Okay, so I’ve been messing around with this idea for a portable dance floor, and let me tell you, it’s been a journey! I wanted something I could take to outdoor parties, maybe even the park, and practice my moves. The whole “cushions dancing engineer” thing? That’s me, trying to figure out how to make it bouncy and stable.

The Initial Brainstorm

My first thought was, “Hey, I could just throw down some plywood!” Yeah, that was dumb. Way too hard, no give, and definitely not going to be kind to my knees. I needed something with some spring, some… cushion. Hence, the ‘cushion’ part of this whole experiment.

Experimenting with Materials

So, I started playing around. I got:

• Plywood sheets: These are for the actual surface, the part you dance on. They needed to be big enough to give me space, but small enough to carry.
• Foam padding: The kind of cushion you use for sitting on the floor, I bought a bunch of these.
• Strong tape: This hold the whole construction work.

Building the Prototype

First, I made smaller surface using plywood sheets, it’s important to keep in mind the size must be smaller than your car’s trunk.

Then, I try to put every cushion under the wooden sheets, and tried to dance on it. It’s abosolutely not stable! So I stick every two cushions together, and put them under the boards in X shape. It works!

Testing and Refining and Testing and Refining…

I danced. I jumped. I invited friends over to try it out. The first version? Kinda wobbly. The foam was too soft in some areas, and not supportive enough in others. I tweaked the placement, the type of foam, basically everything. I went through a lot of tape.

The (Almost) Finished Product

After a bunch of trial and error, I’ve got something that’s pretty decent. It’s not perfect, mind you. It’s still a bit of a DIY project, but it’s portable, it’s got some bounce, and it’s way better than dancing on concrete! It’s basically a bunch of smaller, cushioned platforms that I can link together. I can set it up in my living room, in the backyard, wherever.

I’m still thinking about how to make it even better. Maybe some sort of interlocking system for the wood? Different types of foam? It’s a work in progress, but hey, that’s the fun of engineering, right? You build, you test, you break stuff, you build it again, better this time. And, most importantly, you get to dance!