Measurements and Prototype Fine-Tuning- 10/31

October 31, 2013

Deliverable: Experimentation and Sketch Models

Today we measured bikes around campus. We measured the distance from the ground to the bottom of the hub, the distance from the ground to the bracket, and the width between brackets.

The average distance from the bottom of the hub to the ground was 12.72 inches (shortest = 11.5, tallest = 14.5)

The average distance from the bottom of the bracket to the ground was 12.75 (shortest = 11.5, tallest = 15)

The average width between brackets was 5.9 inches. (narrowest = 5, widest = 9)

Last class we had the idea to use overlapping metal plates instead of the shower rod design (one cylinder within another). The metal plates would simplify the production process, since you wouldn't have to worry about getting the cylinders exactly the right sizes to fit one inside the other. With the metal plates, like the cylinders, you would line the holes up and stick a pin through the corresponding holes at the correct width you wanted.

From the measurements we took today we think our ideal width would be 10 inches, and we would want to condense it down to 5 inches. We want the bike stand to be at least 16 inches tall, since our highest bike bracket was 15 inches.

Conversation with community partner:

Lyndsey, our community partner in Nicaragua, said that the good parts of the bike stand are it is strong and easy to use. The bad things are is the bike stand is heavy and bulky to transport. Furthermore, some of the younger members of the group can't lift the bike up and mount it on the stand by themselves. She suggests that we consider another material, and make the stand easier to fold.

New brainstorm: 

We're thinking about a design where instead of lifting the bike up, you roll it up on a ramp. We also need to prioritize the ability to fold, since Lyndsey mentioned that necessity several times.

Next class:
-Research what bike sizes are prevalent in the US and abroad (particularly in Nica, if we can find the data)
-Build a prototype of our sliding-plate
-Consider ways to reduce the weight and bulkiness, perhaps by decreasing the material used

Design Review and Prototype-10/28

October 28, 2013

Deliverable: Design review

Right now we're working on several different things- planning our communication with our community partner in Nicaragua, analyzing our current designs, and brainstorming new ideas from our analyzing.

The new idea du jour is the Upside-down T with Screws Galore:

When we talked to Amy, though, she listed several concerns:

-Screws are best for precise adjustments. Using the screws to adjust for difference in inches will be slow.

-Having the screws near the ground will result in dirt and rocks in the threads.

Thus, we went back to the shower rod idea. We decided we wanted two forms of adjustions: a macro-adjustment mechanism on the bottom, and a micro-adjustment mechanism on the top.

The Bookend Design

We built a cardboard/paper/screw model with a shower rod bottom and a screw top. We have two sides that are reminiscent of bookends

Goals for next class:

-Think about how we can use Nicaragua-local materials.

-Brainstorm ideas for efficient use of shower rod adjustment mechanism.

-Determine the necessary height of the structure (i.e., what distance we need between the bottom adjustment bar and the L-shaped supports.)

-Examine how the wing nuts work in the current design, and apply it to the new design/adjust to optimize top adjustment mechanism.

Community partner questions:

We planned to Skype with our Nicaraguan partners this afternoon, but technical difficulties postponed this opportunity, so Amy is going to email them with our questions. Our questions are as follows:

-- What are the steps you use to use the bike stand?

-- What do you like about the bike stand?

-- What do you dislike about the bike stand?

-- What ideas do you have about improving the bike stand?

-- How important is being able to fold the bike stand? How often do you fold it for transportation/storage?

-- Is there anything else you would like us to know?

Gallery Walk- 10/24

October 24, 2013

Deliverable: 3 Best Ideas Gallery Walk and Project Specifications

Today we chose three designs and made a Pugh chart to compare them. We drew the designs on print paper and, during the gallery walk, our classmates wrote their opinions, questions, and comments on Post-it Notes. (The exact comments are listed below).

Comments on the Original Design:
*Hard to twist?
*How did you solve this? [When mounting and dismounting the bike, the bike's gears get caught on the stand]
*What is the current cost of creating one bike stand? How can cost be reduced?
*Easy to make anywhere there's welding
*Where does the bike go?
*How does it fold?

Comments on Idea #1:
*Why wing screw?
*How does it fold?
*Stability of base structure
*What if a bike is very different in design?
*Width still constrained by 12" base
*Width is still constrained by 12" length of the base.

Comments on Idea #2:
*What if wheel bolts are different sizes?
*Is this [hub] design uniform for all bikes (or most)?
*How does this accommodate different bike sizes?
*Why wing screw?
*What if a bike is very different in design?
*Way to separate bike when needed for transport?

Comments on Idea #3:
*How is a wider base stable?
*Stability?
*How much of a difference will this make v. #1?
*There are possibly small parts that could be lost
*Interesting- how much harder is this to make?
*Is it stable enough to stay while vigorously biking?

Comments in general:
*Interesting!
*I like the simplicity!
*Yes!
*Good idea -->
*Easy to make anyone there's welding

We have several tasks to accomplish quickly, within the next week:

-Plan for prototyping- Figure out what materials we need
-Figure out clear goal
-Figure out questions to ask community partner/Talk to community partner
-Look at bikes on campus

Brainstorming Session- 10/24

October 24, 2013

We considered the current design:

Our original brainstorm yielded three designs that seemed to be more improvements to the current design than revolutionary ideas.

Idea #1: No more pipes! Eliminating the top parts of metal, reducing the chance of hitting your heel while pedaling, and also allowing for a great range of width.

Idea #2: Center the wheel. Align the bike stand with the center of the wheel instead of the brackets.

Idea #3: Adjustable base. Make a shower rod-type adjustable base that can extend up to 5 more inches.

We made a Pugh chart to determine how each idea measured up the current design:

We had originally conceptualized three designs, but Amy suggested we brainstorm 50-100 more. We then spent 30 minutes brainstorming and came up with 10 designs, some of which echoed ideas we had seen in our research.

We decided to consider:

-Improved balance

-Ensured stability

-Accommodating to different bike sizes

-Easy to build without a welding gun

-Easy to transport

-Intuitiveness to use

During our brainstorming session we came up with the following designs:

The "holding bikeback" supports the seat instead of the brackets or hubs.

 

This design lifts the front part of the bike, which Amy nixed.

Many bike stores sell metal cylinders that attach to the hub of bike wheels to slide down rails.

The "field goal" stands would support the brackets.

This design consists of adding an extra kick-stand type rod.

We were thinking of ways to accommodate the different sizes of hex bolts in bike hubs. This design would work, if we could figure out a way to make the design accurately multiple times.

The "Latch it on" design catches the hub of the wheel.

Contrary to most of our other designs, the "suspension" design would dangle the back wheel instead of lifting.

The "cylinder" is a characteristic that would support the weight of the bike, thus taking some of the weight off the brackets/wheel hubs.

This cylinder could accommodate different bike sizes.

This is a rather silly design that lifts the bike up in the middle- effectively lifting the entire bike off the ground.

This design also accommodates for different bolts on the bike wheel hub.

Many of our designs revolved around the idea of supporting the bike by the hub instead of the side brackets, but when we looked at the bikes we noticed the gears and wires around the hub might prevent a mechanism from supporting the hub from the bottom.

The gear mechanism prevents accessing the hub from the bottom.

We need to choose a design by Monday (10/28); I hope we can!

Previous Research- 10/24

October 24, 2013

We found many examples of stationary/optionally-stationary models. First and foremost is the original design that the EXTD 120 class used last semester:

The legs fold toward each other to make transportation easy. The wing-nut adjustment mechanism secures the bike, which is resting on the two L-shaped pieces of metal on the inside ends of the large screws.

We looked at other bike stands on the market:

Rock the Bike:


Rock the Bike:



Compass Bicycles


Jenson USA- Minoura Bike Stand


Rock the Bike


The Cheapskate Mom


Tuckamoredew blog

Group Introduction- 10/21

October 21, 2013

Deliverable: Concept generation and schedule
[What's a deliverable? A deliverable is what Amy, our teacher, expects us to produce for that class.]

Last semester’s EXTD 120 class developed an improved, removable bicycle stand for a bicycle-powered blender for a youth group in Nicaragua, and our goal is to improve that design. The bicycle stand needs to work with the bicycle-powered blender. This project involves the development of a universal bicycle stand that can be manufactured locally and affordably in Nicaragua and can be used on a variety of bikes.

Sister Community:

We are partnered with GrupoFenix, “a consortium of entities and people revolving around renewable energy and sustainable development in Nicaragua, formed in 1996. It consists of several small organizations, projects and individuals located in Managua, the rural north of Nicaragua and the United States. Members of Grupo Fenix include: PFAE (Alternative Energy Source Program), COOMUSOT (Cooperativa Multisectorial “Mujeres Solares de Totogalpa”, SuniSolar and Skyheat. PFAE at the National Engineering University (UNI) in Managua serves as the legal base for and directs GrupoFenix." GrupoFenix, with these organizations, focuses on developing and introducing solar-powered devices.

Nicaragua and Sabana Grande

Nicaragua is an agriculture-based economy with high unemployment and an unstable economy. The wealth distribution is unequal. Sabana Grande, Totogalpa is one of the poorer parts of Nicaragua, the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The Nicaraguan economy is based mainly on trade and industry, but in Sabana Grande 80% of the population gets an income from agriculture only. In this region, there is a large deforestation problem, limiting access to resources. The area is a tropical climate with many dry spells, but has high levels of solar radiation. 97% of the national consumption of the forests went towards cooking with wood burning stoves.

Group Roles:
Goal minder = Katie
Community partner liaison = Alex
Timeline minder = Debbie