Creating a Pressurized Dome at Mezzacello

Creating a Pressurized Dome at Mezzacello

I am planning on creating a pressurized dome at Mezzacello this summer as part of my #BioTech research grant through The Columbus, Foundation. I don't know if I have been awarded the grant yet, but I am going forward with the project regardless. It is the next step in my ecosystems research strategy.

I have been doing a lot of research on dome structures. It's been a real challenge because of my space limitations here at Mezzacello. I have four quadrants in my potager garden. Each quadrant is 3.65m squared (12 feet) so the dome's circumference has to be within that 3.65m square.

Monitoring the Enclosed Environment

I am also quite concerned with heat and moisture issues. These domes get really hot and I want as enclosed a system as I can master, so heat mitigation and light are going to be real challenges.

I am planning on bringing in a high school intern this coming winter and spring to help me plan and build this system. I am also hoping for some help writing code and building out off the shelf sensor arrays for monitoring the environment within the dome.

I will share more as the project progresses. I have plenty of other lines of inquiry going on right now, so I will be plenty busy. Check back!

Here are the instructions. Instructables link.