GRL MBU + Critical Mass

Graffiti Research Lab took the Mobile Broadcast Unit out to Brooklyn Critical Mass for its first true long-range test in full form. We rigged up a simple towing system that allowed two other bikes to help pull the MBU, which is quite heavy. Check out the video below, as edited by me, of us bumping through Bucktown, the borough where I hang my hat:




This was my first time doing Critical Mass in Brooklyn, so chalk it up with Manhattan, Boston, San Francisco, and London. The sound system is crazy loud on this thing, two 3x5 car speakers powered off a deep cell battery. The laptop has its own battery, the projector and camera run off a small generator.


All in all a pretty successful first run, definitely have to do some basic re-design of the towing unit for the future. Though the real problem is the overall weight - ideally you wouldn't ever need anyone to be towing it in the first place, if the MBU was light enough to do fairly long distances, or designed to be piloted by two people. We're thinking future models may have some type of turret system that would allow the projector to rotated in any direction.



The ride itself was calm, a cold night and a pretty small group of folks. We started at the base of the Williamsburg Bridge, while another group meets at Grand Army Plaza. Which is also where the cops start. We had the soundsystem going loud through Williamsburg and down through Bed-Stuy, but got the order to turn if off from the scooter cops when we met up with the other group of riders down on Myrtle Ave. We rode back up on Bedford ave and dismounted all together at McCarren park so that that cops would go home. Then we rolled up to a nearby handball court and got down to some laser taggin'.


Big ups to everyone that came out to show some support and ride some bikes, and stuck it out in the cold to write with a giant laser. Check out the official GRL post too, and likely I'll be directing some more of these documentation videos in the near future. Its on YouTube too.