The Green Cloud By damien  [9 more lists]

The art car is joystick controlled. We have spent significant effort to remove the steering wheel, brake and accelerator pedals and replace them with digital servos and a 32-bit embedded microprocessor. We've create a robust system to control the car, and we have made safety a primary goal.

The car is electric powered and has a top speed of ~12mph. The car will be limited to 5mph while in Black Rock City. The car has a range of ~15 miles per charge, and it also will have an on-board generator for charging while on extended playa missions. Full recharge time should be 6 hours or less.

The car is equipped with 6 green lasers with a 'fan' lens to spread out the beams in a horizontal plane, about a foot above the ground. The lasers are close to the ground because that is where the dust is, and the dust creates beautiful swirl patterns everywhere around the car. The dustier, the better. The green lasers also create a shimmering effect while the car is moving, similar to that of water, which adds to the 'floating leaf' theme of the car.

There is a sound system on the car, and we have a selection of Funk music playing during the desert test. We will have several varieties of music to select from.

The green lasers 'scan' the surrounding area while the car is moving, the vibrations of the moving vehicle cause the scanning effect. The 6 lasers will be controlled by PWM (brightness control), and connected to a second 32-bit processor. The individual laser brightness can be animated in various ways, such as a 'radar' type of effect.