X Tensegrity Hammock STand

[Latherdome]

Sorry! I should get three 9' aluminum poles, fabricate three unions, and make the final Tensegrity Stand.

My place is now an orgy of clattery 3/4" PVC pipe (2x9' and one 6.75') and tangled cordage as I prototype, bloody-knuckled. I'm having trouble with the cordage: not wanting to commit to lengths just yet, all the connection points slide, so it's a bear getting it to stand up absent final tension. Also I fantasize about lacing it up in a manner that tensions everything by tightening just one line, but my "Spock's luthier" side hasn't caught up to how.

Is it essential to lock down/prevent sliding at some or all of the connection points? Which?

I think I can do the cordage as 4 color-coded whoopie loops rather than 12 discrete runs.

Also planning to break down into 4 or even 5 segments because has to pack onto bicycle: 30" too long. This way the short pole is 3 27" segments, and you can add a 4th for multi-hammock mode (but then the cordage lengths change).

For ease of field deployment, thinking of a rigid 6-way union so it doesn't collapse before cordage taut: just ordered this for prototyping: https://flexpvc.com/cart/agora.cgi?p...n&ppinc=detail . Do you see a problem with a rigid orthogonal union given 9' poles? Would fix the union at the 1/4 point of the longs and at 1/3 of the short. Looks like your version had a more shallow X.

The X-Tensegrity Stand for one hammock is the same as the original, tipped over, with one short strut.
You could tip over any symmetrical tensegrity stand and have the same thing.
It's just that your hammock would be hanging over the end of a pole.

I'm thinking all 3 poles have to be same length if it's to work for more than 1 hammock at once, but then, lower head than foot could be a selling point when the hang points are too short to permit adjustment...

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