NIMBY 2.0 Layout

As we all know, the NIMBY we knew and love is no more. That’s the bad news. The good news is that Snook and crew are moving to a new space! We’ve decided to follow them into this awesome new space! *cheering* A mock-up of the new digs is above, and we’re excited to be a part of it.

There’s just one problem, NIMBY still needs to raise enough money to pay deposits on the new space. A large amount has already been raised, but we’re still not at the necessary goal to make this all happen. If you haven’t donated to support NIMBY yet, now is the time! Or if you’ve already donated, consider doing it again. Head over to nimbyspace.org and click on the Donate button. Every dollar helps, so don’t worry if you can only toss a couple bucks their way. Not only will you be helping a Bay Area institution continue operating, you’ll also be providing several Bay Area artists (i.e. Interpretive Arson) with a place to continue building, creating, and inventing plus a permanent place to install some of the large pieces currently hiding in warehouses. Donate now!

UPDATE: Here’s a layout of our potential new workspace done by Nicole.

Interpretive Arson NIMBY 2.0 Workshop

Huge thanks to Andrew Blackwell for the videography and Allen White for the editing!

Nicole, Jonathan and I spent the evening finishing up the design for Hitodama test engine #2.  It’s a cool-running liquid propane/compressed air thruster, with a theoretical thrust of 96 Newtons.  We’re opting for safety over performance, which means low combustion chamber temperatures and lots of air pressure.  The complete engine, including bolt flanges, is 9cm diameter.  Hopefully we’ll be able to reduce that slightly for the production version.  A complete set of design specifications should be forthcoming.

Next come the high-pressure air and nitrogen-pushed propane systems.  Just because we said it’s safe doesn’t mean it’s simple…

Hitodama test engine #2

This is a picture of the complete engine.  From left to right, you see the nozzle (including diverging and converging sections), the combustion chamber which contains a titanium flame holder, the fuel injector, and the injector cap.  Air and propane enter and mix inside the flame holder.  Meanwhile, a bunch more air is injected outside the flame holder.  The entire mass of combustion gases are heated to about 1000C, and ejected from the engine at Mach 2.5.  At least, in theory.  We still have to build it.