eCycle
- RMIT Ma jor 2009 Chris Papadakis
Disclaimer
This is a single semester project that does not follow on from any work completed in pre-major. My pre-major project was a CVT-style automatic drive train for a push bike however after consultation with my pre-major lecturer, it was decided to change the project for major. My pre-major was completed in semester 1, 2008. None of my work from pre-major will be used in this project.
Contents Introduction
Design Approach
Research
Design
- Project Outline - Bike Sharing - Melbourne - Learner Testimonial
07 09 13 15
- User-Centered Design - Timeline
16 19
- Bike Sharing - Melbourne - Bikes - Drive Systems - Concepts - Research Evaluation
21 22 24 28 30 32
- Initial Sketches - Concept Development - Final Concept - Prototype
35 39 43 50
Project Reflection
53
References
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Image 1
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Introduction Bicycles are a very effective form of personal transport. They are a fast and efficient way to commute, especially for people living in high-density, inner-city dwellings. They also lend themselves particularly well to high density living as they take little space to store and the need for parking space is minimized. As a form of transport they are very cost effective, are relatively cheap to buy and maintain, have no fuel bill and there is no need to pay for parking. As well as being cost effective, they are also environmentally friendly as they leave a comparatively small carbon footprint. This project aims to develop a ‘bike exchange’ system to be aimed at inner city commuters and residents in and around Melbourne. The focus of the project will be on the design of the bike and the docking station/dispenser. The infrastructure that supports the system will be researched however it will not be the primary goal of the project. Some considerations that will need to be addressed concerning the design of the bicycle will include: -
Type of bike Melbourne
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Specifications Type of hire system
The bike will need to be easy to use, fit a wide variety of people and be robust enough to be able to withstand continuous use throughout the day and night without the need for frequent maintenance. It will also have to be able to resist attempts of vandalism so that bikes aren’t constantly being damaged or needing to be replaced. Bicycles also have some disadvantages associated with them, they are open to the elements and can therefore be uncomfortable to ride in bad weather, they have a smaller load carrying and storage capacity in relation to a motor vehicle, they are more vulnerable to theft and vandalism and there are safety issues when riding both on the road and on sealed pathways. The bike will be designed Melbourne-specific, meaning that design decision will be made with consideration to the area the bike will be used in. This is applicable to areas such as gearing and the type of bike to be designed. The aim of the project is to look at these issues and develop a well-designed solution to enable the bicycle to become a viable alternative for personal transport in and around the Melbourne CBD. I also plan to solve some of the disadvantages of using a bicycle in order to make it a more appealing form of transportation.
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Image 2: Bicing - Barcelona
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Bike Sharing Bike share programs have evolved to become one solution to the increased congestion within major cities the world over. The concept was originally conceived in the mid 1960’s but was slow to prosper until advancement in technology made the idea more viable and in recent times the concept has spurred rapidly, particularly in Europe. Some of the advantages of bike sharing that have seen to programs prosper have been the fact that users can take the bikes right to their destination, minimizing the need for commuting on foot, the bikes add little to the city’s congestion, they require little change to infrastructure, they are relatively inexpensive to purchase and maintain, do not create pollution in their use and provide the user with additional exercise. They also act as a link between existing public transport systems allowing the expansion of these systems. Since their initial inception, bike sharing has gone through three generational changes. The first generation began in Amsterdam in 1964. Called ‘White Bikes,’ this system took ordinary bikes and painted them white to distinguish them from the others. Users simply took a ‘white bike’ and once finished with it left it to be claimed by another user. The system fell apart very quickly as many of the bikes were vandalized or stolen, many of them ending up in the cities canals. The second generation began in Copenhagen in 1995. Known as Bycyklen, or City Bikes, they were specifically designed for urban use featuring solid rubber tires and advertising plates. This system differed from the original Amsterdam system by making users pick up and return the bikes from specific locations around the city. They also introduced the use of a coin deposit in order to use the system. Theft was still an issue as users were not registered to the bikes they were using. Only a year later, Portsmouth University in England introduced Bikeabout, which would become the third generation of bike share systems. Similar to what was being done Copenhagen, Bikeabout differed by making the user swipe a magnetic strip card in order to gain usage of a bike. This meant that the bike would now be registered to that person for the duration of the time it was being used. This dramatically reduced theft and vandalism numbers and ultimately launched the framework for bike share programs to expand on. Bike share programs slowly grew and evolved around Europe until the Velo’v was established in Lyon, France in 2005. Previously, Lyon had been a very ‘low bike traffic’ town with as little as 1.5% of all traffic accounting for bikes. The Velo’v system allowed the town to recognize the bicycle as a legitimate form
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Image 3: Bike Dispenser
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of transport and soon after its inception, bike traffic rose 500% with the Velo’v system accounting to a quarter of this. Velo’v accumulated 1.5 million kilometers in June 2008 and 36 million kilometers since its 2005 start. If this counts for converted car users, this would equate to a saving of 7,260 tons of CO2 saved from the environment. Since 1996, systems have become more intelligent by adding security like electronic locks, telecommunication systems, smartcards, mobile phone access and onboard computers. This makes it increasingly difficult to steal and has allowed the bike share programs to prosper. Advertising companies have often made the system viable by taking on the running of the program in return for advertising space both on the bikes and around the city. The Velib system in Paris is currently the largest system in operation with 20,600 bikes currently in service. There are close to 100 bike share programs currently running the world over and there are as many as 1,000 different systems planned. Europe has been the most proficient in setting up the programs however there are either current or proposed systems in North America, South America, New Zealand, China, the Middle East and Australia.
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Image 4: Melbourne Skyline
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Melbourne Melbourne has a very diverse and multicultural heritage. It also has a very strong sporting culture with a vast majority of residents involved in some sort of sporting activity. It is often referred to as Australia’s cultural and sporting capital. Its multicultural heritage is mostly made up of European and Asian migrants and the nation with the largest population behind the United Kingdom is Italy, closely followed by Vietnam, China, New Zealand, Greece and India. Melbourne’s culture revolves heavily around the arts, food, recreation, festivals and shopping. There are many festivals and events throughout the year and plenty of attractions to keep both residents and tourists entertained. Melbourne’s climate is moderate year round with an average temperature of 19.8deg C. It is known for its changeable weather conditions with the phrase “four seasons in one day” being well known in popular culture. Melbourne’s average temperature ranges between 25.9deg C in January to 13.4deg C in June and on average gets around 100 days of rain per year. As of 2008, Melbourne’s greater metropolitan population was established at 3.9 million people. Of this, 70,000 are living in the CBD which has risen from 32,000 since 1992. This is expected to rise by another 50,000 in the next 15 years. During the working week, the CBD population swells to more than 690,000 people per day and based on planned development, 1,000,000+ are expected by 2017. Of this, it has been established that 52,000 are students, 27,000 are from interstate, 31,000 are international, 15,000 travel from regional Victoria and 495,000 travel from metropolitan Victoria. As a result, the Victorian government has pledged $10.5 billion over 10 years (starting 2006) to upgrade the metropolitan transport network in order to cope with the increased traffic (City of Melbourne, 2006).
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Image 5: Melbourne Transport Map
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Learner Testimonial Project grade aspiration: Credit The aim of the project is to develop a suitable design solution for a share bike system for Melbourne’s CBD and surrounding areas. The focus of the project will be on the design of the bike and its accompanying docking station, however thought and research will be conducted into the system behind the physical design of the bike. As there are many examples of share bike systems globally, they can be used as a model for Melbourne to base its system on and research into this area will result in choosing an appropriate system. As this is a single semester project, time will play a crucial role on the outcome of the design. Research and development time will be limited and therefore some aspects of the project will need to be looked at with less depth than would be ideal. Having said that, the outcomes of the project are to still have a scale model completed as well as a DVR covering all aspects of research, design and development of the share bike.
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Design Approach
User-centered Design The project is to be undertaken with a ‘user-centered’ or ‘inclusive design’ approach. This means that at all times, the user is considered when making design decisions. User-centered design is multi stage problem solving that places the user at the centre of the design process. The needs, wants and limitations of the user are considered at all stages of development. One of the key components to user-centered design is to adapt the design to the user and not the user to the design (Abras, Maloney-Krichmar & Preece, 2004). User-centered design is the term used to describe the process of employing end-users to influence how a design evolves so that the product can be integrated more easily and with a lower likelihood of needing to be redesigned. There are a variety of methods of how to integrate users however the underlying concept is that they are involved in some way. Users are involved at certain times during the design process and are consulted on their needs, they are often involved as partners to the designers in a collaborative way. They can also be involved in usability testing once a product has been developed to a certain level. The term ‘user-centered design’ was originally used by Donald Norman while working at the University of California San Diego. It originated in his research laboratory
in the 1980’s and became widely used after the publication of his book, User-centered design: New perspectives on human-computer interaction (Norman & Draper, 1986) which he co-authored. Norman went on to explain in more detail in his next book, The psychology of everyday things (POET) (Norman, 1988), where he recognized the needs and interests of the user and showed how the focus of the design should be on usability. He suggested that the role of the designer was to ‘facilitate the task for the user and to make sure that the user is able to make use of the product as intended and with a minimum effort to learn how to use it.’ He summarized his ideas into four basic suggestions on how a design should behave: i. Make it easy to determine what actions are possible at any moment. ii. Make things visible, including the conceptual model of the system, the alternative actions, and the results of actions. iii. Make it easy to evaluate the current state of the system. iv. Follow natural mappings between intentions and the required actions; between actions and the resulting effect; and between the information that is visible and the interpretation of the system state. (Norman, 1988) Norman also noted that the need for lengthy instruction manuals was a sign of poor design
or design that could be improved. He suggested that products should be accompanied by a small pamphlet to instruct on the basics but the design should inherently describe itself. To assist in explaining user-centered design, Norman came up with seven design principles. He stressed the need for designers to fully explore and understand the needs and desires of all the users involved and the need to involve the actual users themselves in the environment they would use the product in. The 7 design principles were: i. Use both knowledge in the world and knowledge in the head. By building conceptual models, write manuals that are easily understood and that are written before the design is implemented. ii. Simplify the structure of tasks. Make sure not to overload the short-term memory, or the long term memory of the user. On average the user is able to remember five things at a time. Make sure the task in consistent and provide mental aids for easy retrieval of information from long-term memory. Make sure the user has control over the task. iii. Make things visible: bridge the gulfs of Execution and Evaluation. The user should be able to figure out the use of an object by seeing the right buttons or devices for executing an operation.
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iv. Get the mappings right. One way to make things understandable is to use graphics. v. Exploit the power of constraints, both the feel that there is one thing to do. vi. Design for error. Plan for any possible error that can be made, this way the user will be allowed the option of recovery from any possible error made. vii. When all else fails, standardize. Create an international standard if something cannot be designed without arbitrary mappings (Norman, 1988). There are several ways that users can be involved in the design process. It is very Often it is not only the users themselves that need to be involved but also the people main categories: primary, secondary and tertiary. Primary users are the people who will actually be using the product and will be able to give the most insightful feedback, secondary users are people who will occasionally use the product or will use it through someone else or with their assistance by the use of the product but not directly using it themselves. In the case of a share bike system, the primary users could be
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people such as daily commuters, secondary users could be tourists and tertiary users could be pedestrians or other road users. All
feedback on. Users can be gauged over
Designers need to develop alternative design solutions for users to evaluate and give
be used to involve users such as those listed below:
memorability in order to ascertain how successful a product is at being user friendly.
Ways to involve users in the design and development of a product (Preece, Rogers & Sharp, 2002) Technique
Purpose
Stage of the design cycle
Background Interviews and questionnaires
Collecting data related to the needs and expectations of users; evaluation of design alternatives, prototypes and the
At the beginning of the design project
Sequence of work interviews and questionnaires
Collecting data related to the sequence of work to be performed with the artifact
Early in the design cycle
Focus groups
Include a wide range of stakeholders to discuss issues and requirements
Early in the design cycle
On-site observation
Collecting information concerning the environment in which the artifact will be used
Early in the design cycle
Role Playing, walkthroughs, and simulations
Evaluation of alternative designs and gaining additional information about user needs and expectations; prototype evaluation
Early and mid-point in the design cycle
Usability testing
Collecting quantitative data related to measurable usability criteria
Final stage of the design cycle
Interviews and questionnaires
Collecting qualitative data related to user satisfaction with the artifact
Final stage of the design cycle
Early in the design cycle
Usability testing plays a large role in stages when pre-production prototypes have been produced. Usability testing aims to achieve the following goals: i. ii. iii. iv. v.
improve a products usability involve real users in the testing give the users real tasks to accomplish enable testers to observe and record the actions of the participants enable testers to analyze the data obtained and to make changes accordingly (Dumas & Redish., 1993)
Some techniques that are used to obtain this information include: i. ii. iii.
Think aloud – users talk through the steps they are taking Videotaping – used to review what users did or didn’t do to evaluate problems in the design Interviews – to evaluate users likes and dislikes
Often, users are observed unnoticed so that they are free to use the product as they would in its normal environment. Users perform standardized tests so that data can be collected. Evaluation can continue after the product has been released with interviews and focus groups being the
general use. The advantages of user-centered design far outweigh the disadvantages. This type of design process allows a much deeper understanding of the consumers needs,
preferred data collection method. The major disadvantage to user-centered design is the cost involved and the time it takes to gather data. The resources needed to enable this type of design process,
people’s expectations, produces products that generally require less redesigning once they are released and can be integrated quicker.
This type of approach also runs the risk of
Project Timeline Week
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Project Planning Research Research Evaluation Initial Concepts
Final Concept CAD Manufacture DVR
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Research
CityBike: Servicing Stockholm, Sweden, CityBike uses disposable smartcards that are valid for 1 – 3 days. Cards cannot be reloaded with balance. Bikes are available between 6.00am and 10.00pm and for a maximum of 3 hours at a time. Each card has a
Share Bikes Share bikes have spread across the world and continue to grow as the need for
card. (www.citybike.com)
greater. They started from humble beginnings but have developed into intelligent systems that communicate with each other wirelessly Image 7
vary to some degree, depending on the city they are in and the type of user they are targeting.
Image 8
Velo’v: Used in Lyon in France, Velo’v is owned and operated in a joint venture between the city of Lyon and advertising company JCDecaux. They maintain over 3000 bikes and have 350 hubs around the city. They use a docking station style system and a smartcard which users can purchase either online or at one of the various hubs. Velo’v claim more than 22,000 rentals per day and bikes are available for rental between 30 minutes and 24 hours. Users need to be older than 14 to use the system and once their account has been activated are given a pin to unlock the bike. (www.velov.grandlyon.com) OYBike: Based around central and west London, OYBike allows users to either lock their bikes to the docking station provide a call in service which means users call a number on the side of the bike and are then sent a code which unlocks the bike. The bikes must be returned within 24 hours or users are charged a large fee. Membership to the system can be purchased for a day, week or year and rates are charged depending on how long the
Image 9
Image 10
(www.oybike.com)
Call-a-Bike: Available in cities throughout Germany, Call-a Bike is a similar system to London’s OYBike where the user calls a number and is given a code to unlock the bikes electronic lock. When they are done, users can either return the bike to the closest hub or lock it to an immovable object at the nearest crossroads. They are then required to phone in the location of the bike so that it becomes available for the next customer. (www.callabike-interaktiv.de)
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Melbourne and operated by Clear Channel and run in Washington DC. Available to people over 18 years of age, membership is $40 returned within 24 hours. A much smaller system compared to others such as Velib or Call-a-Bike. (www.smartbike.com)
Image 11 was awarded the 2009 Gold Edison award for energy and sustainability. Using solar powered wireless, docking stations can be stripped down and relocated in 30 minutes, without leaving a trace on their surroundings. Bikes are available between May and November each year and are not available in the cold winter months. The system is Image 12
minutes free then charging by the half hour. Membership can be taken out for one day, 30 days or one year, costing$5, $28 and $78 respectively. (www.bixi.com) Velib: The world’s premier share bike system, with over 20,500 bikes in use and 1,450 docking stations. This equates to roughly a docking station every 300 meters in the city center. Operated by French advertising company JCDecaux, Velib was launched in Paris on the 15 July 2007. The system
minutes free to promote short trips. Memberships are €29 per year, €5 per week and €1 per day. Each docking station Image 13 has the ability to communicate with each other to assist users in locating bikes and spaces to park their bike if they are returning it. Users are granted another 15 minutes if there are no parking spaces available. Mobile phone updates are also available for members. The operators found that a lot of bikes were ending up at particular stations depending on the rise of the land. Users were more likely to return the bikes at the bottom of a hill than at the top. To counteract this, 20 bike transportation vehicles were developed to distribute bikes around the city overnight as well as doing repairs on those that were damaged. Other problems that were needing replacement because of vandalism and over 100 being pulled form the Seine River. The (www.en.velib.paris.fr)
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As a city, Melbourne is well suited to a bike share good weather, has an existing transport network that can easily be tied into and has a growing bike culture so that bikes and cycling are widely accepted. As previously stated, Melbourne attracts approximately 690,000 visitors everyday and as reported in 2006, 72% of these travel to the CBD via public transport (51% trains, 21% Trams/Buses), 19% drive cars and 9% took another means of travel (cycling, walking, etc). As our roadways become more congested, this will continue to grow as shown by the growth between 2004 – 2006, where public transport usage grew by 12% and car usage dropped by 4%. With this growth, Melbourne’s transport strategy aims to reduce car usage and get more people on to public transport. The ‘Inner Melbourne Action Plan (IMAP)’ is a joint venture between the City of Melbourne, Yarra, Stonnington and VicUrban (Docklands) to try and promote this. As most car trips into the city are single occupant, this is the largest area where improvement can be made. This is where a bike share program can assist in improving how people move in and around the city. After 9.30am, 80% of trips made around the city are on foot, this means that once people have made their way to the city, the journey to their end location is completed by foot. Driving a car means as short as possible as they can try and park close by. This is one of the attractions to driving rather than using public transport. If this end journey could be taken by bike, this could promote people to use public transport rather than
travel route and are much more energy Currently, 2% of all trips within the city are made by bike. This is set to grow with the state government promoting cycling as a transport option. In new Victorian planning provisions, all new multi-unit developments must have bicycle parking and showers and change rooms for residents, employees and visitors. They are looking to double the number of cyclists currently using the roads by improving trip-end facilities and making more
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road. There are currently 47km of on road bike
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Melbourne. They are also promoting cycling
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> Federation Square
16 > Melbourne Park
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> Flinders St Station
17 > Olympic Park
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> Southbank
18 > QV
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> Bourke St Mall
19 > GPO
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> Eureka Tower
20 > Botanical Gardens
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> Crown Casino
21 > Shrine of Rememberance
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> Aquarium
22 > Ethihad Stadium
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> Natinal Gallery of Victoria
23 > Docklands Precinct
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> State Library of Victoria
24 > Albert Park Lake
10 > Rialto Observation Deck
25 > St Kilda Precinct
11 > Princess Theatre
26 > Port Melbourne Pier
12 > Royal Exhibition Building
27 > Melbourne Zoo
13 > Museum
28 > Queen Victoria Market
14 > St Particks Cathedral
29 > Chapel St Precinct
15 > MCG
30 > Myer Music Bowl
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Image 14: Melbourne landmarks and posible docking station locations
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Bicycles Bicycles have been around for over 100 years and the principles behind them have stayed the same since the beginning. They were developed as a way to move around more easily and travel greater distances more quickly. Although technologies have changed the basic layout has stayed the same. Improvements have come in weight reduc As cycling has becomes more popular, more and more categories and sub-categories of bikes have become available. Most bike companies sort their bikes into three main categories: Road, Mountain and Lifestyle Road
Lifestyle
Mountain
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Sub-catergories
Electric
Track Sport
Lifestyle Hybrid
Road
Fixed
Touring/ Trekking
Cruiser
TT / Tri Folding
Bicycles Race Cyclocross
Commuter BMX
Mountain
Freeride
Downhill Dirtjump
All Mountain
Race / XC
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Examples
Share bike range
Trekking / Touring Race / XC Triathlon / TT Cruiser All Mountain
Track
Downhill
Cyclocross Folding
Sport / Endurance
Electric
Freeride
Dirt Jump
Hybrid / Commuter Performance / Race Road
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BMX
Terminology Stem Saddle Shifters
Sprocket Cluster
Chain
Chainring Front Derailleur
Rear Derailleur
Freehub (Not Shown)
Bottom Bracket (Not Shown)
Crank
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Image 15: Trek District - Belt Drive
Image 16: Shaft Drive
Image 17: Shimano Nexus groupset
Image 18: Belt Drive
Some new technologies that have begun to emerge in the comfort bike sector are different drive systems to replace the chain drive. Although chains are very efficient, they require constant maintenance and need replacement relatively often. The two main replacements that have proven popular are shaft-drive and belt 窶電rive systems. Shaft drive uses a rigid shaft with bevel gears at either end to replace the chain. As they only work with internal hub gears, they are compact and therefore maximize ground clearance. They can be enclosed and as a result are very clean to use and limit the opportunity for clothing to get tangled meaning they are safe to operate. They also require less maintenance than chain drive systems. The case against shaft-drive bicycles is that the can be quite complex, have a limited gear range, can be quite costly and are heavier than a chain. They also make changing flat tires more difficult as it is harder to get the rear wheel off. New advancements in belt-drive technology have made these more popular with Trek releasing their first production belt-drive this year. Instead of rubber, new belts have been developed with carbon reinforcement to strengthen them. Similar belts have been used in motorcycles for some time. Carbon/rubber belts are advantageous as they require no lubrication and are therefore clean, are maintenance free, last longer than conventional bicycle chains, are lightweight, resistant to debris and are quiet while running. The down side is that as they only work with internal hub gears, the gear range is somewhat limited. Another trend in commuter style bikes is internal hub gears. These have been available for some time however are becoming more and more popular. With all the gears enclosed and not exposed to the elements, time between maintenance is vastly improved and also means that they are very clean making them desirable for commuting. Current hub gears are comparable in weight to traditional chain-drive systems and are available with up to 9 gears. A popular example is the Shimano Nexus drive which I available in 3, 4, 7 and 8 speed varieties. Also available is a speed sensing computer processor which makes gear changes automatic.
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Recent Concepts Concepts give an indication of the styling direction that bikes could possibly take in the future. Lately, common trends that have become popular have been single sided forks and chainstays, intergrated headsets, deep dish and minimal spoke wheel designs and simple, clean lines. Many of these concepts have been in the lifestlye category of bikes as they allow more scope for designers to work with as the designs focus is not on the bikes weight and speed.
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Research Evaluation The most suitable variety of bike to fit the share bike brief is a commuter style. Commuter bikes are built tough, need less maintenance and are comfortable to ride. Their main objective is not to be extremely lightweight or aerodynamic, they are to be reliable and hard wearing so that they can be ridden daily without the need for constant care. As the bike is to be designed to fit many people, a few considerations need to be made. Not only will the users be of different shapes and sizes, many may have little experience riding a bike. This means that the bike needs to be intuitive to first time users. How to ride the bike is not necessarily in need of explanation as non-riders are unlikely to choose this form of transport. However, instruction may be needed on how to change gears as this can differ from bike to bike and how to operate the docking station functions to lock and unlock the bike. The biggest challenge is designing the bike to fit a large number of people. Although it is not possible to design a bike to fit everyone, there are certain factors that need to be considered to design a ‘bike of best fit’. Most importantly is seat height adjustment. Many riders who lack experience feel uncomfortable on bikes with high seat heights as getting on and off the bike (especially in an emergency situation) can be difficult. The bike will need a large range of seat height adjustment to allow riders of all heights to feel comfortable. In terms of efficiency, riders should have a slight knee bend when sitting on the seat and the pedal is at the bottom of its stroke. However, considering share bikes are designed to promote short inner city trips, maximum efficiency is not crucial. A range of 300mm is enough to cover a large proportion of the population in order to make commuters comfortable. Along with seat height, reach is another important factor. Too long or too short and the bike becomes uncomfortable and difficult to ride. Being a commuter style bike, the riding position will be quite relaxed as visibility and comfort and more important than outright speed. This means users will ride in an upright position compared to the ‘bent over’ position employed on road bikes. This is so that riders can see the road more easily and they can be seen more easily by other road users. It is assumed that as riders get taller, their reach also lengthens. Generally, to adjust reach, riders can swap their stems for longer or shorter ones and/or move their seats forward or backwards. Both of these options are difficult to adjust quickly. Also, stem length has an effect on the handling of the bike. As stems get shorter, the handling becomes more direct and ‘twitchy’ meaning the bike could be difficult to control for some. With this in mind, a fixed stem length and seat position (fore and aft) is desirable. To be able
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to adjust reach along with seat height, the seat tube can be laid back on an angle away from the handlebars so that as the seat height increases, so does the reach. Another factor to make the bike user friendly is stand over height. A low stand over height is desirable so that people feel comfortable on the bike and access on and off the bike is made easier. This allows a larger range of people to use the bike and a larger range of appropriate clothing options become available. Bike maintenance will be an important factor with this type bike. The less maintenance and upkeep they require, the more profitable the system will be as less time will be needed to repair the bikes and that means lees time for the bikes to be out of the system. With this in mind, an internal hub gear and belt drive combination has been chosen for the share bike. The advantage of this system is that the belt drive requires little upkeep in the form of lubrication and will need to be replaced less often than a conventional bike chain. The internal hub gear shields the gear drive from the weather and debris and also provides a compact system with very few moving parts exposed. Coupled with the belt drive, this combination would be reliable, hard wearing and require little maintenance. As Melbourne is relatively flat, a 3-speed drive train would be sufficient for commuters to move around easily. A grip-shift style shifter would be chosen as it is very intuitive to use. This option would make the bikes very easy to use, especially for first time users.
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Design
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Initial Sketches
These initial sketches were drawn to look at different frame shapes. They were all based on conventional frames and could all be manufactured with traditional bike building techniques and materials such as aluminium or carbon fibre. They were also and exploration of proportion, looking at the balance between wheels size and frame weight.
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These set of sketches show a new direction in styling from the first, they move away from traditional bicycle frame shapes and on to a more ‘solid body’ appearence. They also introduce a style that includes internal chainring styles and hubless wheels. This added some complications from a design perspective but a favorable for a bike that will be left in the elements. Hiding the chainring inside means that the drivetrain is completely sealed from the weather and the spokeless wheels mean that these vulnerable parts will not need constant replacement.
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These sketches started to set the styling direction the bike would take. They include a spokeless front wheel coupled with a conventional rear wheel. This design was chosen as getting drive to a hubless rear wheel would prove difficult. The stearing arm was also attached to the front wheel so that steering geometry would be similar to a conventional bike.
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Renders
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Storage rack
Hubless front wheel
Fully enclosed drivetrain
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The bike is constructed with an internal frame that all the body parts, drivetrain and wheels are attached to. This frame keeps the bike rigid and allows the body to enclose around the drivetrain keeping it seperate from the elements. This improves wear and tear on the drivetrain and coupled with the belt drive system means that time between maintenance is greatly extended.
Internal frame
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The front wheel is a hubless design meaning it has no spokes. The hub is actually formed on the inside surface of the rim. The design is insatntly recognisable and adds a point of difference to the bike.. A bearing is press fit between the rimand the hub. This is held in place with circlips on each side to ensure there is no movement. The brake disc is connected to one side of the rim and the caliper is connected to the hub. This means the rim and disc are free to move independently from the hub.
Hub
Tire
Rim
Circlip Needle Bearing Bearing Cup Brake Disc
Caliper
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Tire
Rim
Guard Front Disc
Exploded View: Front Wheel 45
Bearing
Hub Brake Caliper
Touch Screen for viewing - Maps - Time - Docking station information - Visitor information
Grip-shift Shifters
Rear light The intergrated touchscreen gives users information on whats happening around the city, what docking stations are near by and how many spaces and how long they have been using the bike. It also gives them access to maps so they can navigate their way around the city.
Disc Brake
The lights, both front and back, automatically turn on when light levels drop, they then stay on for 1 minute after the bike has stopped moving. Caliper
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RMIT
Design project
inclusive papadakis-
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Prototype The prototype was made using a 3D Objet print. The parts were broken up as shown below so that they could be layed flat to cut both printing time and cost. Printing was completed at Arrk in Hawthorn.
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The making of the model proved difficult because when I first designed the CAD model I didn’t have the prototype in mind. This meant that there were difficulties in getting the model 3D printed. Firstly, the surfaces were not all continuous and had many errors in them, this is not so much of a problem when the model is solely being used for a CAD render as these blemishes can be fixed quite easily. This is not the case when getting the model made. Along with the surfacing issues there were also tolerance issues. Some of the parts that needed to fit inside each other did not fit once they had been printed. This was rectified by sanding the model so the parts would fit. This has all been valuable experience and now that I am aware of these issues the chance of these happening again are less likely.
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Project Reflection This project began well with the initial planning and research being conducted quickly and efficiently. A rough timeline was set up so that work could be completed to a timeframe. I thought this to be important as it was only a single semester project and therefore fairly short. I began to find a lot of interesting and valuable research, particularly on Melbourne and bike sharing and was quite positive about where the project was heading. I enjoyed this part of the project and probably spent too much time collecting and organizing research. I did however have a good understanding of what I wanted my outcome to be. I began sketching my initial concepts around week 6, this moved along fairly quickly and I had a good understanding of where I was going. My first hurdle came when trying to decide whether or not to go with a hubless front wheel or not. I wanted to design a hubless wheel so that the bike had a point of difference and could instantly be recognized. I also wanted to design the wheel so that it could, in theory, work. I didn’t want it to simply be a sketch with no thought or reason behind it. I was sketching both hubless and conventional wheels and spent too long deciding which direction to choose. I finally worked out a solution for the front wheel about week 9 which meant I was well behind the schedule I had set myself. At this point I decided to begin work on the CAD side of the project. I decided to work on my strengths and as sketching is not one of them, this meant that I would use CAD to assist with a lot of the detailed design solutions. It took a lot longer than expected to build the bike in CAD and I had a lot of issues along the way particularly with the surfacing of the seat and intersection between the main body of the bike and the rear arm that extends to the rear wheel. I found myself in a position where I needed to complete the CAD in order to move on to other aspects of the project, which meant that I was unable to spend time perfecting the design and getting it to a point I was entirely happy with. Once the CAD was finalized I also had a lot of issues fixing up errors in Magics in order to have the model manufactured. I had never used Magics before and as the design was quite complex, a lot of errors needed to be fixed before the model could be made. As with most projects, decisions made throughout the project may not be the same if the project was attempted again. Having said this, given the opportunity again I would spend more time on user research and involve them more than I did. I attempted to survey people in the city but the lack of response or meaningful answers meant the data was fairly useless. I would also have spent more time on the detailed design of the bike especially around the controls on the handlebars and designed the docking station differently with a single access point and smaller docks. This way more bikes could be docked together and there would be less manufacture time and materials involved with each docking station. Overall, the outcome has not been to the standard I set at the beginning of the semester. This is not a result of the quantity of time spent on the project but more on the quality of the time spent. On numerous occasions I found myself spending time on insignificant aspects of the design rather than focusing on the design itself. A positive that can be taken from the project is that a lot was learnt about the management and use of time. As previously stated, a great deal of time was spent working on the project however I believe this time could have been more productive and a better result could have been achieved. I also learnt a lot about 3D printing and how a CAD model needs to be constructed in order to have an object made. These are valuable skills that will no doubt be used in the future.
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References Abras C., Maloney-Krichmar D., Preece J. (2004). ‘User-Centered Design’ in Encyclopedia of HumanComputer Interaction. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. www.bixi.com - Accessed August 6, 2009 www.callabike-interaktiv.de - Accessed August 6, 2009 City of Melbourne (2006). Moving People and Freight. Accessed August 4, 2009 at www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/info.cfm?top=308&pg=2347 www.citybike.com - Accessed August 9, 2009 DeMaio P., (2009). The Bike-Sharing Phenomenon. Accessed August 4, 2009 at www.metrobike.net/index.php?s=file_download&id=16
Image References Image 1: Trek 7500 – www.trek.com Image 2: Bicing - Barcelona - http://spacingmontreal.ca/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/bicingbarcelone-espagne.jpg Image 3: Bike Dispenser - http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/bikedispenser.jpg Image 4: Melbourne Skyline - www.sydney-australia.biz/victoria/graphics/melbourne-australia.jpg Image 5: Melbourne Transport Map www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/info.cfm?top=70&pa=1154&pg=1156 Image 7: Citybike – Stockholm www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/info.cfm?top=70&pa=1154&pg=1156 Image 8: Velo’v - Lyon http://bikeways.com.ua/posts/197
Dumas J. S., & Redish J. C. (1993). A Practical Guide to Usability Testing. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Image 9: OYBike - London http://bikeways.com.ua/posts/197
www.en.velib.paris.fr - Accessed August 6, 2009
Image 10: Call a bike - Germany http://liveberlin.blogspot.com/
Norman D. (1988). The Psychology of Everyday Things. New York: Doubleday.
Image 11: Smartbike - Washington www.treehugger.com/2008/08/10-week/
Norman D. A. & Draper S. W. (Editors) (1986). User-Centered System Design: New Perspectives on Human-Computer Interaction. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Earlbaum Associates.
Image 12: Bixi - Montreal http://bikehacks.com/bixi-takes-on-toronto/
www.oybike.com - Accessed August 9, 2009 Preece J., Rogers, Y., & Sharp H. (2002). Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons. www.smartbike.com - Accessed August 9, 2009
Image 13: Velib - Paris www.inhabitat.com/tag/new-york/ Image 15: Trek District - www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/urban/district/district/ Image 16: Shaft Drive example - www.bikerumor.com/2009/02/21/abios-new-folding-chainless-andshaft-drive-bicycles/
www.velov.grandlyon.com - Accessed August 6, 2009
Image 17: Shimano Nexus Groupset http://bike.shimano.com/publish/content/global_cycle/en/us/index/products/0/nexus.html
Other References
Image 18: Belt Drive example - www.bicycles.net.au/Urban-Cycling-News-andArticles.59.0.html?&cHash=f3d276e11e&tx_cmarticle_pi1[singleID]=609
http://bike-sharing.blogspot.com - Accessed August 6, 2009
Image 19: Jano Concept - http://stayfocused.at/jano/slideshow/index.html?jano_rightview Image 20: Square Concept www.coroflot.com/public/image_file.asp?portfolio_id=2192575&individual_id=255561# Image 21: www.yankodesign.com/2007/03/05/one-folding-bicycle-by-thomas-owen/ Image 22: Cannondale Radical - www.cannondalecommunity.com/uploads/36966-EB9D02E6-85BE4461-92FF-13F778DF1465.jpg Image 23: Cannondale Trend - www.cannondalecommunity.com/uploads/36966-FFF13E56-57A34FB9-8BC2-ED2CD03E039B.jpg Image 24: Connect Concept http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VMBXGqBOWsE/SaQrvG8uvUI/AAAAAAAABJU/uvmQmo01zC4/s1600-h/4 a.jpg Image 25: Stealth Concept - www.cannondalecommunity.com/sketchbook/default.asp?item=323811 Image 26: Strada Concept http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VMBXGqBOWsE/Rau0fKKXgEI/AAAAAAAAADY/jptfR1atC5s/s1600-h/strad a1lr.jpg Image 27: Folding Commuter Bike http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VMBXGqBOWsE/SWa5JiIuqmI/AAAAAAAABA4/jkU4t8mpRHk/s1600-h/rick marland.jpg
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eCycle
- RMIT Ma jor 2009