channel my energy into a burning man installation.
Inspiration
At Burning Man 2003 I experimented with a human sized inflatable transparent
bubble (built by my brother Urs) - I bubble I could go inside and walk around
with it.
The feeling inside such an inflated body is very unique - I wanted other people
to experience this bubble feeling. Living in Switzerland and building an installation
for the playa is a bit of a challenge - a inflatable installation was the solution
to this problem!
The vision for the installation was: An interactive chillout space with beautiful
changing lights inside an inflated space.
Implementation
From May until August 2004 I built the UFO installation. I did all the designing,
sewing, to building the light electronics myself - and had great help and support
from a number of friends. It worked! It was so rewarding to see that my initial
idea looked exactly how I initially envision! Continuation For this year I improved
the light effects, I always wanted to have interactive lights. With the "light"
keyboard you are able to play with the 150 blue LED's inside and outside the
UFO. By now I have set the installation up a few times, improving it every time
a bit. This year's highlight so far was the Nowehere 2005 in Spain - the second
regional European burn.
"Inflate. Inflate. Inflate.
Elite Bubble Club.
Orgy Requested."
- Anonymous, entry in the UFO logbook, Burning Man 04
II. Construction Process
The whole project consisted of four parts:
1. The actual bubble
Constructed from scratch out of roll of 50 meters PU coated white nylon. I used
an industrial sewing machine from brother. Location of construction: my brothers
shop (for inflatible objects) in Zurich. Work: except the air inlet tube (Urs
Meier) done by BubbleBoy.
2. Ventilation and Energy system
It took me a little while to get the right ventilator. There is a control system
to turn the ventilator on and off. Ventilator is 220V, Generator 110V. Used
a 500W transformer - had always European and US AC power available.
3. Light system
- Total 150 blue high intensity LEDs, on 8 channels, split up into 3 snakes
of each 5 meters length. Custom made by BubbleBoy, with help of Christoph and
Heiner Meier.
- 50 red high intensity LEDs, on 2 channels, mounted to the roof.
- Controller for the LEDs. Input device: music keyboard. Processor: Conrad controller,
6502 based, programmed in Basic. Driver electronics for all the LED's. 80W/20V
universal power supply, 110V..230V AC (from an old Dell portable power supply).
Electronics and programming all custome made by BubbleBoy. Mechanics by Heiner
Meier
4. Auxiliary infrastructure
- Travelbox
- Rebar/playa stakes
- Lots of cables
- Small music system: computer 2.1 speakers and a MP3 player.
Cleaning the UFO
After three serious outside setups in deserts the white floor started to look
really ugly. I cleaned it after Burning Man 2005 with a high pressure water
hose (car cleaning facility). It took me about two hours - the water pressure
cleaned the playa dirt really well. There wasn't enough sun out anymore during
that day, and I didn't wanted to pack the UFO in a wet condition (mold!). So
I had to drying the UFO inside my appartment
in Switzerland.
III. Challenges during construction
There were a lot of issues and problems during construction - every week something new popped up. Being an engineer by trade, it helped a lot. And, I do like such challenges... Here is a selection of some of the issues I've encountered, well, let's call them challenges:
Finding the right fan
The fan I used during construction was way too big and heavy to be transported
on a plane. Initially I wanted to purchase a fan in the US, so I wouldn't have
to transport it - but the risk was too high getting stuck in the playa with
a fan that was too weak. After careful evaluation I ordered a fan I thought
that was strong enough and fairly small . oupsi - the UFO stayed flat, the fan
had no power. During the last week I was able to borrow a fan that was strong
enough and not too heavy for transport (7kg).
PIC processor - didn't
make fast enough progress
The embedded computer system (inside the sturdy metal box) that controls the
light system was supposed to be running with a PIC microcontroller. But I couldn't
get the stupid analog inputs working... time was running out and I was wasting
valuable time. I resorted to a microprocessor board I've used in a project last
year: 6502 based with a Basic interpreter. Only 32 bytes of RAM, and no real
function calls, only goto's....
Door opening
The door only closes automatically with the internal air pressure if the UFO
is fairly fully inflated. I improved this mechanism by adding stiffening rods
made out of fiberglass along both sides of the door. I also tried to add small
super magnets, but it didn't work that well.
The "No Shoes"
and "No smoking" signs
The first signs were way too small - I didn't want to have very bold "NO"
signs in the UFO. However, after the first (and luckily only) burn hole by somebody
who smoked inside I made big fat "NO SMOKING" signs that stick out
a bit more. This is a fine line.... I don't want to have the installation damaged
by careless people, but I also don't want to put up big fat warning signs.
Protection for blue LED's
outside
I wanted to protect the blue LED's outside the UFO. I bought lots of transparent
garden hoses and tried to insert the LED cable. Big mistake - it was really
hard to insert the cable with all the small LED PCB's. A larger hose would have
been too heavy and also very expensive. Right now I have a protection bag made
out of PU that I soldered together - less protection, but easier to handle.
Finding the right rebar
length
The UFO is attached to the ground by 24 rebars. I wanted to be on the safe side
and have all my rebars really well grounded. I had no hands-on experience at
all how long the rebars have to be in the playa. After lots of research on the
Internet (looking at webpages and emails from other burners) I figured they
need to be a bit more than 2 feet long in the ground - I figured I'll make them
about 75 cm (2.5 feet) long. Well, it turns out after about 1 1/2 feet the rebars
start to bend.... I couldn't get them in much further. And not one rebar came
out during the whole week.
Heavy wind
I was really worried that the UFO would not be stable in heavy winds. In Zurich
Switzerland we don't have much wind at all, so I couldn't do lots of tests.
The only test was putting it up quickly before a thunderstorm and tearing it
down quickly before the first rain drops.
So when I set the UFO up the playa I had no idea how it would perform under
intense windy conditions. It turns out it was no problem at all. As long as
the UFO is fully inflated, the whole structure is super stiff and the inflated
bubble hardly moves at all. Best place to hang out during a storm!
Transport
Maximum size of luggage is two pieces of luggage, max. 32kgs (70 pounds) each,
for air travel to the US. I had to ensure I don't go over that limit. In a large
suitcase I'll transport the UFO fabrics (17 kg only), there is even some space
left for other stuff! Then I have a large sturdy box for the generator, electronics,
toolbox etc. My personal stuff luggage has to fit into a carry-on....
Plastic box - top
(generator, tools, etc): 29 kg
Large suitcase (ufo tent, below): 29 kg
Generator
My first idea was to look around for other installations where I could share
a generator since I need electric power for the fan and the light. I wasn't
very lucky with this approach (I started doing it relatively late, that didn't
help). In July I decided not to depend on other people with the electrical energy
and ordered my own generator.
I ordered a small Yamaha generator that is really quiet, inside the UFO the
fan is even louder than the generator noise!
Asking people to help
me
I started to realize in July that this project is truly very ambitious - I needed
help if I wanted to finish this thing until Burning Man. I have sometimes a
hard time to ask people for help.. Nevertheless I asked my friends Bryant, Christoph
and my dad for help - I received great support and help from them, mainly in
finishing my light installation.
IV. How the air thing works
I can't see any poles or
any other dome like structure, how is the fabric being held in place?
It's only fabric and air pressure, that's all.
Where is the air pressure
coming from?
There is an industrial air ventilator outside the UFO that pumps constantly
air into the tent. This ventilator is typically used in office buildings to
transport air for heating and cooling.
There must be a lot of
high pressure to keep the tent stable, right?
Inside the air the air pressure is only a little bit larger than on the outside
(a few millibar).
What happens in a storm?
If the UFO is fully inflated, it is super stable. It won't even move a bit,
even with strong wind gusts. Try it out - it's a perfect shelter during a sand
storm. However - it can
How does the door work?
The air pressure closes the door automatically. This works really well if the
UFO is fairly full. However, if the UFO has very little air in it, it's sometimes
necessary to keep the door closed manually. If the door is open, air escapes
and the UFO deflates.
Was the UFO really built
from scratch?
Yes - I started off with a roll of 50 meters of the white fabric (some sort
of PU coated nylon). I sewed everything together with an industrial sewing machine.
The same applies for the electronics - all hand built (including software that
controls the lights).
Why is the acoustics
in the UFO really weird?
Do the following experiment: If you sit about 1 foot away from the wall how
can listen to a conversation from the person sitting exactly on the on opposite
side as if you would sit right next to her. The UFO acts like a big acoustical
"lens" because of its round shape.
V.
Timeline of the Construction
--- 2004 ---
April 2004: Decided definitly to go to burning man. Started with the
first sketches and designs.
May: Ordering of all parts (fabrics, electronics, LEDs, controllers,
software, compiler, flash burner, PIC book, ...)
Beginning of June: PIC IDE, compiler and burner are starting to work. All ordered
parts have arrived. Tent: in the middle of construction (sewing)
Middle of June: Learning how to sew with an industrial heavy duty sewing machine.
Started cutting the fabrics - finally got the serial port of PIC prototype boards
running...
8. July: Created webpage. In the middle of sewing the fabrics
together.
27. July: The UFO tent is almost done - it will be completed by
this week. Well, at the least the Alpha version of it... :)
29.
July, 1:00 AM: The UFO tent is DONE - yesterday nite, half an hour past
midnite I let air into the tent. As you can see, most UFO photos are blurry,
so is mine :). Inflating it worked wonderfully - it is a great feeeling to be
inside. I am VERY relieved that it works and very happy about it.
11. August: Out of the blue I'm getting an email from a
burner called Carl. He asked me if I want to borrow some of his super bright
color LED panels. I would have never gotten my color background illumination
done on time anyway, so it was an email from heaven. So cool!
12. August:
Second official inflating happening, first time at night. We are trying
to solve A) how to make a mechanism that closes the door all the times (fiberglas
rods and super magnets) and B) how to regulate the indoor pressure - how can
I measure if the tent is fully inflated? If I can detect that, I can momentarily
turn off the air pump. Quiet a control problem with possible instability issues...
but I'm working on an idea how to solve it.
22. August: It looks like I will finish the project in time...
The LED controller and all 200 LEDS work great. I had some last minutes worries
about the ventilator, the one I was intending to use was simply to weak - you
can't image how I felt when I saw the UFO half inflated... I can use now a ventilator
of my brother, it's quite bulky and heavy to transport by plane, but has a 180
Watt motor and kicks ass.
24. August: Flying from Switzerland to SFO. No overweight charge,
no last luggage.
25./26. August: Last minute preparations in Palo Alto. Trying
out the Yamaha generator for the first time. Bending rebar's like crazy. Buying
lots of small supplies.
27. August 2004: Drive from Palo Alto, CA to Black Rock City
28. August 2004: The UFO was set up within one afternoon. The
main work was hammering in all rebar's.
29. August 29 - 6. Sept 6 2004: Premiere at Burning Man
2004. The installation works!
It withstood the harshest playa storms with a breeze. Nothing damaged, just
a lot dirtier than before.
---
2005 ---
January
2005: Added "Economode" - a system regulating the air ventilator
so I can set the UFO up indoors with rebars. The bubble is only inflated to
the desired shape, then the ventilator is turned off automatically.
June 2005: Added a keyboard to play the lights - the l0 channel
light controller reacts to the input in the keys. Several programs for different
patterns.