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geodesic domes
made simple
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geodesic domes
made simple
The mini hubs are 3/8 scale.
They’re very similar in terms of function, so they’re a good introduction to full-size hubs and good for testing what’s possible with full-size hubs. But they aren’t just scaled-down versions of full-size hubs. We did consider making them very similar but with a proportionately larger through-hole to make it more practical. But in the end we decided to tweak them to make them work with Lego® to introduce some more possibilities for play!
About 190mm in diameter. At this size the ends of the ball connectors will touch each other inside the Short straw!
Using a whole straw for your Longs gives you a 741mm diameter dome. You can go larger but you’d have to stick straws together!
It’s possible but you won’t have enough parts with the basic 2v kit. To make a 3/8 3v you’d need two kits. To make a 5/8 3v you’d need three kits. We’d love to see it if you have a go!
Yes, it is possible but you’d need two kits to have enough hubs! For reference you need 12x 5-way hubs and 36x 6-way hubs. We’d love to see a picture if you have a go!
You can make other frequencies of dome (eg. 1v, 3v), a pyramid and a triangulated tunnel for starters. There’s quite a good freedom of movement / range of angles so you can experiment quite a bit though hubs suit structures which involve 5 or 6-way nodes, rather than say 3 or 4. It’s also possible to connect 6-way hubs together using a piece from Lego® (or create your own mechanism) to add more sockets at a point, which opens up some other possibilities!
Most of the ways in which it works with Lego® are shown in the picture on the gallery page. Zoom in and hopefully it’ll make sense!
We plan to but they might not be available immediately.
We can’t share the 3d models for the kit but we do have an earlier version from our Kickstarter project which you download here. Be warned though, it can be tricky to get the fit right (between ball connector and your straws and then between ball connector and hubs). Though some might see that as fun challenge!
We’re not planning on introducing any additional colours at this point.
Yes, but you’ll have to allow for the difference in space that the mini hubs take up vs the full-size hubs. Which is a bit tricky. We’re working on a calculator and will add a link to it when it’s ready. Note that at full-size the forces are much greater and so anything not properly supported will be found out! See the next question for an example.
The mini kit is very light so it’s not a true test of structural integrity. For example the ‘hangar’ picture in the gallery is triangulated and structurally sound but the base feet need to be fixed to the ground for it to be secure at full-size. You can get away without doing that with the mini version as it’s so light, which can be misleading. You can usually find out where there is a weak point, or where something might need to be fixed to the ground, by applying force to a variety of points in the upper structure.
