Tensegrity stand for multiple hammocks

[WonderMonkey]

Yes, you did! Dave brought it to me at Hot Springs. My camera is with Thing1 in the sandhills, else I would show it to you again!

So, you think the Boy Scouts will like Tensegrity Stands better than Tom's stand, shown here?

I can see a center pole being added to this and a large tarp covering everything, extending out a few feet.

[MacEntyre]

I can see a center pole being added to this and a large tarp covering everything, extending out a few feet.

Center pole is not necessary. I told Dave that I was thinking if you make one or two poles 6" short, then the flat roof would drain. The part that extends out over each hammock would be a quadrilateral, so that when they are all down, the entire structure is enclosed with angled sides. When they are all up, there is a porch at each hammock.

[WonderMonkey]

Fair enough. Would the entire structure be covered then? I can see there being a need to store additional gear, whatever that may be.

[MacEntyre]

...when they are all down, the entire structure is enclosed with angled sides.

The entire structure, including hammocks, would be enclosed. Gear may be stored in the middle and under the covering, just outside the hammocks.

[WV]

+ 1 What Mac said, but it's hard to visualize. Also hard to illustrate. There are some trig equations that let you calculate strut lengths and tendon lengths, but they're based on a perfectly tight structure. "Perfectly tight" is extreeeemly tight. I usually have to do extensive tweaking. (Except "tweaking" makes it sound relatively effortless ... it ain't.)

If you want to make a model, a good starting point is one of the three possible tensegrities that have all tendons of equal length. They are:

A) Three struts and nine tendons (i.e. - the top and bottom faces are triangles) The strut/tendon ratio = 1/0.68125

B) Four struts and twelve tendons (i.e. - the top and bottom faces are squares) The strut/tendon ratio = 1/0.6436

C) Five struts and fifteen tendons (i.e. - the top and bottom faces are pentagons) The strut/tendon ratio = 1/0.60843

These are not structures you could hang a hammock from because the heights would be wrong.

[WonderMonkey]

The entire structure, including hammocks, would be enclosed. Gear may be stored in the middle and under the covering, just outside the hammocks.

If I could read I would have seen you said that. But I asked anyways. 1 demerit to me.

[MacEntyre]

1 demerit to me.

At least monkeys can type!

...and Scots can sew. Wonders never cease.

[LostCause]

Thanks guys. That clears up a lot. Looking forward to the video!

[WV]

Here's the video. This stand has struts 123" long. Tendons are 7/64 amsteel. There was a lot of calculating and then trial and error tweaking to arrive at the lengths of the tendons and how to connect them, but now that's out of the way, and it's not difficult to assemble.

[angrysparrow]

That's marvelous. This is why I love HF.

Thank you for sharing.