Project Duration: 6 weeks
Collaborator: Frank Mauro Advisors: Kathy Newman, James Wynn, CMU
Tools: Sewing, Pattern making, Woodworking, Prototyping
Professors Newman and Wynn lead the Planetary Hospitality Project at CMU, researching the nature of human hospitality through the lens of space travel.
As part of this, my classmate Frank and I set out to design an emergency lunar tent, and then constructed a terrestrial version inspired by hot tents.
We wanted the structure to be quickly collapsable and deployable while wearing a spacesuit. Our solution was this scissor mechanism being held in tension by the tent fabric.
We started with small models and worked up to 1/4 scale before final construction.
Frank led the design and fabrication of the wooden frame and I led the fabric component, but all processes were highly collaborative.
The fabrication of the wood slats was pretty quick with a jig. The Majority of our time was spent quilting 30 yards of fabric into 10.
Other than the fabric, the tent was constructed entirely out of found materials. The wood is IKEA bed frame slats, which is ideal because of their flexible design. Our stove was the luckiest find.
While some elements would have to be refined for space travel, we were able to pitch the tent with minimal trouble while wearing welding gloves.