Fwd: GrassrootsMapping workshop at TNS/Parsons this Friday and Saturday

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Jeffrey Warren

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Oct 14, 2010, 10:17:51 AM10/14/10
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The workshop went really well, BTW. Here are some great photos of the new mylar balloons flying in Union Square:




---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Liz Barry <eba...@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Oct 4, 2010 at 5:40 PM
Subject: GrassrootsMapping workshop at TNS/Parsons this Friday and Saturday
To: Jeffrey Warren <je...@unterbahn.com>, Victoria Marshall <mars...@newschool.edu>


Hi everyone,

Come out and join Jeff Warren, the founder of GrassrootsMapping.org, this Friday and Saturday for a balloon and kite aerial mapping extravaganza sponsored in part by TNS/Parsons: Urban Inclusions and featuring students from Mapping the City and Street Life. This workshop is open to the public, so invite any interested friends and colleagues:
http://grassrootsmapping.org/2010/10/public-workshop-in-new-york-city/

SCHEDULE:
On Friday October 8, we'll learn how to hack a cheap camera, build a crash proof housing out of a soda bottle, and tape together giant tetrahedons out of mylar survival blankets. Meet at 2 west 13th street, in the corner gallery on 5th avenue. Jeff and I will be there 9am-11:30am, and again at 2pm - 5pm.

On Saturday October 9, we will be hoisting these camera rigs up with balloons or kites depending on wind speed. 1pm meet at same place -- 2 west 13th street, in the corner gallery on 5th avenue. We'll get organized in the gallery then head out to Union Square. We'll be out and about until 5pm.

Please respond to this email with any questions, and for day-of logistics call/text my phone 336-269-1539.

Liz


FURTHER DETAILS: (not required for attendance)
If you are interested in bringing materials so that you can build your own rig, please see
http://grassrootsmapping.org/illustrated-guide.pdf
and familiarize yourself with http://wiki.grassrootsmapping.org/

To get specifics on whether a certain Canon camera might be good to use, please see
http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/FAQ#Q._What_camera_models_are_supported_by_the_CHDK_program.3F


Mathew Lippincott

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Oct 14, 2010, 1:44:11 PM10/14/10
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that three-blanket balloon looks rad!
how did it fly? was it stable enough to snap good photos?

Jeffrey Warren

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Oct 14, 2010, 2:47:33 PM10/14/10
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yes, it worked very very well - it was very stable, the three units kind of acting like fins perhaps, and the tallness keeping the cable attachment pointed downwards. I'm hoping some of the students who innovated the design will do a more complete writeup.

one big advantage was using mylar sleeping bags, not blankets - which were already sealed on 3 sides. It was more challenging than we thought to get good taped seals, but these stayed inflated for 2+ days.

They're as little as $1.75 each:

gonzoearth

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Oct 15, 2010, 2:05:51 PM10/15/10
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Great work guys, really impressed with the mylar bags. The low cost is
excellent, multiple bladders bring interesting characteristics, and
the reduced platform weight from using mylar vs. the thick
polyurethane on the SouthernBalloonWorks balloons might be
significant. Those $150-$200 SBW advertising balloons are very
reusable, but that seems less interesting if looking at $1.75 mylar
sleeping bags.

On Oct 14, 11:47 am, Jeffrey Warren <j...@unterbahn.com> wrote:
> yes, it worked very very well - it was very stable, the three units kind of
> acting like fins perhaps, and the tallness keeping the cable attachment
> pointed downwards. I'm hoping some of the students who innovated the design
> will do a more complete writeup.
>
> one big advantage was using mylar sleeping bags, not blankets - which were
> already sealed on 3 sides. It was more challenging than we thought to get
> good taped seals, but these stayed inflated for 2+ days.
>
> They're as little as $1.75 each:
>
> http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=mylar+sleepin...
>
> On Thu, Oct 14, 2010 at 1:44 PM, Mathew Lippincott <
>
>
>
> mathew.lippinc...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > that three-blanket balloon looks rad!
> > how did it fly? was it stable enough to snap good photos?
>
> > On Thu, Oct 14, 2010 at 7:17 AM, Jeffrey Warren <j...@unterbahn.com>wrote:
>
> >> The workshop went really well, BTW. Here are some great photos of the new
> >> mylar balloons flying in Union Square:
>
> >>http://www.flickr.com/photos/7552969@N03/sets/72157625129431164/
>
> >>http://www.flickr.com/photos/weatherpattern/sets/72157625005141107/wi...
>
> >> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> >> From: Liz Barry <eba...@gmail.com>
> >> Date: Mon, Oct 4, 2010 at 5:40 PM
> >> Subject: GrassrootsMapping workshop at TNS/Parsons this Friday and
> >> Saturday
> >> To: Jeffrey Warren <j...@unterbahn.com>, Victoria Marshall <
> >> marsh...@newschool.edu>
>
> >> Hi everyone,
>
> >> Come out and join Jeff Warren, the founder of GrassrootsMapping.org, this
> >> Friday and Saturday for a balloon and kite aerial mapping extravaganza
> >> sponsored in part by TNS/Parsons: *Urban Inclusions* and featuring
> >> students from *Mapping the City* and *Street Life*. This workshop is open
> >> to the public, so invite any interested friends and colleagues:
> >>http://grassrootsmapping.org/2010/10/public-workshop-in-new-york-city/
>
> >> *SCHEDULE:*
> >> On *Friday* *October 8*, we'll learn how to hack a cheap camera, build a
> >> crash proof housing out of a soda bottle, and tape together giant
> >> tetrahedons out of mylar survival blankets. Meet at 2 west 13th street, in
> >> the corner gallery on 5th avenue. Jeff and I will be there 9am-11:30am, and
> >> again at 2pm - 5pm.
>
> >> On *Saturday October 9*, we will be hoisting these camera rigs up with
> >> balloons or kites depending on wind speed. 1pm meet at same place -- 2 west
> >> 13th street, in the corner gallery on 5th avenue. We'll get organized in the
> >> gallery then head out to Union Square. We'll be out and about until 5pm.
>
> >> Please respond to this email with any questions, and for day-of logistics
> >> call/text my phone 336-269-1539.
>
> >> Liz
>
> >> *FURTHER DETAILS:* (not required for attendance)
> >> If you are interested in bringing materials so that you can build your own
> >> rig, please see
> >>http://grassrootsmapping.org/illustrated-guide.pdf
> >> and familiarize yourself withhttp://wiki.grassrootsmapping.org/
>
> >> To get specifics on whether a certain Canon camera might be good to use,
> >> please see
>
> >>http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/FAQ#Q._What_camera_models_are_supported_by...

Jeffrey Warren

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Oct 15, 2010, 2:17:39 PM10/15/10
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More about sealing bags, via Oliver Yeh (1337arts.com)


so I'm not sure why we couldn't do it. Is some mylar sold with both sides exposed plastic, and metal inside? Maybe we were trying to seal metal to metal...?

jeff

Gary Mortimer

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Oct 15, 2010, 2:45:02 PM10/15/10
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With my balloon pilot hat on I'm loving what I am seeing here guys.

Is it not worth chucking a couple of slightly inflated large helium balloons to get the package airborne and filling with solar energy quickly??

I might just have to buy a couple of those sleeping bags to try them.

Well done all

G

Jeffrey Warren

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Oct 15, 2010, 2:49:26 PM10/15/10
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i think the metallized mylar reflects ~98% of light... ~90% of heat, but I believe Mathew Lippincott ordered some clear mylar as well... and he's better at airtight seams too, so i look forward to hearing more about that. 

Mathew Lippincott

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Oct 15, 2010, 3:14:27 PM10/15/10
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Gary-
if you're interested in combined solar hot air/helium, see if you can't get in touch with Robert Rochte. His balloons are designed for long, untethered flights.  I know he built several of these with his high school physics class.  Interestingly, his were similar in shape to the sleeping bag balloons (long tubes) and made out of clear boPET film too.
some photos and descriptions of flights here, but precious little construction detail.

I'm excited to hear about the stability of the more tubular shape in flight.  Maybe we aught to go towards that shape of balloon.  I've been dreaming of building a proper kite balloon, but the tube shape might be a simpler half-way design.

Christophe Praturlon uses a more cylindrical shape for his solar hot air balloons and they are very stable too. The manufacturing of large tube balloons is problematic on the two ends, so I've generally avoided it.

Jeffrey Warren

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Oct 18, 2010, 11:39:31 PM10/18/10
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And for those who haven't seen, a good summary with photos of the NYC workshops is now on the blog:

Jennifer Hudon

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Oct 19, 2010, 12:40:46 PM10/19/10
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Hi! I've been lurking over the Grassroots Mapping Googlegroup for a bit and it was suggested that someone from the workshop write a response to the balloon shape we used in Union Square on 10/9/2010. To introduce myself, I'm a graduate student at Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy. I'm only unofficially sitting in on Liz Barry's mapping course since it's a Lang course, but my focus is on urbanization and the intersect between cultural policy and community development with a strong interest in utilizing GIS/Mapping in nonprofit work.

The workshop with Jeff was incredibly informative and I'm hoping to do another mylar/camera launch in early November of Newark, NJ's waterfront. Also, I'm really excited to learn more about some of the other on-going projects and initiatives in the realm of Grassroots Mapping.
And now here are my mylar balloon notes from 10/9/2010:

In the first two test flights we didn't tape the mylar sacks together and we found it to be difficult to maneuver the formation with the high wind speeds and surrounding buildings. Additionally, at a certain level there seemed to be an air current, which added to the difficulties of maintaining control.

On our 3rd launch we finally put the camera on the rig with the three mylar sacks untapped and that's when the tilt-a-whirl picture was produced. There didn't seem to be any balance, so that's when we thought about trying to belt the three balloon sacks with tape. We were worried about the tape tearing the mylar, so we made sure to reduce the tackiness by adhering the tape to our shirts first. With all three mylar sacks taped together, it seemed to provide the most stability for the USQ environment.

Upon further brainstorming amongst the team, we'd like to try creating a horizontal triangle with the three mylar sacks and the camera rig hanging like a reverse pyramid from all three corners. There was also discussion about possibly having more than one balloon handler, kind of like the balloon handlers with the Macy's Day Parade balloon floats.

I hope this is informative/helpful.

Thanks,
Jen
--
Jennifer E. Hudon
cell: 978.302.7908

Mathew Lippincott

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Oct 19, 2010, 1:07:29 PM10/19/10
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Thanks for the report-back Jennifer! It's great to hear about your thought process and successes modifying your rig in the field.

I'm interested by the shape you're team brainstormed, but I'm not sure i'm picturing it right. I'm imagining three balloons as the edges of a triangle. Is that right?
kinda like this with the top meeting: /_\
I wonder if that will be a stable flying shape. My gut says it will spin when pulled by the line.

On the idea of having several people holding the balloon, I've had success with a similar configuration, using three control lines on very low-altitude tetrahedron balloon, flown like a pyramid. The line holders get spaced pretty far apart though.  At high altitude, and especially in urban conditions, negotiating the space needed to hold three lines would be hard.  I don't have too many photos of this (three sets of hands on the balloons doesn't leave any for a camera) but here it is without tension on the lines:

Liz Barry

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Oct 19, 2010, 1:21:27 PM10/19/10
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Hey all,
To Jennifer's point about the duct tape belt, that is in fact where the mylar on one of the bags finally failed, after a week of continued re-use and refilling.
Liz

Jeffrey Warren

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Oct 19, 2010, 1:45:00 PM10/19/10
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mathew, is that a stuffed animal 'bunny' on your balloon? just wondering  ;-)

Lentamental

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Oct 19, 2010, 1:45:52 PM10/19/10
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Mathew, what did you make that tetroon out of? It looks like trash bag material, given the color, but I don't see all of the usual seems. Does it come in large rolls? I ask because it looks like very good material for making solar hot air balloons, and I am in search of a new material, darker than my dusted painters drop cloth.
--
In space, no one can hear your shutter click.

Jennifer Hudon

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Oct 19, 2010, 2:13:35 PM10/19/10
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@Matthew, we were thinking of this shape /_\ but horizontally, so the triangle lays flat (or parallel to the ground). Then the rig could be suspended below via three strings from each corner, letting the camera rest in the middle of the open triangle. 

As for negotiating a multiple person balloon, that makes a lot of sense. It probably wouldn't work in the urban settings we're trying to map since we had enough trouble jumping over park benches and pedestrians with one line. 

Thanks for the input. It's still new to me, so any information from experience is extremely helpful. 

-j

Jeffrey Warren

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Oct 19, 2010, 3:13:49 PM10/19/10
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Ok i had to have fun with sketchup so i did a quick model of it -


which did you imagine using, with seams lined up or flat? I think construction would be easier and stronger with seams lined up (the right-hand one) but it might fly better flatter. Not sure, probably it just bears testing.

we also discussed putting using a flat sheet to fill in the hole, making it perhaps act like a kite. Who knows if that'd work...

Jeff

Mathew Lippincott

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Oct 19, 2010, 7:22:52 PM10/19/10
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Ditto to Jeffrey, looks like it could be a decent kite.  
JP Aerospace has a speculative airship design with a V-shaped inflated wing.  They've flown some test versions of it.  You might be able to make a crude version of this as a helium kite:

Dan Beavers

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Oct 19, 2010, 10:22:24 PM10/19/10
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http://www.southernballoonworks.com/balloons/kingfisher-aerostat-wind-capable.html

I have seen other pictures of this that show it more flattened than this
seems but I can not find those pictures. The shape is definitely more
flat than spherical, which I suspect is the reason it supposedly performs
well in high wind. I also suspect the skirt provides stability.

Dan

Mathew Lippincott

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Oct 20, 2010, 12:03:55 AM10/20/10
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I really, really want to pursue development of a high-wind kite balloon like that SBW balloon.  A sub-6ft kite balloon would be a real game-changer for GRM, because it could fly even in high winds as an unregulated aerostat, keeping a steady spot in the sky, even when towed at speed.

The helikite is price-competitive to that SBW balloon, uses a superior design (to my mind, more below), and can fly in 40 knot winds.
At $900 It's still really pricy. I'm going to try to build a cheap version when I have some free time in November.  It's really just a commodity flat, circular plan boPET balloon with a kite attached to the bottom:

MORE ON KITE BALLOONS:
The SBW balloon is cool, but I don't get why they use a drag structure for stabilization.  Kite balloons have been built with lift stabilization since 1915 for operation in higher winds.  The earlier drag-type Sigsfeld-Parseval kite balloon ("drachenballoon") was abandoned.  
Lift-type kite balloons can be a lift structure attached to a balloon, a balloon with lift characteristics, or a combination of both. Lift shapes for balloon bodies will probably correspond to "lifting body" shapes.  The Helikite and SBW kite balloons both have a compressed oval shape, which is a lifting body shape, attached to a stabilizing structure.

Most larger long-duration balloons also have a wind-inflated bladder to maintain rigidity in high winds and account for gas loss.  You can read about the flying and design of historical kite balloons in these histories, especially the US Army operations manual.

History of kite balloons in war, with operational experience:
Some cool photos and experiences of those "blimp" kite balloons here:

also, the US Army operations manual for the Type M kite balloon, with lots of user experience.  Somewhere I have full gore patterns and rigging diagrams for this balloon, illicitly photocopied from SIBL.


Liz Barry

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Oct 20, 2010, 10:12:14 AM10/20/10
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I'm also interested in kite-balloons for towing, or rather potentially biking through city streets. Matthew, can you foresee a weekend in November when you might be working on these?
Liz

Mathew Lippincott

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Oct 24, 2010, 1:26:55 PM10/24/10
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That sounds really interesting, liz. Towing kites from bikes would be awesome.  I'm planning on the weekend of the 12th for a big build out, with some sporadic prep work before then.

On Oct 20, 2010 10:12 AM, "Liz Barry" <eba...@gmail.com> wrote:

I'm also interested in kite-balloons for towing, or rather potentially biking through city streets. Matthew, can you foresee a weekend in November when you might be working on these?
Liz



On Wed, Oct 20, 2010 at 12:03 AM, Mathew Lippincott <mathew.l...@gmail.com> wrote:
>

> I rea...

Liz Barry

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Nov 6, 2010, 3:57:31 PM11/6/10
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Hey Matthew,
I thought you and the list might enjoy this picture of Lockheed Martin's blimp-plane
http://www.economist.com/node/17414216

Liz
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