When TIer Michael Zwerg returns to the annual Burning Man event in the Nevada desert this summer, his homemade Electrical Camping Shower will be the envy of fellow festivalgoers who spend days baking in the hot sand and sun with limited supplies of water.
Michael, a microcontroller (MCU) design engineer, came up with the ingenious MSP430™ MCU-based apparatus to help him stay cool on the excursion while still saving on water.
"My friends and campmates at Burning Man love the shower," said Michael, a veteran participant who has attended the event nine times since 2001. "It makes the whole experience more enjoyable."
The Burning Man festival takes place around Labor Day in late August/early September in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. It is a non-commercial event focusing on self-reliance, community, art and self-expression. Visitors depart after a week, leaving no trace of their activities behind.
"There is nothing you can buy at the event. You have to bring all the shelter, supplies, food and water that you will need while you are attending," said Michael. "And then you take everything away that you brought with you."
The DIYer first introduced his Electrical Camping Shower at Burning Man in 2009 and has taken the contraption to the event for the past four years. Before that, he used a solar camping shower, which uses bags attached to a tiny hose and a shower head. Michael found that solar showers were not water-efficient – and water-preservation is crucial in the desert. Preserving water is also important because it is heavy to lug to remote places. Michael's electrical shower makes the water last so he can use about a half-gallon of water per shower. Michael's mechanism uses an MSP430 MCU to automatically shut off the pump after a certain amount of time so people don’t take extended showers.
To see the camping shower in action, check out this video:
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