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About this project:
About this project:
This was a large, tessellated dinosaur head and created for Burning Man. I wanted to build a large dinosaur themed art piece for a Burning Man camp that could serve as a centerpiece for the camp as well as be a fun project to build that could help unite the camp behind a common project.
Contribution:
Contribution:
I managed this project as well as working with one other engineer to design ,manufacture and build the mechanical aspects. Architecture and lighting was contributed by other members of the team.
Requirements:
We started by identifying critical requirements and constraints including:
Large, aesthetically pleasing dinosaur shape
Must provide shade underneath
Shippable in a container
Easily manufacturable
etc..
Early Concepts and Design:
We started by sketching early concepts and quickly moving into CAD to lay out the shape of the triangles. We tried to reduce the total number of triangles while still maintaining a structurally stable shape that still looked like a dinosaur.
At this stage we also explored various ways to manufacture the structure including custom nodes with straight poles, Supporting the nodes from the ground, and building full triangles that connect to each and several others.
We ultimately settled on building full triangles that connect to each other mainly for the ease of manufacturing and assembly.
Manufacturing:
The triangles were manufactured using 3/4" Steel pipe that was cut to lenght, flattened and then welded together at the ends
Assembly:
Each triangle was held to the others with a series of hose clamps.
Although we were skeptical at first, when fully tightened the hose clamps are able to provide enough friction between each pipe to keep them from moving and allow the structure to stand.
Panelling:
Custom panels were also made for each triangle out of a ripstop nylon with grommeting at the edges to give the head a skin and provide shade below.
Build:
Finally, the completed design was assembled onsite. Unfortunately, the biggest failure of the design was that the assembly time was too long and this process took us about 2 days in the hot sun. Definitely something to improve on for future projects!
Lighting and Future additions:
In later years, lighting with animations would be added by other contributors. We also added flame effects as can be seen in the next video.
Final Product!
Final Product!
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