Over the past year, I’ve written about the many hopefully improvised solutions I’ve created to try to NOT feel the mechanical vibration that shakes me awake every morning. I even looked into making a hanging bed that would be bolted to the concrete ceiling slab, or a rig like this “Levitation Suit”. It was created for The Cultural Center of European Space Technologies in a workshop focusing on levitation in an environment of gravity; it was an exploration into a new “3D” form of hotel, and has the obvious appeal of flight.
In lieu of being able to be weightless or levitate, my newest vibration-damping fix came via some readers who had the same problem. (I’ve discovered that LOT’S of people suffer from disturbing vibrations.) The solution was to sandwich a fully-inflated air mattress between the wood bed frame and my regular mattress. It dampens the vibration significantly, though the bed is so high now, I have to clamber onto it.
I’d tried a partially-inflated air mattress on the theory that it would conduct vibration less than a fully-inflated one.
My generous advisors said they had tried the same thing, but then decided to test out fully-inflated ones. They’ve found TWO stacked air mattresses even better and manageable because their mattress was originally on the floor. That solution would make the bed SO high I would need a ladder to climb onto it, making me more fully the Princess and the Pea.
I will continue to experiment with air mattresses, which work on the principle an engineer once told us is used to dampen the vibration of huge semi trucks: something along the lines of huge stacked inner tubes acted shock absorbers. I’ve written him to see if I could rig such a device using smaller inner tubes to use as bed legs.
In the meantime, I am grateful for the sleep the single air mattress has afforded me (however strange-looking my bed has become).
Yeah!! It’s good to hear you’re getting more sleep. Yippee!
Dare I say, little by little it’s been getting better. Though I’m in the process of designing another vibration resistant bed, with all the info I have.
Are you still using the air mattress approach? Is it enough on its own?
No, for me it was not viable. See the comments on inflated inner tubes…
Where can I find your comments on inflated inner tubes?
Do you think an air mattress would pop if I put it under a king mattress? Should I get a king air mattress or two twins? Can I put the air mattresses on top of a box frame?
Thanks
I tried that air mattress sandwiched between frame and mattress idea. The vibration still came through. Son’t waste your time.
Dear Sally,
not sure if your problem has been solved as of now. Tow comments:
-Regarding the air mattress dampener. How heavy is your mattress? Irrespective of the damping device you use the heavier your mattress the better it will work. Given the dampening system can carry the weight. That’s why sensitive physics experiments are based on thick (30cm) stone tables on top of dampeners.
(2) the best way would be to have an active dampener analog to noise cancelling headsets. I was thinking of building something Like that but I miss the time.
Dear Sally,
not sure if your problem has been solved as of now. Tow comments:
-Regarding the air mattress dampener. How heavy is your mattress? Irrespective of the damping device you use the heavier your mattress the better it will work. Given the dampening system can carry the weight. That’s why sensitive physics experiments are based on thick (30cm) stone tables on top of dampeners.
Secondly,
(2) the best way would be to have an active dampener analog to noise cancelling headsets. I was thinking of building something Like that but I miss the time.
Thank you. Nothing I tried tamed the vibration, though I was able to dampen it with simple vibration pads.