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July 5, 2013

Bunny Park tensegrity cube

This structure is based on the 6 strut tensegrity icosahedron, and is a relative of the tensegrity gateway I posted here before.

A few tips:
- All ropes should be anchored as close to the end of the struts as possible. If you're using bamboo or cane, it's a good idea to make a notch in the end of the spar so you can hook the cord over this
-If you plan on building this at a larger scale, I suggest practicing on a few scale models first
-Follow the sequence above to build this most easily.
-Keep an eye on the number of connections from each end to the others - when you are finished there should be f ropes from each end of every poles, for 24 in total

I have named this after the Bunny Park, a park in Benoni, South Africa, where 15 teams tested this structure out in one metre bamboo canes, as part of  Pop Bolton, a Rover competition that was hosted by Phoenix Rover Crew in June 2013. At left is a photograph of one of the teams, from Prometheus Rover Crew, with their tensegrity cube.

A one page instruction sheet can be downloaded here. The SketchUp model is here. Amazon has a physical kit for a tabletop tensegrity cube here.

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