Combat bike
Design, develop & manufacture a balance bike for children
PROJECT YEAR
2019
LOCATION
Queretaro,Mexico
PROJECT TYPE
User Experience Design & Product Design
DESIGN TEAM
Rocio Aguilar López
PROJECT DURATION
4 months
CLIENT
School project
Combat-bike was born from the idea of designing, developing, and manufacturing a balance bike for children from 3 to 6 years old.
The secret to cycling is balance, which is why the goal of combat bike was to develop a user experience that helped him to generate security, autonomy, and self-esteem, while refining his coordination and muscle development.
A balance bike is a bike without pedals, which means that kids must push off the ground with their feet to move forward and start walking on the bike, then run, stride and glide. Once they are gliding autonomously, they are ready to start pedaling.
Riding a bike requires good balance and coordination. Most children go through a learning process which may take days, weeks or even months, depending on their confidence and parental advisory.
Context
For the purposes of this project the challenge was to:
Design, develop and manufacture a balance bike for 3- to 6-year-old children. The design theme will be"military" and will have to use materials such as: wood, tubular profile, steel sheet, 3D printing, and commercial accessories such as: wheels, rims, grips, seats, lamps, bell, nuts, bolts, etc.
In addition, it must be built using laser cutting, CNC router, 3D printing and tube rolling.
Combat Bike was inspired by a military concept of adventure, toughness, and strength.
We looked for inspiration in elements used by the military, such as grenades and war tanks, and security equipment like helmets, knee pads, holsters, etc.
The problem
Ethnographic
Research
Within this stage of the process a market research was carried out to study what already existed in the market in addition to analyzing the user experience process.
Insights
How could we design a balance bike for children ages 3 to 6 so they can develop their muscle coordination and balance while having fun, and enhancing the experience for both the children and their parents?
List of demands
1. It had to be produced with additive manufacturing.
2. The use of plywood, metal parts and commercial accesories was mandatory.
3. It had to be built using manufacturing processes such as: laser cutting, CNC router cutting, 3D printing among others.
4. It had to be easy to assemble.
5. Seat height had to be adjustable.
6. It had to weight maximum 5 kilograms.
7.The wood of the final protoype could not be either mdf or pine plywood.
8.It had to be considered for children from 3 to 6 years old.
9.The colors used had to be neutral, that is, there was no gender difference.
10.It had to be designed with easy maintenance and replacement of components in place.
Ideation
Prototyping
We made a prototype out of cardboard scale 1:5 to visualize the dimensions and the components of the bike. Subsequently, a 1:1 scale mdf model was built to validate our mechanical joints and assemblies.
Final Concept
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