I was pretty nervous going into this project, since the semester has gone by so fast and it didn’t seem like it already could be time for such a large project. I wasn’t too worried about it though since we had a lot of time to work on it and we got to work with a partner. I decided to work with Tiffany Vuong, who was my freshman year roommate, so I know we get along well and work well together. Once we figured out the partner situation, it was time to jump into the project.
Tiffany and I are both from Jones College, and Jones has a really strong beer bike culture. Early on, we both agreed we wanted the overall theme of our midterm project to be beer bike. We ended up deciding on a bike “race”, using gears and their rotation to mimic a bike traveling around the beer bike track. We originally wanted to incorporate a race component, to have two users be able to race different bikes, but after a couple of iterations of sketches we realized it was going to be too complicated
Steps
1. Decide on a Theme
Tiffany and I are both from Jones College, and Jones has a really strong beer bike culture. Early on, we both agreed we wanted the overall theme of our midterm project to be Beer Bike. We ended up deciding on a bike “race”, using gears and their rotation to mimic a bike traveling around the beer bike track.
2. Decide on Movement
We originally wanted to incorporate a race component, to have two users be able to race different bikes, but after a couple of iterations of sketches we realized it was going to be too complicated to have multiple gears control bikes on the same track. We also wanted to include a chugging component, but couldn’t think of a sensible way to include it. We ended up deciding to have a round base with one large and one small gear, and place a track over the large gear. We decided to place a bike on top of a dowel on the large gear to have the bike go around the track. Linked is a pdf of our original sketch.
3. Make Initial Files
Once we decided on our plan, we created some illustrator files. We played around with different shapes for the base and the track, and went through quite a few iterations for each. We ended up landing on a round base and track, since it would be the easiest shape for our bike to travel in. We created our illustrator files for both gears, the base, and the track. Make Cardboard Cuts
4. Cut & Put Together Cardboard Prototype
We made some test cuts on cardboard to get a better sense of what our prototype would look like. Tiffany ended up adding some dowels and a pipe cleaner bike, so our cardboard prototype was a working low fidelity model.
5. Make Changes Based on Cardboard Prototype
After we saw the cardboard prototype put together, we were able to get a better sense of what we liked and didn’t like. We decided to make our base and track slightly bigger. We also decided to have three different versions of the base, 2 with different sized holes and one with no holes, in order for our dowels to fit tightly into the base.
6. Make Wood Cuts & Stain
Once we made our design decisions, we adjusted the size of our illustrator files and made our cuts on wood. This process was actually pretty easy once we found time to use the laser cutter, we had no problems at this step. Once our pieces were cut, we added a dark brown stain to the pieces that would end up being visible.
7. Assemble Final Prototype
Once we had our main pieces cut, we assembled the prototype. We used wood glue, clamps, and rubber bands to glue our base, gears, and dowels.
8. Add Finishing Touches
As we had most of our model finished, we added the last few touches, including the name plate and the bike. We decided to paint the bike green and include purple vinyl cuts on the bike, to fulfill the vinyl cutter requirement and represent Jones colors. We used wood glue and epoxy to secure our dowels, and once everything dried our model was finished!
Here is a link to more photos!
Reflection
Overall, I’m really proud of Tiffany and I for our finished product. We did a good job of managing our time, communicating with each other, and overall making a good working model. Next time, I would try to plan some of the smaller details earlier, as we decided on dowel size and bike color at the last minute.
Cost Estimate
We used approximately one 32”x24” sheet of wood, which I will estimate to cost around $12. We used approximately 1 dowel, which I will estimate to cost around $5. We used a very small amount of vinyl, which I will estimate to cost around $1. We used small amounts of wood stain, paint, and glue, which I will estimate on the high end to cost $10. This project is significantly harder to track labor, since there was more planning, it was a longer project, and we worked with partners, but I would estimate that Tiffany and I combined spent 20 hours on this project. Pricing labor at $15 an hour, this would bring the labor cost to $300. In total, this project cost $328 dollars to complete.
