By Jethro Bovingdon
The future seems to be small, instant, digital and highly portable, and yet Google, Microsoft, and Adidas to name just a few, know the impact of scale; the appeal of something tangible that seems to live and breathe with its surroundings. Each of them has called upon the expertise of Baconinflate, creators of intricately engineered inflatable structures, to make their products come to life.
So when Honda wanted to showcase its new and highly efficient 1.6-litre i-DTEC Earth Dreams Technology engine, an innovative, spectacular creation from Baconinflate seemed like a perfect fit.
The result is a vast but meticulously detailed engine structure that stands 5.5 metres tall and six metres wide. A mix of PVC Substrate and Lycra reinforced with an internal steel framework, it allows people to walk inside and discover the innovations that allow the real Earth Dreams Technology engine to deliver up to 78.5mpg in the Honda Civic.
Gary Bennett, Managing Director of Baconiflate, explains that the structure is pretty innovative, too: ‘We were brought on board to implement the idea of a large engine structure to be displayed at various shows. After photographing the real engine we used a software programme called Form Z and some other CAD-type programmes to model the structure – it was a real challenge.’
The key to creating something that would stop people in their tracks was making the engine look as realistic as possible. ‘We wanted to introduce a sense of depth to the structure – so it looked like perfect 3D,’ Gary explains. ‘So instead of taking the easy option and printing the engine detail on a flat sided structure, the form took on the shape of the components as they appear on the engine itself.’
You can fit 12 people inside the inflatable and its entrance is over 6ft high!
This is a complex process involving all sorts of parameters (for example wind loads have to be modelled and mitigated against with ballast), but Baconinflate’s engineers carry out all the work in house, from concept to completion. And they did it in just eight weeks. Even more extraordinary is that the inflatable part of the structure takes just 12 seconds to fill with air.
Gary could talk for hours about the complex computer aided design, the knowledge required to interrogate the data generated and contextualise that into a real world scenario. It’s a real blend of science and experience. Listening to Gary it’s clear that this apparently low tech industry, at least to the untrained eye, is adapting to the needs of its new clients through innovation and with a real passion.
The Airlander airship uses inflatable technology on an even larger scale
It got Dream thinking about old ideas remixed and improved for a new generation. The very best example of this also involves an inflatable structure, but on a scale so vast it’s almost beyond belief. See our new video about the Airlander: a project so immense and so ambitious that we just had to tell its remarkable story.
If ever there was a tangible, extraordinary, graphic demonstration of Power of Dreams then this next generation airship is it. Glorious, unique and with a vision for a serene new way to travel the world, it’s a fantastic glimpse into a future that might just be realised.
