The Advanced Research Lab is our very own Area-51. It's a secure facility that is open only to Elite Geek Group Members and Staff. Members of the public are only allowed in by special invitation (usually for specific projects, very rarely for a private tour). As a rule cameras are forbidden. The entire lab is specially outfitted with such things as static proof/electrically bonded flooring (giant ground plane), blast panels, ballistics rated containment shields, a massive fire suppression system, seperate off-grid electrical supply (thanks to a 100KVA Diesel Generator), explosion proof lighting, switches, and outlets, and a stockpile of really good junk food. This facility is designed to serve two main purposes.

1. Many of the projects and demonstrations we have can be very dangerous while in the early development stages. In order to ensure the safety of all of our demonstrations we have to have a secure facility where we can work out problems in private to ensure they never happen with a member of the public involved. The last thing we would ever want to do is endanger a member of the public in any manner. We make sure that anything that CAN go wrong happens a hundred times in the safety of our lab before it ever goes on public display.

We intentionally destroy projects on a regular basis several times just to make sure that there's no possible failure mode that can happen that we don't have numerous safety systems in place to control. Everything from tabletop demonstrations with nothing more dangerous than simple cornstarch, to model rocketry, giant robots, and massive high voltage impulse generators are tested here. This is a place where mistakes are made, things are broken, parts get blown up, and electronics are often cursed at loud volumes well into the night. Many of the projects that go through early development here never see the light of day for one reason or another, but all of this work ensures the absolute continued safety of our members, students, and guests. We'd rather one of our trained monekys gets blasted instead of one of you.

Here is an excellent example of the kind of project research that we do in the ARL that would *never* happen in a public demonstration. This is the very first prototype of our large ES Lifter project. That device is flying without any moving parts, rockets, or propellers. The catch is the entire thing is bristling with massive amounts of high voltage at over 75,000 Volts of Direct Current.

Now you can see why we do this kind of stuff behind locked doors. Stupid Hurts.


2. Thanks to the ongoing relationships we maintain with our sponsors, and the high-tech nature of many of their products, we often have a chance to play with things long before they are released to the public. This can be anything from a new GPS unit to a new high-end video card (we have an early prototype Oxygen GVX-210 on display that looks nothing like the version that you bought in the store), to robotics and countless other products. Our sponsors often send them to us for Beta testing and to get input from an outside source on possible bugs, development ideas, or just to see how things hold up in the hands of a non-typical end-user. Our sponsors put a great deal of trust in us that these proprietary designs stay out of the public eye, and we take that responsibility very seriously. In order to ensure the comfort of our sponsors, and our opportunity to play with really cool toys, we maintain the secure Advanced Research Lab.


If you have a product you would like explored, or are a Geek Group Member with rank of G-3 or higher and would like to have the opportunity to bring a project of your own to the ARL, please email info@thegeekgroup.org and put "Advanced Research Lab" in the subject line.