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Building a Personal Clean Room?
eagleyezx asks: "I have a rather large basement with nothing currently sitting in it (I moved all my crud to my garage). Since I am really into space and satellites, I have a satellite all designed. It's kinda based on one of the Amsat designs, but all it really does it beep, just like Sputnik. However, I would need a sterile clean room to build one that would function properly and not go beserk in orbit. I know everyone out there has thought about this at least once? Has anyone ever built a room like this? Any suggestions on equipment?" If you had the drive to do something like this, what would you need to do to be able to build a workshop that would even come close to "clean room" standards. Has anyone ever built an airlock on the cheap?
If you can afford to put a satelite up in orbit, can't you find a a better place to work that a basement?
Satellites won't go bezerk in orbit if they're not built in a clean room. Especially a beeper like the one you envision. You've got your horse before your cart too. When you build this thing, how are you going to get it into orbit? For that matter, when you build this thing, how are you going to get it out of your basement? The satellite and mounting hardware and mating ring to attach to the rocket are not going to fit up your stairs!
Anyway, just in case you are the next Werner von Braun, I wouldn't like to be remembered by history as "that guy who treated a genius rudely" I will answer your question. Remember the train conductor who was wrongly blamed for making Edison deaf when he actually saved his life? You know what I'm talking about...
Take a look at pages written by those who paint their cars at home in their garages. To get those nice smooth paint jobs there can't be any dust around.
Get your stinking paws off me you damn dirty ape
(I was on the ASU Sat1 team. && !(I know what I'm talking about))
Go to radio shack! Buy all your parts there.
If you're a farmer, build it in the pig pen. If you're not a farmer, find a farmer.
If it can work under those conditions, it can work anywhere.
Clean rooms are rated as class 1, class 10, class 100, class 1000 and class 10,000. The numbers are the maximum count of 0.5 micron sized particles permitted in a cubic foot of air. The old federal standard for clean rooms is FED STD 209E, recently replaced by the international standard ISO 14 644. I'm guessing the ISO standard costs bucks and the FED standard is probably free so pick and choose. A class 1000 clean room would not be that hard to build and maintain. Clean, painted surfaces all around, some sort of air filtration system with positive pressure, no textiles, pencils, powdered gloves allowed. You'd have to wear clean room smocks, booties and bonnet. The room would have to be vacuumed daily (with a vacuum exhausting to the outside) and the particulate count verified daily. An air shower and sticky mat at the entrance would be a good thing. Now that's just for a class 1000 clean room. Imagine what it takes for a class 1 clean room.
"Eve of Destruction", it's not just for old hippies anymore...
Swiffer. I used one in my bathroom today, really a cool product. Picked up everything.
python -c "x='python -c %sx=%s; print x%%(chr(34),repr(x),chr(34))%s'; print x%(chr(34),repr(x),chr(34))"
I would recommend looking for information on micropropagation (cloning plants). It is a fairly popular hobby and you need cleanroom like conditions, so most micropropagation books have plans for mini cleanrooms. I would recommend talking to people who have done this before (which you are trying to do ;), seems there is at least some discussion on Usenet about the subject.
For starters you'll need a really big fan, just to driver the air-flow through the filters and your room. The trick is to have an over-pressure and a good flow. The over-pressure prevents stuff from getting in, and the flow removes stuff that already are in (you'll probably carry in some dust, etc.).
What parts are you going to assemble in a clean room. I'd rather suggest a clean-box (i.e. a box with a good clean air-flow and gloves epoxied to a couple of entry points to allow you to work in there. Simply put your working project (in transport protection) in there, your tools (do *not* forget anything), then let the air flow through. When the air has been completely exchanged a few times you can get your working project out of the transport protection and get working on it. When you are done, simply wrap it into something air-tight again and then remove it from your working box.
Such a solution would be easier to work with and have a higher wife-acceptance-factor. Of course, it requires that whatever your doing fits into the box.
If you want a really clean room, you should ask your girlfriend for advice, rather than Slashdot. If you don't have a girlfriend, one of your friends might have one. Check around.
So what do you want to do, anyway? Fab some chips?
Donate background CPU time to fight cancer.
Uranus jokes aside, I think the conversations will go like this:
Potential Girlfriend: Wow, what's this?
Geek: A satellite
Potential Girlfriend: Gee, has it been to space?
Geek: Nope, but its built to spec. I build 'em in my spare time.
The Woman Formerly Known As The Potential Girlfried: That's, um, pretty dedicated.
Geek: Yup. Want share a Mt Dew with me?
-Sean