Living in an apartment in Sydney has its advantages. Rent is cheaper, I can live close to the city, not a big area to clean, etc… There is however one big draw-back for any Maker, Inventor or Engineer, the lack of working space. I do not have a garage, shed or workshop space. Anything that requires mess (sawdust, plastic or foam) from sanding, cutting or spraying must be done in one of the rooms or on the balcony and will likely go everywhere. Building robots did not seem to be compatible with living in an apartment.
I found this out the hard-way when creating the Prototype chassis. Sanded foam, shards of cut fiberglass cloth, sanded putty and epoxy resin was all over my apartment and in the air which did not impress my wife at all. The whole process made me really think whether or not I could build anymore robot chassis in the future at home and whether I needed to move my work to a better, however less convenient environment.
Using the trusty Google, I looked up as many ideas as I could regarding apartment working or apartment workshops but did not find much. After much searching a chanced upon an Instructable (which is a great place to find ideas and plans for makers) for a DIY Anaerobic Chamber. The concept was great for what I wanted. So I created a version for myself that would allow me to keep contained all the dust and mess that I had been creating in making a chassis.
I have documented my build in the Projects section under Apartment Work Space Box.
Has anyone else had issues making or inventing in apartments? How did you overcome these issues?