Nile Valley Bike - AP

  
    In this Design & Engineering course, we have spent the past unit learning about the geometry of circles and 3-D objects related to circles (sphere, cone, cylinder). We have learned about simple machines that involve circles (wheel & axle, pulley, gear) and how they are used as modes of transportation, especially in bikes! For this unit, we took one particular FE to an organization called Working Bikes which works to make biking more accessible in the different communities of Chicago and third-world countries. During that Field Experience, we learned about bikes and how they can have different purposes which were very important for the Action Project. This AP is about designing a bike to fit a certain persona from a different country who bikes to school. The purpose of this is to learn how to design with an intended audience and also to learn different things like how to create models and make custom designs based on unique problems.

    While researching already existing bikes I found that they often fell into specific categories of road bikes, mountain bikes, BMX, or hybrids. Another thing I found about bikes is how they often have elementary technological devices and don't use some parts of other modes of transportation that could make bikes more effective. An example of this is the lack of mirrors on bikes which could help make biking safer in places with more cars.

    While conducting research for my Action Project I interviewed a fellow student, TN, who bikes to school most days. In the interview, I found that one feature on their bike that they find useful is their bag storage which makes it easy to carry different loads and even another person. They also said that they disliked using kickstands and wished for a more effective form of storage. I tried to include these two opinions of his into my design by adding storage on the back and having the bike be stored as a thin frame that can be put into smaller spaces.

    For this project, I worked to make a bike for a student named Atef who lives in Cairo. His commute is 3.25 miles through sandy roads often full of heavy traffic. They need a bike that won't have its gear clogged and something that can be easy to store in the small bike room at his school.

Nile Valley Bike - PC - 2022

    My new bike design includes multiple additions that turn a hybrid bike into something more efficient for traveling in a dense and dirty area. Some of the innovative features added are mirrors and car sensors to make biking with so many other cars safer and a cover over the gears on the bike to prevent dirt and sand from clogging the gears or chain. Another feature addresses the problem of storage. By making the handlebars able to rotate up to 90° it allows for a flat bike that is more space efficient.

Bike Sketch - PC - 2022

    Our bike is single-speed. We chose this option because Cairo is a relatively flat city and they would not need to use different gear ratios for going up and down hills. Also having a single-speed bike doesn't require as much maintenance as a multi-speed bike and there is less possibility for the bike to break or malfunction. Our persona is also one who is looking for an easier ride as an easier way to go to school. The most common gear ratio for a single-speed bike is 2:1 which is what our bike has.

    

Calculations:

Our persona lives 3.25 miles away from their school and it takes them ~15 minutes to get to school via bike (not accounting for traffic).
Speed - 15mph*1609/3600=6.7mps
Wheel measurements - D=25in R=12.5in
C=2*pi*12.5=78.5398163397in
Wheel rotations - (3.25*5280*12)=221760/78.5=2623 rotations
Scale - 2.7in/27in or 1:10
Kinetic energy - ½*70kg*6.7mps^2=525J
Momentum - 70kg*6.7mps=469.29 kg m/s

Digital Bike Sketch - LH - 2022

    While working on this project I had a lot of fun but encountered a few problems along the way. One of the largest obstacles I encountered while completing this AP was that my partner was sick for most of the past week which made it harder to be able to work cohesively. Another obstacle was while creating the model I didn't have the best materials. I think for future projects it would be best to get nicer and more effective materials to create a better product. Overall this project was super informative and creative. I got to learn how to make models with Chicago Mobile Makers, create digital sketches, and problem-solve for different people across the world.