Hello, I am a junior at Global Citizenship Experience lab school taking a Design and Engineering class. In this unit of Design and Engineering, we learned a lot about bikes, gears, and even making models. Our class went on a field experience to the Museum of Science and Industry, and we went to the bike exhibition and saw a bunch of different types of bikes that they had displayed. The Cardboard Bike that was displayed especially drew my attention. One thing that I learned from researching existing bikes is that the seats on bikes are actually called saddles, and another thing I learned is that bikes are able to be made using several materials, like the cardboard bike that I researched (from MSI). The purpose of this Action project is to create or design a bike that addresses the specific needs of one person. We are supposed to learn how to make a design that will be the “perfect” bicycle for this person. For this project we were allowed to work with a partner, here is my partner's blog post and I hope you like mine too!
Our user's name is Napoleon. Napoleon is 10 years old and lives in Riobamba Ecuador. They bike through Riobamba, where the road is often bumpy and uneven. Because of this, they will need bigger tires for a less bumpy ride. Napoleon moved to the mountains which means there is not much oxygen, so they can get winded easily. They need some sort of contraption that will help them breathe when biking. They bike to their school which is 1 mile away and downtown, meaning they have to lock their bike in a crowded area. They also need to lend their bike to their siblings, especially on the weekends. Napoleon needs a good lock that will protect the bike from getting stolen.
“I would like to have bigger tires on my bike because I like to go on the forest park trails and the bigger tires make it easier.” (MM) This is a quote that my father said when I interviewed him about bikes and biking.
This inspired my design because it made me confident that our user Napoleon would be more comfortable with bigger tires since they will be riding on cobblestone and bumpy grounds.
My partner and I made a bike that is very helpful and convenient when it comes to certain situations. Napoleon needs a very safe and easy lock to lock their bike in a crowded area, while also being accessible to their siblings. This bike has a passcode opened locked box attached to the bike that contains a thin fabric-covered chain that can quickly wrap around and safely lock down your bike in any crowded area. Since Napoleon lives in the mountains, they can get winded easily when biking. This bike has a detachable and clip-on filtered mask that is connected to a mini oxygen tank, that will help you breathe fresh clean air and oxygen when riding your bike. The mask is attached by a small tube to the tank which is in front of the middle of the handlebars. This bike also is gear changeable and has big tires so that Napoleon is able to easily ride on bumpy ground and hills.
Making the bike model was a process, it took more time and thought than I originally thought it would. But my partner and I managed to make it work! We made our model out of cardboard, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, foam, skewers, paper, and glue. Here it is!
Since Napoleon is 10 years old, their legs are on the shorter side. Napoleon also lives 1 mile away from school which is 1.6km. My partner and I estimated that it would take them 20 min to walk a mile. We calculated how long it would take them to bike, which is approximately ⅓ of 20 minutes. It would take them about 7 min to cycle to school. To get this, we took Napoleon’s distance from school and divided it by 63,360 seconds. With this information, we calculated that their average speed was 9 mph and 4 meters per second.
Here are our bike wheel calculations:
Diameter = 28in
Radius = D/2 = 14in
Circumference = pi * 2 * r = 3.14 * 2 * 14 = 87.92 = 88in
distance/circumference = 63360/88 = 720 rotations
Model's wheel diameter = 3.5
3.5in/28in
Scale = 1/8
It makes the most sense for Napoleon to have multiple gears since they will most likely be biking up and down hills considering where they live. Because of this, we want to give them as many gear options as possible. With that, the gear ratios we’ll give them are 50/34, 44/16, 34/30, 28/20, and 24/18.
Estimated bike mass = 30 kg
Napoleon’s Mass: 70 kg
Overall mass: 100 kg
This action project was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. We had to consider that Napoleon would be locking the bike in a crowded area, which means they would need a strong lock. We also had to keep in mind the scale of our model bike to the real bike. The calculations of diameter, radius, circumference, and the number of rotations were a part of our struggle, but we figured it out. Building the model bike didn’t go as well as we had hoped but we learned to use small materials better for creating models. Overall, this was a great experience, and I am happy I got to create this with my partner. Thank you so much for reading!
Our user's name is Napoleon. Napoleon is 10 years old and lives in Riobamba Ecuador. They bike through Riobamba, where the road is often bumpy and uneven. Because of this, they will need bigger tires for a less bumpy ride. Napoleon moved to the mountains which means there is not much oxygen, so they can get winded easily. They need some sort of contraption that will help them breathe when biking. They bike to their school which is 1 mile away and downtown, meaning they have to lock their bike in a crowded area. They also need to lend their bike to their siblings, especially on the weekends. Napoleon needs a good lock that will protect the bike from getting stolen.
“I would like to have bigger tires on my bike because I like to go on the forest park trails and the bigger tires make it easier.” (MM) This is a quote that my father said when I interviewed him about bikes and biking.
This inspired my design because it made me confident that our user Napoleon would be more comfortable with bigger tires since they will be riding on cobblestone and bumpy grounds.
My partner and I made a bike that is very helpful and convenient when it comes to certain situations. Napoleon needs a very safe and easy lock to lock their bike in a crowded area, while also being accessible to their siblings. This bike has a passcode opened locked box attached to the bike that contains a thin fabric-covered chain that can quickly wrap around and safely lock down your bike in any crowded area. Since Napoleon lives in the mountains, they can get winded easily when biking. This bike has a detachable and clip-on filtered mask that is connected to a mini oxygen tank, that will help you breathe fresh clean air and oxygen when riding your bike. The mask is attached by a small tube to the tank which is in front of the middle of the handlebars. This bike also is gear changeable and has big tires so that Napoleon is able to easily ride on bumpy ground and hills.
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| NM, "Ox-Lock sketch 1", 2022 |
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| NM, "Ox-Lock sketch 2", 2022 |
Making the bike model was a process, it took more time and thought than I originally thought it would. But my partner and I managed to make it work! We made our model out of cardboard, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, foam, skewers, paper, and glue. Here it is!
 |
| RBL & NM "Ox-Lock model", 2022 |
Since Napoleon is 10 years old, their legs are on the shorter side. Napoleon also lives 1 mile away from school which is 1.6km. My partner and I estimated that it would take them 20 min to walk a mile. We calculated how long it would take them to bike, which is approximately ⅓ of 20 minutes. It would take them about 7 min to cycle to school. To get this, we took Napoleon’s distance from school and divided it by 63,360 seconds. With this information, we calculated that their average speed was 9 mph and 4 meters per second.
Here are our bike wheel calculations:
Diameter = 28in
Radius = D/2 = 14in
Circumference = pi * 2 * r = 3.14 * 2 * 14 = 87.92 = 88in
distance/circumference = 63360/88 = 720 rotations
Model's wheel diameter = 3.5
3.5in/28in
Scale = 1/8
It makes the most sense for Napoleon to have multiple gears since they will most likely be biking up and down hills considering where they live. Because of this, we want to give them as many gear options as possible. With that, the gear ratios we’ll give them are 50/34, 44/16, 34/30, 28/20, and 24/18.
Estimated bike mass = 30 kg
Napoleon’s Mass: 70 kg
Overall mass: 100 kg
Kinetic energy = ½ * mass * velocity^2 = ½ * 100 * 1^2 = 50 J
Momentum (P) = mass * velocity = 100 * 1 = 100 kgm/s
Momentum (P) = mass * velocity = 100 * 1 = 100 kgm/s
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| RBL "Digital geogebra sketch", 2022 |
This action project was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. We had to consider that Napoleon would be locking the bike in a crowded area, which means they would need a strong lock. We also had to keep in mind the scale of our model bike to the real bike. The calculations of diameter, radius, circumference, and the number of rotations were a part of our struggle, but we figured it out. Building the model bike didn’t go as well as we had hoped but we learned to use small materials better for creating models. Overall, this was a great experience, and I am happy I got to create this with my partner. Thank you so much for reading!
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