Geodesic Temporary Emergency and Event Shelter

What is a Geodesic dome? What does it look like? Why do we use it? Where? These were only a small amount of questions that were asked to me while I was working on this project. My family friends, my classmates, and even my teachers were fascinated by this awesome structure. Here, I will explain what I have made, why people in different climates and types of weather would use this, and where I have specifically designed my shelter for. Be prepared for an exciting explanation!

P.S Just to let you know, I am moderately okay at 3D sketching, but horrible/not really good at placing objects YET (still learning 😭 ) in Autodesk Fusion 360, so I used Tinkercad for more basic parts/my weakness (panels), don't be surprised if the panels are misaligned with the structure, that's what I'm working on, hopefully you get the concept right?

I used some sources of information, and autodesk applications:

1. Wikipedia (Where I learnt a bit about geodesic shapes and domes)
2. Very useful website (https://www.bfi.org/about-fuller/geodesic-domes/)
3. I used this guys to help me design, video's credit goes to Paul Robinson (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQpnbViP_9bfAoVGZfxMn4vihOJqN9SHk)
4. This website helped me figure out what material suits my city (Winnipeg, MB, Canada) (https://hypedome.com/blog/geodesic-dome-origins-and-uses)
5. Helped me with deciding how to vary insulators (https://lumenandforge.com/possible-uses-of-domes/)
6. Weather info (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_extreme_temperatures_in_Canada#:~:text=110.3%20%C2%B0F)-,Lowest%20temperature%20readings,%C2%B0F%20for%20the%20year.)
7. Autodesk Fusion 360 Personal
8. TinkerCAD

Now that we have our resources, and have gathered some information on structural parts, and both Climate, lets get started!

It's extremely cold in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It's no joke. The temperature gets down to almost -30 degrees Celsius in the winter (December, January, to March), with crazy weather. That's why I had to research what kind of insulation I should use for my project. There are a few options, but I personally like polycarbonate.

Polycarbonate is a very strong material, which makes it ideal for use in geodesic domes. It's significantly stronger than acrylic and glass, and it's great for thermal insulation. It keeps the heat in during the long Winnipeg winters and keeps things cool during the short summers, and is transparent for natural lighting. It's also an affordable option for a do-it-yourselfer.

Geodesic domes are strong, especially the triangular composed domes. Winters in Winnipeg carry lots of loads of snow, and the weight of the snow can actually "crush" the structure. This is why it's essential to have a good structural design. Also, geodesic domes help distribute weight evenly, so there are no stress points in the structure.

The dome is split into two main groups, the frame, and the panels. The frame is the structure, which I prefer to be aluminum, because it is a lightweight material, both strong, and also most importantly easily recyclable, so nothing goes to waste after the event or usage of the structure. The aluminum is composed into three parts, the frame (65 needed), the 5 joint connector, used to connect the upper part of frames together (16 needed), and lastly the four joint connector (10 needed), used to connect the frames at the base of the dome together. Unfortunately, I did not have time to figure out what dimensions the frames and parts should be, but in my opinion, it varies from where the structure is applied.

Here is the very badly panels attached.

Here is link to tinkercad: https://www.tinkercad.com/things/hWxPf50B0vQ-geodesic-triangular-dome/edit?returnTo=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tinkercad.com%2Fdashboard&sharecode=FJpRFChiaBRheQ9hOUJVHCZ0l2iXylwKWD6e_1THtf0