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Show HN: Occupod – a solid mobile sleeping shelter
- BobFromDown 8y agoGood idea. Poor execution. 5/10.
- n4r9 8y agoWhat would you do differently?
- evolve2k 8y agoMake it longer. Consider an internal secure storage. Could you really leave valuables in it during the day if you were away. Reconsider the flap at the back. Consider when there are say over 20, over 100. This is when officials get ansy. Could the design accommodate a small group being encouraged to cluster (and optionally encourage supporter networks). Eg to protect the weak entrance area.
- explorigin 8y agoThere isn't enough space for a 5' person to lay down. Maybe if you put two together.
- Broken_Hippo 8y agoIf someone is homeless, what is the likelyhood they'll be stretched out anyway?
- newnewpdro 8y agoI don't understand what homelessness has to do with extending one's limbs.
- Broken_Hippo 8y agoStretching out on one's back or side or stomach is something mot folks take for granted. We are in relatively safe, warm, and dry conditions. Trying to find those good conditions when you are homeless can be a bit more of a challenge, at least if you don't have a car. Even with a car, most folks are crunched up in the seats to some degree.
- newnewpdro 8y ago"Unlike a tent, an Occupod is a solid mobile sleeping platform that rolls down a sidewalk and provides safe sheltered sleeping at night." Unlike an Occupod, a tent isn't easily rolled off a cliff or into traffic while the occupant is too high to notice. There's so much wrong with the execution of this, I don't know where to start.
- dsfyu404ed 8y ago>There's so much wrong with the execution of this, I don't know where to start. This looks like every other mechanical engineering undergraduate capstone project. Relying on paint for waterproofing is the real kicker.
- ams6110 8y agoYeah my vision was of the things being set on fire either accidentally by the occupant or by some sociopathic passerby. Plus we should not be encouraging shantytowns, mobile or otherwise.
- tropdrop 8y agoIt's hard to get an idea of scale in these pictures, so the pods seem impossibly small and unlikely to fit a whole person. A picture of a person laying inside for scale would help.
- Qworg 8y agoThe floor is a standard 42" pallet.
- Kiro 8y agoSo how are you supposed to sleep in one of these?
- saudioger 8y agofetal position
- tropdrop 8y agoI have never tried laying on a 42" pallet - have you? I really can't say if it's too small to sleep in. A simple picture (even a stylized, human-sized vector drawing) would put debates about whether this pod is too small to bed.
- sleepychu 8y ago42" is slightly over half my height, hard to imagine this being comfortable
- Broken_Hippo 8y agoTo be fair: If I'm given the choice of sleeping outside without protection or sleeping in one of these, I'm gonna take these. I think it is a horrible choice to have to make, mind you, but neither is comfortable. I'm gonna guess I'd not be stretched out on a city street either.
- duskwuff 8y ago"No Place For The Living" seems... rather the opposite of the intended message. On a more technical level, many pallets are chemically treated to prevent insect damage. The chemicals used for this treatment can be quite hazardous; sleeping on top of a damp, chemically treated pallet is practically a worst case.
- jacquesm 8y ago> sleeping on top of a damp, chemically treated pallet is practically a worst case. Worse than sleeping out in the rain?
- duskwuff 8y agoYes. Rain doesn't contain methyl bromide, which can cause cancer and permanent damage to the lungs, kidneys, and nervous system.
- jameskegel 8y agoIn the case of chemically treated pallets quite simply yes.
- thecatspaw 8y agoWhat is so bad about chemicals?
- JoeAltmaier 8y agoSkin burns, lung damage?
- jacquesm 8y agoPeople smoke and do lots of other stuff that is unhealthy in the long term but that gives them what they need short term. I'm pretty sure that given the choice between sleeping in the rain (which I could not) and sleeping in a shelter with some probability (probably unknown to me) of issues in the longer term I would pick the shelter. Also, I thought the design was rather light on ventilation and I wonder how you'd deal with things like mold and fungi. All in all this is a crappy solution for a real problem, props to the person that came up with it but in reality this is not a solution, merely more problems and a way to declare the problem solved so we can pretend it is no longer a problem. Btw, look for the letters "HT" on pallets when you want to re-purpose them, that indicates the wood was heat treated rather than chemically treated.
- briankelly 8y agoThis looks like a worse version of a teardrop trailer. There are many DIY guides and templates available on how to build a them, like this one: https://www.instructables.com/id/Teardrop-Trailer/ https://www.instructables.com/id/Teardrop-Trailer/
- Eldt 8y agoThat looks much more expensive
- Gys 8y agoTotally different purpose ?
- georgeecollins 8y agoI think if a homeless person had a car to attach a teardrop trailer to, they would sleep in the car.
- msadowski 8y agoI didn't get it from the article but is there enough airflow to ensure you won't get a CO2 poisoning of you lock yourself inside?
- scotty79 8y agoThere are no seals on the doors so probably plenty of airflow.
- Gys 8y agoInteresting. I miss a description of the design decisions ? Like why there is an angle of 45 degrees on one size. An overview of the final outside sizes would also be nice.
- pjc50 8y agoNice bit of cheap woodwork from scrap materials, but the main problem this will run into is that most jurisdictions will apply (or bend) laws about parking and temporary structures to take away and destroy your wooden trailer shelter. Or, in the case of Hungary, make homelessness illegal entirely. https://edition.cnn.com/2018/10/15/europe/hungary-criminalizes-homelessness-intl/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2018/10/15/europe/hungary-criminaliz... / http://abouthungary.hu/fundamental-law/qa-on-the-upcoming-amendment-to-hungarys-fundamental-law/ http://abouthungary.hu/fundamental-law/qa-on-the-upcoming-am... Homelessness is a complex social problem that requires quite a lot of social intervention work to fix. It's not something that can be papered over with a wooden shelter.
- cobbzilla 8y agoWhy don't you just tell the poster straight-out that they have wasted their time; if only they'd talked with you first they could have spent that precious time working for real change. For shame indeed.
- sergiotapia 8y agolmao
- jpdoherty 8y agoYou're right that homelessness is a complex problem. However, taking steps to protect lives (or even just improve comfort) isn't papering over the problem. I think taking tiny steps toward a solution, even limited in scope, is still a very helpful thing to do.
- radiantswirl 8y agoHomelessness is an incredibly simple problem with an incredibly simple solution: build more housing. Since this is not a step in that direction, it does not seem like a "step forward" to me. If anything, all these "occupods" do is widen the social divide between homeless and housed people..... While poisoning the homeless with chemicals from the wood pallets. LMAO at this misguided attempt to do good that actually does harm.
- User23 8y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanty_town https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanty_town
- DennisP 8y agoInteresting but I think I'd rather have a backpack carrying a tent, sleeping bag, and pad. That's a fine shelter used by backpackers everywhere in all sorts of severe conditions, with much easier and less conspicuous mobility than rolling this thing around.
- ljf 8y agoIndeed - they are also easier and simpler to replace as needed - and take less looking after. I wonder how long these will last without upkeep? How far can they be pushed, and if left static, where would they be left without risk? From my own observations, I'd say that owning big 'things' like this is just going to cause trouble for the average homeless person. If it is 'good' then they will be at risk of others on the street taking it from them, or passers-by destroying it for fun. Also not sure I'd want to be inside something like that with the kind of people you get in city centres at night, walking by - people have been known to set fire to sleeping homeless people, or at very least urinate on them. So this could either be a perceived risk or something that you might not want to use after a short period. Remember - people sleeping rough aren't /just/ looking for somewhere to sleep. If they were then they'd be camping out in the woods etc (I know some do), but often they have other issues (drink, drugs or mental health problems) and they base themselves centrally to have access to drink/drugs/money/support. While I applaud the concept, I'd far rather see some more holistic support for the 'homeless'. And while I'm left leaning, even capitalists should see that costs of not supporting those with issues, can be far higher than the cost of supporting them (I read before that the average homeless person 'costs' Camden council (who look after Soho in London) about £16k - while those they can get into a hostel and provide support to 'only' cost about £6k.
- jpdoherty 8y agoThose things do not provide any physical security though, which is a very real concern for homeless people. In fact, the sort of lightweight, high-quality equipment that most backpackers choose, would likely just invite theft and/or violence.
- pontifier 8y agoSome of the people at my Makerspace have contemplated a similar project using foam board insulation to help deal with the extreme cold here in Utah. I can't believe how we continue to fail these people with discriminatory laws, innefective innitiatives, and nimbyism.
- crb002 8y agoCurious about the pathology of homelessness and chronic sleep deprivation.
- xrd 8y agoThe woman who founded Right To Dream Too (http://right2dreamtoo.blogspot.com/ http://right2dreamtoo.blogspot.com/) gave a presentation at my work. I mentioned that I thought it looked like many homeless were dealing with drug addictions and if they had services to support them. My perception is that people look much more stressed out than the homeless people I used to see in Portland twenty years ago. She remarked that people who are dealing with chronic sleeplessness often look like what you would see someone who is withdrawing from drug use, and that made me think. It makes you wonder if more/less policing has an impact on the ability of people to find safe places to sleep, and if not, how that leads to an interminable cycle of destruction to their bodies which is maybe worse than drug use. I wish I knew the facts on that speculation.
- tln 8y agoCool concept! You could fit a twin mattress in there. How about adding a variant that uses 2x4s for the bottom frame instead of pallets. If you're getting everything else at Home Depot, 2x4s will be easier to source. Now that you have an MVP, go get your first 10 customers! :)
- thrower123 8y agoMost of the time, pallets are free for the taking if you just ask. Whitewood pallets are mostly not returnable, and businesses get stacks and stacks of the things with deliveries. The lumber in a pallet costs on the order of $10-$20 if you were buying it retail. My father-in-law built an entire horse barn out of pallets and shipping crates that were thrown away from his job.
- matt_the_bass 8y agoLots of critical comments in this thread. But I applaud that the OP made the effort to try and help. That is more than most people do.
- occupod 8y agoThe back has a hinge section that folds down to fit a +6' person fully extended. I will work to make that part clearer by including a second picture at top of site. Also, I will include to find HT pallet rather than a chemically treated one. These completed Occupods run $50 each. The city can trash them if that is their prerogative and I am not opposed to shanty towns at all.
- WhiteOwlLion 8y agoWhat's the problem being solved that a donated popup tent can't handle? Popup tent is lighter, portable, and you can set up and tear down in seconds. I'm not sure what the point of this is.
- occupod 8y agoYou are disconnected obviously