A Mask on a Bike?

Hello and welcome to my final action project for my Design and Engineering class. In this unit “Farther” we learned about wheels, pulleys, and other simple machines. We also talked about gears and how they work in different ways. Along with that we talked about Potential and Kinetic energy. Math wise we worked with speed, distance traveled, and acceleration. One Field Experience that stuck out to me was going to Civic Projects. This FE was a whole day FE that we don’t usually have a lot of and we got to talk to architects in the field. This allowed us to see how certain people think through certain problems and design with a sense of empathy. I’m proud of the amount my drawing experiences have improved over the class. In the past, I wasn’t too fond of drawing but, over time I’ve gotten used to drawing simpler pictures. The purpose of this action project is to design a bike that fits a certain person's needs. Different people have different needs, so we need to design them for a specific target and to fit a specific goal.

"Mile End Bike Garage" by xddorox is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Before brainstorming ideas we first had to interview a biker so we could know their process. I decided to interview my Aunt who's been biking for over 40 years so she’s told me a lot about what helps her bike. She taught me that sometimes when biking it's sometimes hard to breath because the user is a constant speed with no stopping point.

I decided to work with my NM on this project. Our user’s name is Napoleón, and they live in Riobamba, Ecuador. Riobamba is known for being a part of the highlands of Ecuador and there are many hills and mountains in the area. Because of that, it makes it difficult to get around with a bike that might be really thin or something that doesn’t help with that process. They also struggle with the air flow in the area and would like to have a bike they can share with some of their siblings from time to time.

"The Ox-Lock Bike", By NM, 2022

The bike NM and I created is the Ox-Lock. It's helpful because it allows for a more efficient way to lock a bike. For Napoleon, one concern that they had was trying to lock his bike up near his school which is in a city area. Because of that, having a lock box which is a box that stores a chain that can be taken out via password. This makes it innovative by allowing the user to wrap the chain throughout the bike and attach it to something lockable without using multiple locks at once. This makes it more convenient when locking and makes it easier to store the bike in public without it getting stolen. Another concern Napoleon had was that the air in Riobamba isn’t the greatest. Because of that we’ve made a mask that’s connected to an air tank at the front of the bike. The air tank allows for the mask to give air straight to Napoleon allowing for efficient air flow. This helps to give Napoleon some air while riding when they might not have as much. When the mask is off, there's a place on the bike where it can be stored and cleaned out.

"Digital Ox-Lock Sketch", By RBL, 2022

Our persona, Napoleon, is one mile away from his school which is 1.6km. For the average person, a mile walk should take around 19 minutes. Biking that amount is around 12 miles per hour. But because Napoleon is on the younger side it might take them a longer time to bike that distance. Because of that we rounded up a little bit for Napoleon's  time. Therefore it should take them 24 minutes to walk to school and  7 minutes to bike from their house to school. Their average speed is around 9 mph and 4 mps.

Here are our calculations below:

Diameter = 28 in
Radius = 14 in
Circumference = 3.14 x 2 x 14 = 87.92 > 88 in
# of Rotations = 63,360 / 88 = 720 rotations

Model diameter: 3.5
Scale: 3.5:28 -> 1/8


Bike Mass: 30 kg
Napoleon’s Mass: 70 kg

Total Mass: 100 kg

EK = ½ x m x 4^2 > ½ x 100 x 4^2 = 800J
Momentum (P) = 100 x 4 = 400kgm/s

"Napoleon on the Ox-Lock Model", RBL and Nm, 2022

Our bike makes more sense with multiple gears because it makes it more convenient for Napoleon to go up certain hills that might take them a while. For their needs, we’re designing this bike for an easier ride on his legs. For Napoleon’s ride, the gear ratios that we’ll be using are 50/34,44/16, 34/30, 28/20, and 24/18. These can allow for Napoleon to have many different options going up and down hills so they can have the best experience. For our model above, our main scale was 10 inches in real life to 1 on the model

From this action project I learned how to design a bicycle on a small scale using certain items. Along with that, creating a bike targeting a specific person in mind and what might go into that. One thing that did make it difficult was designing with an oxygen restriction in mind. In Chicago, oxygen isn’t the biggest issue, whereas in other parts of the globe it’s something a little more prominent. My partner and I overcame this by making something that can fit in multiple environments. Another issue was designing something for a younger audience. Throughout the course we’ve been designing for people who are on the older side and not directly younger. This was one of the first times for me when I’d have to design something for a younger person. If I were to do it again I’d like to see how it might be different if my partner and I had a different persona.

Sources:

Schau, J. (2015, May 15). Gear ratios. what does it all mean? Pure Cycles. Retrieved November 10, 2022, from https://www.purecycles.com/blogs/bicycle-news/8821967-gear-ratios-what-does-it-all-mean

Wikstrom, M. (2020, December 28). Beyond the big ring: Understanding gear ratios and why they matter. CyclingTips. Retrieved November 10, 2022, from https://cyclingtips.com/2017/11/understanding-bicycle-gear-ratios-why-they-matter/