Connect Modules

Once you have your modules ready, you need to hook them together.

First position your modules in the right spots while the tide is in (to move them around easier).

Then as the tide goes out, you can start connecting them while they sit on the ground.

Now, get your longest pieces of bamboo and lock them in place between different modules. Use several pieces for each joint.

Protective Scrim and Ladder

Because it is a laboratory we have lots of equipment and items we are working with. Sometimes humans drop things! We don't want this equipment to fall into the water because:

1. Expensive things don't work very well after falling in the ocean.
2. Fish don't like your garbage.

That's why we built a little 5cm scrim around the perimeter of the floor. So if you drop something and it rolls away, it won't roll right into the water.

Another little finishing touch is a ladder made from bamboo to get on and off.

Furniture (People Holding Tools)

Now that you have a whole floating structure, you can get to the fun parts!

One of your first tasks will be making the lab suitable for human bodies!

We found hammocks and bamboo furniture that we set up all over the lab. Hammocks are nice because they can be quickly set up when in use, and moved away when that space is needed. I got to spend many lovely nights sleeping in a boat lab hammock under the stars!

Make it comfy and fun, and still ready for lots of cool work!

BOAT GEAR

Sometimes when building a crazy idea, like a homemade floating laboratory, you can forget that there are lots of basic supplies you need just for being on a boat. Thus things like:

• Life jackets
• First Aid kits
• Trash Cans
• Snorkels
• waterproof cameras
• waterproof bags
• drying racks

are really useful for both keeping folks safe, but also helping them safely explore the surrounding natural environments.

Since it is a public space, establishing basic sets of rules is also an important feature. Especially when curious children are frequent visitors, it is quite helpful to have a basic set of policies that can guide everyone's actions.

Key to sustainability is just making sure that this is a cool place where peoplewant to be! So considerations of interesting parts, like a chessboard for passing lazy afternoons, or hot coffee maker to help overnight sea guards or scientists waiting for experiments to finish up are non-trivial.

Electronics Cabinet

A large, metal, locking cabinet is a key feature to the BOAT Lab. It protects important equipment from both the environment, curious kids, and pirates! It also stores and organizes lots of your laboratory tools!

We drilled holes in ours to mount it to some of the upright bamboo poles from the roof. We also build a scrim around the bottom that we connected it to as well.

Drill extra holes as need to route wires through to sensors and solar power.

Our cabinet has two modes: Open and Secure. When we are using it, we want it to stay open, so we set up a simple system of carabiners to hold the doors wide open (and not flapping around in the waves). At night we lock it all up to keep stuff from falling out and prevent attacks from PIRATES. (It's kinda cool to be working on a project where you actually have to worry about LITERAL PIRATES).

Solar Power Infrastructure

As I mentioned earlier, when you build the roof, you need to attach the solar panel. We sliced bamboo in half to make a bamboo frame that would hold the panel securely in place.

A basic solar power system consists of the following:

• Panel
• Charger
• Battery
• Inverter

Route your wires from the roof down to the Solar Charger. The charger then connects to the battery and makes sure it doesn't over, or underfill the battery. Then you can connect your inverter which takes the DC electricity from the big battery and makes it into other types of electricity to connect regular appliances (like lights and drills).

If your power needs meet how much power your panel can generate during the day, you are set! Test this by seeing if your appliances you need to power can stay running past the 24-hour mark! If you are low on electricity, you just need more panels and batteries! Our single panel and battery kept us running indefinitely powering 2 laptops, 2 LED lamps (at night), and 4 LED strips.

SAFETY:

Your panels can generate A LOT OF ELECTRICITY. When routing the power to your charger, only use good MC4 waterproof connectors, and thick wires rated to carry high currents. I wanted to just test the connection real quick and put some simple gator clips on our 250W panel, and guess what, THEY CAUGHT ON FIRE. DON"T LIGHT YOUR LAB ON FIRE! :)

Another point: YOUR BATTERY HOLDS A LOT OF ELECTRICITY. DON"T TOUCH BOTH NODES! DON"T LET THE NODES TOUCH THE METAL ELECTRONICS CABINET. Remember you are out in the wilderness too and strange things can happen like giant rainstorms! This is why we loaded all the heavy-duty electricity in a separate waterproof box inside the metal cabinet. We also put up danger signs to keep curious kids from melting their arms off!

Laboratory Infrastructure

We need to setup workspaces to help this place function as a lab.

Things like tables and shelves are super necessary for setting up equipment, and getting to work! Nearby hanging straps are also useful to putting bags full of gear nearby for specific types of work.

A whiteboard or other drawing surface is important for planning and brainstorming.

AND, I know I already said it before, but TRASH CANS. When you are working in a lab in a building, you generate a lot of garbage you don't even think about (like wire trimmings from stripping wires). You need a quick, secure place to dispose of this stuff before it goes into nature.

Projects on the BOAT Lab!

At this point, you should have an amazing platform to power lots of different ideas and investigations! In the project logs, I will cover different projects we are currently leading as part of the BOAT Lab.

If you want more info on any of these projects,

Follow our facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/WaterspaceIncubator/?ref=...

and read through our whole book

https://www.scribd.com/doc/313378537/Waterspace