The "nitinol tent poles" entry inspired me.

Imagine a tent with a frame partially constructed out of memory metal, so that above 75ºF the tent automatically ventilates itself.

When desert temperatures drop at night the vents automatically close (due to the memory metal). As a bonus, the inside of the tent is designed to collect condensation when the vents are closed, allowing people to recycle water while they are sleeping.
-- PhaseShifter, Oct 22 2008

Stilltent http://www.technove...content.asp?Bnum=49
"He kissed her palm before securing the faceflap of his suit, then turned and..." [normzone, Oct 22 2008]

You would not need to make the structure out of memory metal. You could just make the vent flaps this way. Such flaps could be used to retrofit existing tents. Bun for this.

As regards recycling the condensation from the inside of my tent, a discerning nose will note it to be redolent of Old Spice and Jagermeister with a hint of chives and periodontal disease. This recycled condensation may be useful for filling snow globes but causes stunting in potted tomatoes.
-- bungston, Oct 22 2008


Every morning, when the vents automatically open, every ChemWarfare detector within 10 k's of [bungston]'s tent is going to have a hissy fit ....
-- 8th of 7, Oct 22 2008


Just the flaps ma-am, just the flaps.
-- theleopard, Oct 23 2008


/If deformed it will return to its original form after being heated but it will not deform itself on cooling./

yes. I was pondering this as I was considering a pump driven by memory metal alternating between cold and hot configurations. But once memory metal reverts in the heat that is how it is stuck. So these vents would open when it got hot, once, then stay open until someone closed them again.

Still something of this sort might be good for a situation where no-one is present, and unexpected heat could occur and be harmful - for example, an animal barn or greenhouse. They would be for emergency heat relief. The vents would open and hopefully spare the plants or animals some of the heat - later when someone realized what had happened the vents could be closed again - priming them for later use.
-- bungston, Oct 27 2008



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