Sunday 28 June 2009

Cardboard City

If you haven't seen this story in the tech news, it's worth following up as it may provide some inspiration for creating your own Modern, Near Future or Sci Fi urban tabletop terrain.

Florian Jentsch and his research team at the University of Central Florida, were provided with an $87,000 grant from the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, to create a 1/35th-scale Iraqi city for testing unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs).

The MOUT 'facility' measures 26 feet by 30 feet, with most buildings about a foot high. It represents a 14-acre section of city divided into four areas: one with high-rise buildings, another with a market, a third representing a residential area, and a city perimeter with palm groves and open desert.

Jentsch reported that " The initial setup took about six months and cost about $5,000 for cameras, transmitters, toy soldiers, miniature ferns and pipe cleaners to be transformed into palm trees. Buildings were made from cat food boxes".

Yes, cat food boxes!.........

Hang on a minute, our kittens get through a box and a half of food pouches every week. These cat-food boxes would make pretty reasonable apartment buildings/shops etc and are already constructed, sturdy, etc. So, they just need a little detailing and spray painting to become an 'instant' modern/near future 3rd World or Sci Fi colonial city..........

Find out more by following these links:

TSJONLINE.COM

UCF Newsroom

DEFENSETECH.ORG


Cheers
Mark


2 comments:

  1. During my recent cold and with alergy season upon me, I had a similar realization in regard to tissue boxes.

    -Eli

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tissue boxes make great wareehouses and vehicle hangers!

    Cheers
    Mark

    ReplyDelete