Geodesic Dome Media Pod

It's no secret that the Geodesic Dome is one of the strongest structures in the world in ratio to the materials used to create it, and also has outstanding acoustic qualities that can't be duplicated in ANY other design. This specific project was made to be a Chill-Out Chamber if you will, a place to go and play video games, escape from the children, and maybe even watch a movie in your own mini version of the Hollywood Cinerama Dome.

This structure is also Very Strong!, and the fully glued Media-Pod can hold the weight of a 200lb Man standing upon the top edges of the roof pentagon piece. And to think it's only made of Cardboard, Glue, and Paint!.

REMEMBER - Cardboard is a WONDERFUL THING!, in creating this Instructable I wanted to show what you can do with a big pile of discarded cardboard waste, and I think this is the Grand Dad of all uses for recycled cardboard. Scrap cardboard can be found in ANY CITY, ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD! so this project can be made by Anyone and used by ALL!

Build it and ENJOY!

Step 1 The Basics of Geodesic Design

The basic 3 frequency Geodesic Dome consists of only 2 geometric shapes, a Pentagon and a Hexagon. The Geometry of these two simple shapes when connected together transform themselves into one unique and beautiful structure, The Geodesic Dome.

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW:

The Pentagon has 5 sides and the Hexagon has 6 sides. When these shapes are connected together they form a beautiful spherical structure.

Geodesic Dome Mathematics can be Very Scary and complex, I have taken all the scary math and done that for you, just follow my instructions and make the templates to use and you will not have to deal with the repetitive measuring of each piece of the Hexagon & Pentagon triangles.

This project will take some time if you want it to look as good as the one in my instructable lesson, or you can make a quick-and-dirty version and not paint it or make any cosmetic adjustments and get it done in 1-2 days, but a very nice one may take you a week or more of tinkering and tweaking to get it Perfect!.

When this project is complete and you have a chance to spend a few Hours inside it Blasting your brains out to some Hot Music.... Then you will understand what a Fantastic Project you have made!, It will grow on you and you will find yourself Adding More computers and sound equipment, pretty soon your wife will come looking for you.....and wont be able to find you for hours at a time, your children won't know you anymore, and you will want to move inside it permanently.

Be careful.............

Comments

[16zzundel5]

I painted mine!

[greg0594]

FANTASTIC!!!!!!, You did s really great job!.

[16zzundel5]

 My mom got interested in this, so we are making an eight foot version out of coroplast.

[greg0594]

Please post pictures when you have finished !!!, I can't wait to see it.

[macgyverfan]

Lucky! My parents HATE geodesic domes. I love them a lot, but I don't believe that they will let me make one until I leave the house. );

[zipperboy]

I have looked at this pod before the mods to add ventilation etc.  Much improved.  I have a comment for the people that want to do one for outdoors.  Pick any colour you like, then add a sun shade/tarp over top.  Leave some air space, and make a double layer tarp with an airspace between layers for the ultimate in heat beating insulation.  Add a lattice of tree branches or thin wood strapping to maintain an even air space.  If you do it right the air between layers will convect and an air flow will keep things even cooler.  

I always use a tarp over my tent when camping in the summer, as it keeps things cool, and dry should rain come along.  A tarp on the ground or a floor of plywood will give you the ultimate outdoor spot for your pod.  Consider prevailing wind, support poles and guy wires too, so you are not tripping over them going by, and to keep things neat and attractive.  

Nice project, cheers Phil aka zipperboy

[psycho_3852]

I think im gonna make one on the other hand.

[greg0594]

Just make a small study model to look at and learn from - 1/2 the dimensions to create a smaller study model, or 1/4-1/8 scale model by dividing the measurements by 4 for 1/4th scale, or 8 for 1/8th scale.

Good Luck!

[psycho_3852]

haha its a fap pod :D

[ilpug]

This will be my summer project.

[jjames17]

Hey greg0594! Thanks a lot for a great idea! I can't wait to start working on this!
I had an idea to make it an outdoor, all weather dome. How about a more substantial dome made of 1/2" OSB? Just a thought. Also, if I were to do that, what would you recommend to seal it with? Perhaps a spray-on tar of some sort?

Anyways, thanks for the great idea!

[greg0594]

1/2" is way too thick, 1/4" Plywood is sufficient, preferably ABX exterior grade, you can coat it with a "LIGHT COLOR" exterior paint, dark colors collect heat fast and turn the dome into an oven. Be sure to include plenty of ventilation on the outdoor dome version, heat is your enemy when your inside.

Build Away!


Greg

[davefruchter]

 I really appreciate you setting this whole instructable up. I just have a question concerning step 2. What tool did you use to cut off the remaining nail and what size nails did you use? Thanks for your time this is gunna be great. 

[greg0594]

Any size nail that is long enough to penetrate the plywood and stick out just a little will do, any nail excess that sticks out the back can just be bent off with pliers by bending back and forth a few times and the nail gets hot and breaks off.

[estricker]

thats a man cave if i ever saw one...

[Eye Poker]

I want to make one, paint it silver. The set off a bunch of bright lights in the woods next to it. When people investigate I want to climb out and say take me to your leader.

[turbotas]

Hi, I built one of these domes in 2010 and now have no room for it. It's made of panels with velcro fastenings. Anyone around London that wants it, drop me an email. Also have the templates made of MDF for anyone that wants to build their own. [e-mail]

[bowmaster]

I really like this, I want to build one, soundproof it, and add a heating/cooling system.

[Cretnor]

i'm still working on mine.

[macgyverfan]

I have to get that song! Who is the artist and what is the song called?

[greg0594]

The band is "Deaf Center" the song is "Lamp Mien" meaning My Lamp in German, you can get it on Itunes, I first heard it on Pandora in the "Ambient" music section, Realy great thinking music!.

[jwatts-2]

You could cover this in spray-on truck bed liner.... maybe even the interior too.
You could also work out some kind of water proof seal around the door and ventilation. With those two mods it might be possible to have this in an outdoor environment.

[crusylicious]

I am so going to attempt this, it is the coolest thing since sliced bread! And dude, homemade sliced bread is AWESOME.

[greg0594]

You will totally be amazed at what it looks like when you are done, and all made from scrap FREE cardboard!!!!

[Havoc481]

Question are those 60, 80, or 90mm fans

[SebastianHyde]

What's the inside diameter at the base, and at it's widest?

Thanks for the GREAT Instructible. I can't wait to get started on mine.

[Cretnor]

I had an easy time cutting. I used a knife to cut through the cardboard. You can make a template like he said and use it to make other parts. It helps if you find a comfortable position to cut in. It also helps if your cutting tool has a good grip. You could also use a ruler as a guide, but you would have to be careful not to cut the ruler. I would recomend using a knife instead of scissors. After i cut out a piece, i would compare it to the template an make adjustments if necessary. Try to get your cuts as straight as you possibly can. It will make the pieces fit together even more. I hope this helps you.

[greg0594]

I'm getting a Universal Laser ULS25E, about 10 years old but still works good and I should be able to Laser cut out very intricate and perfect parts out of cardboard - I cant wait!!!!!!

[Cretnor]

What can the laser cut through other than cardboard?

[Cretnor]

Hey Greg0594, how much weight can the dome support? How did you find out that it can support that much weight on top of the dome?

[greg0594]

The dome can support about 200 pounds, I put two ladders together and stretched a board across, walked across the board and carefully planted my two feet at the joints of the pentagon on the top, it will probably handle more weight but I cant find any 250 pounders willing to go up there and stand on the top.

[Cretnor]

The dome can support more than 200 pounds. The ladders, along with the dome, were also suporting the board too.

[NANUman]

I think i'm going to try and find a way to mount the ventilation system to the back or side of the pod... for aesthetics. Maybe make the ventilation system a little more stylish.

[bugjojo]

How do you get such straight cuts?? I'm working on cutting them all out, and my cuts are hardly straight and kind of sloppy. Is that going to ruin everything? I just can't figure out how you got such perfect cuts!

[moosofa]

This thing must get flipping hot! :x I wouldn't want to play my xbox360 in here seeing that it produces enough heat to keep a small apartment blistering... Cooling system mod pl0x?

[Cretnor]

You could put a fan inside the pod instead of buying the vetilation parts

[greg0594]

The only problem with that is that you just circulate the hot air, that is why I designed the ventilation system you see in my plans here, this unit will pump in new fresh air from the outside, this is important to stay comfortable inside the dome, otherwise it will get hot in there. Another option is to just leave the door off, and allow the outdo air to flow in.

[Cretnor]

Please try to respond to the following questions: How did you come up with the measurements? How long did it take you to get the measurements? How long did it take you to build the dome? Thanks for posting this instructable! It's been fun building it so far!

[greg0594]

The measurements are derived from math calculations from a 3 frequency geodesic structure, there are dome calculators on desert domes web site, desert domes.com , the measurements can be calculated in les than 1 minute. It took me about 1 month of trial and error to figure out the fine details and photograph the entire process for the instructables web site so everyone could follow along. You could expect to make an unpainted dome in one weekend if you have all the cardboard ready to cut up in front of you.

[H-Dawg]

I have a question, but I fear that it won't get answered since the previous comment was in January. However, I will try anyway. Is there a foldable version of this? Some way for me to take the thing apart and easily put it back together? I just don't have the room for this thing. Even though I REALLY want one.