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April 16, 2020 2 min read 4 Comments

What would your ideal job be?  For some people, it would be to go to work every day and do research and development on wild ideas that are somehow related to geodesic domes.  That pretty much describes Sonostar’s R & D Department. We love geodesic domes, and we’ve sold them all over the world to other people who share our same passion.  And just to be clear, we’re not trying to improve on the geodesic design – that was pretty much perfected by the Greeks some 2300 years ago. We’ve been blown away by some of the creative ways these domes have been used for all kinds of purposes.  In future weeks, we’re going to throw open the doors of our R&D lab, and share some of the ideas we’re working on. We’re hoping to make it interactive, too, so if you’re a visionary or a closet inventor, bring your imagination with you as we look into some of the ways we can modify, add on, or just look differently at these amazing architectural designs we call geodesic domes.

As a teaser, here are a few of the topics we already plan to cover.  But don’t be surprised if new ones come up as we bounce ideas off each other.  We’d love to hear your comments or see pictures of things you’ve worked on.  

  • What about all that space up above in a large dome?  Are we restricted to just using the ground floor? Is there any way to efficiently use the geodesic structure to take advantage of that upper space?
  • Bubble domes are nice, but aren’t there some alternatives to a transparent cover?
  • Sonostar has 4-star, 5-star, and 6-star hubs.  Has anyone thought of making a 3-star hub? Why?
  • It would sure be nice to have some shelves that attach to the side of the bubble dome greenhouse.  Is anyone working on that?
  • Geodesic domes are sections of spheres.  Is there any way to make a geodesic sphere stand on its own?  It could make a great playhouse.
  • A lot of our sales go to places that are off-grid.  How about an integrated solar power system? What would the requirements be?  Do geodesic domes have any advantage there?

We want to hear your thoughts. Feel free to comment below.


4 Responses

Joe Dunfee
Joe Dunfee

August 03, 2024

I am looking for a portable, quick-up/down, geodesic dome that I can use for dome projection at various venues. Your system would seem to be the fastest to set-up/down if the tubing would lock into the hubs with perhaps the use of a spring-pin. Though, the challenge with those, is for round tubing, you must get it perfectly rotated. But, that could be marked. I also wonder if adding elastic cord to keep the tubing with some of the hubs would save effort.

Regarding the pipe itself; In my experience using PVC pipe puppet stages, the use of Schedule 40 pipe, is not really an advantage over Sch 20. The Sch 40 is twice as heavy, so it tends to sag more across a span. If someone needed more strength, the cost and weight of thicker walls is better spent on a larger diameter pipe. But, your current system accepts only Sch 40 pipe.

Dan G
Dan G

December 11, 2022

Nice site. I’m rather surprised that you don’t offer a hub that takes 3/4 in PVC. It seems to me the most versatile of all the sizes.
1) it takes 3/4 PVC pipe
2) a 3/4 pvc stub can be fitted with an inexpensive adapter to take 1/2 pvc pipe
3) like wise, adapters for 3/4 pipe easily allow attachment of 1 inch or larger PVC

Sure, I get the idea that with larger pipe you eventually need a larger diameter size hub (like you already offer) to avoid weak hubs. However, having a hub that takes 3/4 pipe is a more versatile item for the hobbyist and can take lots of different size pipe while still containing cost.

thx

DANNY MCGEE
DANNY MCGEE

October 04, 2021

what about ingress/egress? aren’t doors an issue with your customers?

Alex
Alex

April 17, 2020

Aloha

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