I know that the winter is upon us (especially in the Northern areas of the world) but it isn’t cold all over the place. Consider Australia, which is currently entering its summer season. What does that mean? It’s time to set up the inflatable pool in the backyard for those really hot days down under. However, some Australians might find themselves in a tough situation, due to an obscure law.

According to The Age, a Victorian law requires that all pools with 30 centimeters of water must be surrounded by a child-proof fence or barrier of some kind. If this law starts to be enforced by local councils, it could become a problem:

“Under the law a swimming pool can be any ‘excavation or structure’ capable of 300 millimeters water depth ‘’used principally for swimming, wading, paddling or the like’. Owners are also required to get a building permit for the fence or barrier and ensure it complies with rules regarding height, bolts and gaps. Fines for failing to comply can be up to $5000. Inflatable pools have been exempted from needing building permits.”

This may seem a bit like overkill in terms of inflatable pool safety, but some areas in Australia take it very seriously. However, the article says that there is a general feeling that the issue is not important enough to be a major concern. Overall, pool safety requirements are not properly vetted when houses are being built. The article says that a shift in policy should be forthcoming with fines and penalties:

“[There has been] a 10 [percent] increase in the past year in the number of Victorians drowning at inland waterways. An additional nine-year study by the state Coroner’s Office and Life Saving Victoria showed an average of nine alcohol-related deaths in the state every year, mostly men aged between 35 and 44 and mostly in rivers.”

Hopefully these numbers of deaths will go down as local councils begin to strictly enforce safety policies for pools, inflatable or otherwise.

As you know if you read this blog, there are all kinds of fun and interesting inflatables out there. In fact, two weeks ago I wrote about artists who use inflatables as an integral part of their work. I’ve also mentioned stories about rental inflatables that are air-filled versions of real working Irish pubs – now those are definitely an inventive use of the inflatable technology available. As cool as these uses of inflatables are, there is a new implementation for inflatables that has me really excited – inflatable robots!

CNET reports that inflatable robots are being developed and used in San Francisco as we speak. This is good for many types of industries, which could use them in a number of different ways. According to the story:

“Ant-Roach [is] a pneumatic robot that weighs about 70 pounds and can carry loads that are much heavier. It was designed by San Francisco-based Otherlab ‘to demonstrate the carrying capacity and high strength-to-weight ratios possible with inflatable structures.’ The beast has textile actuators that contract when inflated with compressed air. A microcontroller runs the muscle network, and is controlled wirelessly via laptop.”

Using inflatables in robotics is not a new premise, especially when you consider the use of pneumatic pressure as a force for movement in various machinery is very common. However, these robots have major limitations when it comes to mobility, which the article says is “zero to limited.” The good news? These robots are still valuable in ability:

“Their soft exterior makes them ideal for use around humans, and they have high ratios of strength to weight. [One] prototype is apparently able to lift a person with 50-60 psi even though it weighs only 2 pounds. If the arm could move and grasp object with precision, repetition, and speed, industrial applications alongside human workers may be possible at reduced cost.”

If what is being said about these robots is true, I would say that we will be seeing them at construction sites and factories in the near future.

All you have to do is step outside and you’ll run the risk of seeing someone using a smartphone. By the end of 2010, almost 75 million Apple iPhones were sold, not counting any of the other smartphones made with the Android operating system. Considering that almost 4.6 billion people all over the world own a cell phone, the market for cell phone accessories is massive. Manufacturers make a number of holders, screens, shields, adapters and other accessories that cell phone owners buy on a regular basis.

Not to be outdone, Apple also has a number of products that can be used in conjunction with your iPhone. Surprisingly, one of their recent patent applications involves the development of a system that would protect your iPhone from damage with inflatables. According to an article on Geek.com, Apple is working on a shock mount that would detect potential damage and possibly inflate:

“Upon sensing a drop event the shock mount, in one given implementation, could fill, thus mitigating the damage to the thin glass screen. This shock mount would exist between the screen and the body, minimizing any impact and dampening shock to the delicate screen. It couldn’t necessarily have to be a large, inflatable pouch, just a piece that could transfer impact…”

Furthermore, Apple has also filed a patent wherein your phone would become its own protective device, featuring a liquid-filled bladder scheme:

“[The scheme] would actually inflate a mobile devices’ screen when the built in accelerometer detects a sudden drop. A bladder would fill with fluid from within the device and act as a shock-absorber, decelerating the device upon the event of an impact.”

Inflatables have been a major part of safety development among many industries. It’s safe to say that an inflatable system in case of a car crash is more important than protecting your iPhone, but it just goes to show how versatile inflatables actually are.

It is no surprise that technology is always evolving very quickly throughout various industries at all times. This is no different for the world of inflatables, which lend themselves to make more than just bounce houses and inflatable slides. As I have mentioned before in this blog, inflatables are used for a number of purposes in safety and medical fields. For instance, an older post discussed how hospitals were beginning to use inflatables as a way to transport obese patients safely and efficiently. Inflatables have also been used in car safety tests, including the addition of inflatable seatbelts for children. Now inflatables are being considered in both design and function of some vehicles that haven’t hit the market yet.

An article from Motor Trend explains the newest way that inflatables are being incorporated into vehicles at a Swedish airbag company:

“…[it} has been impossible to achieve…those delicate, easy-to-see-around roof pillars. Fat pillars lend a cartoonish, brutish mien to every retromobile out there. The solution comes from an unlikely source — Swedish airbag supplier Autoliv — and, in fact, it leverages airbag technology. But instead of inflating a cloth bag, it inflates a folded steel tube that is integral to the vehicle’s body structure. Up until now, the only way to make a car capable of supporting one and a half times its weight on the roof (as required in 2012) was by giving all the pillars a thick, beefy section.”

Inflatable steel, you say? Not exactly. Motor Trend says that when an accident is detected, the car would pop off its interior trim and inflate a section of pleated metal that protects passengers (and driver) in a collision. The pillar that inflates up would actually use the same method as an airbag, but with much more force:

“The tube is made of 0.06-inch-thick steel that’s typical automotive-grade strength (58 kilos/square inch yield–high-strength steel is too brittle for this type of application). It’s welded closed on each end and weighs 3.5 ounces, representing a 10-percent weight savings. Cost is little more than the price of the inflators.”
Inflation safety systems are also being implemented in some Mercedes’ models in a side door impact beam, but this technology is readily available as of yet. It’s just good to see that we are making cars safer (and better looking!) by using inflatable innovations!