ART
BEAUTÉ ET BIEN-ÊTRE
ARTISANAT
CULTURE ET HISTOIRE
DIVERTISSEMENT
ENVIRONNEMENT
NOURRITURE ET BOISSONS
INGÉNIERIE INVERSE
SCIENCES
SPORTS
TECHNOLOGIE
TECHNOLOGIE PORTABLE
Bubble Wrap
Karen

Créé par

Karen

22. septembre 2026SE
0
0
0
0
0

Bubble Wrap

In 1957 Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes sealed two shower curtains together with air bubbles trapped between them, hoping to sell a textured wallpaper. It did not sell as wallpaper, nor as greenhouse insulation; it sold as packaging, and their company became Sealed Air. **US 3,142,599**, "Method for making laminated cushioning material", Chavannes, assigned to Sealed Air, filed 27. November 1959, granted 28. July 1964: plastic film heated above its softening point but below melting, drawn into the "discrete depressions" of a moulding roller, and sealed to a second film so each pocket traps air. **You measure what the air does**: an Arduino accelerometer rides a wooden block, and for bare floor, 1, 2 and 4 layers and 2 popped layers you find the drop height that reaches 16 g - and from it, how far the air lets the block slow down.
Intermédiaire
2 hours

Consignes

1

The drop block

Cut a pine block 100 x 100 x 40 mm and weigh it. Tape the MPU-6050 flat on top, and zip-tie its four wires along the block so they cannot pull the sensor.

Matériaux pour cette étape :

Planche de pinPlanche de pin1 pièce
Ruban de masquageRuban de masquage1 rouleau
Colliers de serrageColliers de serrage4 pièces

Outils nécessaires :

Scie égoïneScie égoïne
Balance de cuisine numériqueBalance de cuisine numérique
2

Wire and flash

Use 1 m of jumper wire so the block can fall freely: VCC 5V, GND, SDA A4, SCL A5. Microswitch between D2 and GND. Open the serial monitor at 115200.
drop_peak_g.inocpp
// Drop-test peak-g meter - batch 98, US 3,142,599
// MPU-6050 on I2C (SDA A4, SCL A5, VCC 5V, GND). Microswitch D2 -> GND arms a 3 s capture.
// Range +/-16 g: a reading of 16.0 means "16 g or more" - the test uses that limit as its threshold.
#include <Wire.h>

const uint8_t MPU = 0x68;
const int ARM_PIN = 2;

void writeReg(uint8_t reg, uint8_t val) {
  Wire.beginTransmission(MPU); Wire.write(reg); Wire.write(val); Wire.endTransmission();
}

float readG() {
  Wire.beginTransmission(MPU); Wire.write(0x3B); Wire.endTransmission(false);
  Wire.requestFrom(MPU, (uint8_t)6);
  int16_t ax = (Wire.read() << 8) | Wire.read();
  int16_t ay = (Wire.read() << 8) | Wire.read();
  int16_t az = (Wire.read() << 8) | Wire.read();
  const float LSB = 2048.0;          // counts per g at +/-16 g
  return sqrt(sq(ax / LSB) + sq(ay / LSB) + sq(az / LSB));
}

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(115200);
  pinMode(ARM_PIN, INPUT_PULLUP);
  Wire.begin();
  Wire.setClock(400000);
  writeReg(0x6B, 0x00);              // wake up
  writeReg(0x1A, 0x00);              // widest digital low-pass (about 260 Hz)
  writeReg(0x1C, 0x18);              // accelerometer +/-16 g
  Serial.println(F("Press the switch, then drop within 3 s."));
}

void loop() {
  if (digitalRead(ARM_PIN) == HIGH) return;
  delay(300);                        // let go of the switch
  float peak = 0;
  unsigned long n = 0, t0 = millis();
  while (millis() - t0 < 3000) {
    float g = readG();
    if (g > peak) peak = g;
    n++;
  }
  Serial.print(F("peak "));
  Serial.print(peak, 1);
  Serial.print(F(" g   ("));
  Serial.print(n / 3);
  Serial.println(F(" samples/s)"));
}

Matériaux pour cette étape :

Triple Axis Accelerometer and Gyro Breakout - MPU-6050Triple Axis Accelerometer and Gyro Breakout - MPU-60501 pièce
Microrupteur (à levier)Microrupteur (à levier)1 pièce
Jeu de câbles Dupont (mâle-femelle)Jeu de câbles Dupont (mâle-femelle)1 jeu

Outils nécessaires :

Arduino Uno R3Arduino Uno R3
SparkFun Cerberus USB Cable - 1.8 meterSparkFun Cerberus USB Cable - 1.8 meter
3

Cut the cushions

Cut 200 x 200 mm squares of bubble wrap: seven for the 1, 2 and 4 layer stacks, two more to pop completely for the control.

Matériaux pour cette étape :

Papier bullePapier bulle1 rouleau

Outils nécessaires :

CiseauxCiseaux
4

Climb to 16 g

Tape a tape measure up the wall. For each landing - bare floor, 1, 2 and 4 layers, the popped pair - drop the block flat, sensor up, from 10 mm, then 20, 40, 60 mm and so on, pressing the switch before each drop. Record the lowest height that reads 16.0 g. Use fresh wrap if bubbles burst.

Outils nécessaires :

Mètre rubanMètre ruban
5

Stopping distance from your ladder

Chargement du notebook Jupyter…
6

History & Context

**What the patent specifies:** heated thermoplastic film formed into a roller's depressions and laminated to a second film to seal in air, continuously. **Modern build (derived):** commercial polyethylene bubble wrap. Its big early customer was IBM, shipping the 1401 computer. Its limits: bubbles slowly leak and burst under long static loads, it is bulky to store, and most of it is thrown away after one use.
Étape 6 - Image 1

Matériaux

7

Outils requis

6
Total estimé
Ce que le maker a acheté. Les matériaux sans prix se trouvent là où vous les achetez.
€31.08

Blueprints liés

Ces blueprints partagent des connaissances — techniques, matériaux ou principes

CC0 Domaine public

Ce blueprint est publié sous CC0. Vous êtes libre de copier, modifier, distribuer et utiliser ce travail pour tout usage, sans demander la permission.

Soutenez le Maker en achetant des produits via son Blueprint où il perçoit une Commission Maker définie par les Vendeurs, ou créez une nouvelle itération de ce Blueprint et incluez-le comme connexion dans votre propre Blueprint pour partager les revenus.

Commentaires

(0)

Se connecter pour participer à la discussion

Chargement des commentaires...