Summary
Date: November 10, 2006
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Table of Contents |
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Report Summary Page |
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| Author: Seth Paul | Team: Uberboard |
Problem Statement
Current skateboards have made little innovation over the years. Technical revision is long over due to improve mobility and versatility. As the design stands modification is required between turning sharply and high speed travel.
Requirements & Specifications
Requirements
- needs to turn with greater ease than current skateboards
- needs to be intuitive
- must be safe
- must handle higher speeds better then current designs
- must be able to adjust to a variety of riders
- Must be light weight
Specifications
- Must allow at minimum a 3 meter turning radius
- Must stay stable up to 25MPH
- Must weigh less than 15 lbs
Concept Generation
Benchmarking of steering mechanism in varying fields was done, including current skateboards/carveboards and automobile type steering.
Additional concepts were created from group brainstorming and mindmapping exercises.
Design Selection and Refinement
A QFD was utilized to select the most promising designs to further pursue. These designs were then refined and evaluated again.
The highest scoring designs were the pivoting arms design and the caster axle design.
Pivoting Arms
The wheels are connected to “arms” that attached by way of a ball and joint connection. These arms are f move along a designated path to result in an arc in the path of the board. The arms are moved by way of the weight shift of the rider and resulting difference in reaction forces required at the wheels.
Caster Axle
The axle is attached to the board by way of a swiveling caster. Rollerblade wheels are used to exaggerate the rotation of the axle. This allows the axle to rotate as the rider shifts their weight.
Final Selection & Conclusion
The pivoting arm design was chosen as the final design. The pivoting arms allow a great flexibility in variables to modify for best riding conditions. The design is the most innovative. The design is less complex than any other of the considered designs. This allows for a light weight skateboard.
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