Design of the Week: Glitter Bomb Trap 2.0

By on December 30th, 2019 in Design

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 The 3D printed Glitter Bomb Trap 2.0 by Mark Rober [Source: Fabbaloo]
The 3D printed Glitter Bomb Trap 2.0 by Mark Rober [Source: Fabbaloo]

This week’s selection is the Glitter Bomb Trap 2.0 by Mark Rober.

Rober has been here before, having been awarded our design of the week for his Glitter Bomb Trap version 1.0. He’s a full-time video artist who specializes in building outrageous technical projects for a huge worldwide fanbase. 

Last year Rober set about to right the wrongs of the incessant “porch pirates”, who seem to be everywhere, stealing loose packages from doorsteps when the recipient is not around. Rober says that a startling 1.7M packages are stolen or lost every single day!

Rober’s plan was to build a simulated valuable package and place it on doorsteps in hopes a pirate would steal it. But upon opening the package the perp would be surprised by a series of nasty automated features, including wide-area dispersal of glitter and a rather unpleasant smell. 

Rober designed the “Glitter Bomb Trap” to include video capture and automatic upload so all the fun would not be missed. 

 The 3D printed Glitter Bomb Trap 1.0 [Source: Fabbaloo]
The 3D printed Glitter Bomb Trap 1.0 [Source: Fabbaloo]

Our interest was in the fact that Rober made extensive use of 3D printing in designing the internal structure of the Glitter Bomb. The mechanism had to hold multiple smartphone cameras, the smell emissions system as well as strongly holding the glitter dispersal spinner. 

The original video garnered an astonishing 78M views, which has to be one of the most-viewed videos exposing 3D printing to the public. Version 2 may have a similar response.

 The 3D printed Glitter Bomb Trap 2.0 internal design [Source: Fabbaloo]
The 3D printed Glitter Bomb Trap 2.0 internal design [Source: Fabbaloo]

Now Rober is back with version 2 of the Glitter Bomb Trap. What’s different? Here’s a list of what’s changed: 

  • Four smartphones record activity in 360 degrees to not miss any action

  • Two bottles of “fart spray” to double the odor coverage

  • A different “fart formulation” that is far more intens

  • Automated and instant cloud upload of any captured video

  • Biodegradable glitter, instead of the permanent glitter used in version 1.0

  • Sound effects are added, including police chatter and a mysterious countdow

  • Security cover to make it very difficult to access the internals

  • New fake “product” labeling

 The 3D printed Glitter Bomb Trap 2.0 with security cover [Source: Fabbaloo]
The 3D printed Glitter Bomb Trap 2.0 with security cover [Source: Fabbaloo]

You’ll have to watch the entire video to see what happens, but it’s extremely amusing. I particularly liked the scene where the perps for some unexplainable reason open the Glitter Bomb Trap in a retail store, much to the surprise of the proprietors who had a big mess to clean up. And much screaming. 

 The 3D printed Glitter Bomb Trap 2.0 equipped with electronics [Source: Fabbaloo]
The 3D printed Glitter Bomb Trap 2.0 equipped with electronics [Source: Fabbaloo]

Here’s the whole video:

This type of project, while a sensational stunt, does lend itself quite well to the use of 3D printing. The ability to quickly iterate through a series of designs to arrive at an optimal design is achievable easily with 3D printing technology. 

What will your next project be? 

Via YouTube

By Kerry Stevenson

Kerry Stevenson, aka "General Fabb" has written over 8,000 stories on 3D printing at Fabbaloo since he launched the venture in 2007, with an intention to promote and grow the incredible technology of 3D printing across the world. So far, it seems to be working!