“Superhydrophobic Coatings” NEI ... - Stanford University



Team R.E.M.M Life:Waterproof Bike Seat Project ReportMichael Araya, Ravina Jain, Michael Tucker, and Elizabeth OvertonThe Art and Science of Engineering Design: EE15NProfessor Goldsmith and Professor LeTable of ContentsAbstract (Elizabeth Overton) ……………………………………………….….. 3Executive Summary (Elizabeth Overton) ……………………………….…….3Introduction and OverviewWhy do we need dry bike seats? (Michael Araya)……………….…..4Problem Statement (Elizabeth Overton)……………………………....5Analysis of the Problem Current Solutions (Michael Araya) ……………………………….…....6Design Constraints (Michael Tucker)…………………………….…….7Design Alternatives Considered (Elizabeth Overton) …………………..….8Basis for Design Selection (Ravina Jain)……………………………………10Results of Alternative Analysis (Ravina Jain)……………………….………11Design Selection, Features, and Cost Analysis (Ravina Jain)………......12Final Design Selection (Michael Tucker) ……………………………….……14Future Implementation and Conclusion (Elizabeth Overton and Ravina Jain)…………………………………………………….……………………..……19Works Cited…………………………………………………….……………….…21Report Editor (Elizabeth Overton)Head Engineer (Michael Tucker)PowerPoint Creator (Ravina Jain)SketchUp/Logo (Artist) Creator (Michael Araya)Abstract:In Palo Alto, the location of Stanford University, the annual precipitation is 16.18 inches. In a campus that is larger than 8,000 acres, bikes are more or less required for transportation and the weather results in frequent dew and rain covered bike seats. Current solutions include plastic bags and paper towels, however, these ideas require students to remember to bring a cover and are a large hassle. Our solution to the problem is a retractable seat cover connected under the seat. This resolution is efficient and intuitive.II. Executive Summary: The problem Team R.E.M.M. Life set out to solve is wet bike seats at Stanford University. Due to the spread-out layout of the approximately 8,000 acre campus, nearly every student owns a bike, and many professors do as well. Because of the moist Northern California weather, students often wake up to a wet bike seat which continually makes them late to class and other activities. The current solutions of plastic bags and paper towels present a huge hassle to bikers. The plastic bags are easy to forget and do not have an adequate location to be stored because students and professors cannot store them in their bags without getting their materials wet. Additionally, if bikers use paper towels, they have to find a trash can for them and that is an inconvenience and not environmentally friendly. Team R.E.M.M. Life’s solution is a retractable bike seat cover, similar to the mechanism involved in a projector screen. The bike seat is stored in a cylindrical holder that connects to the post below the seat. When the rider is not on the bike, they pull the cover out and connect it over the front of the seat to protect it from inclement weather. When they want to get back on their bike, they unlatch the cover from the front of the bike and it retracts into its holder, leaving a dry seat that is ready for use. Our product is adaptable to any bike, making it even more convenient. Although we identified the problem at Stanford, it is certainly not limited to the school and we plan to expand the market first to the bay area and then beyond. III. IntroductionA. Why do we need dry bike seats? Stanford University in Stanford, California is considered one of the most prestigious institutions in America; according to the 2014 Princeton Review “College Hopes and Worries”, Stanford University was named the number one dream school by both parents and students. Not surprisingly, the temperate weather and beautiful palm trees play a huge role in persuading students to matriculate to Stanford over the eight Ivy leagues in the cold east coast. During arduous dead and finals weeks, the cold, snowy weather can be detrimental to the students’ mental health. While students may be struggling during these times at Stanford, the warm weather and amazing palm trees help slightly pacify their stress level.With approximately 8,180 acres of land, Stanford University is the largest campus in the USA and the second largest in the world. Travelling to class does indeed become exasperating. To counter that obstacle, students use various modes of transportation, but primarily bicycles. At Stanford, there are over 18,000 bikes racks to accommodate for the innumerable bicycles. The bike culture at Stanford is not only for fun, but also essential to students’ daily commute to classes and off-campus adventure.. Bikes are ubiquitous on campus - even professors utilize them. Contrary to other campuses, it is almost absurd if you do not have a bike or any means of transportation on campus. Although Stanford is regarded as the athletically and academically impressive college with stunning, warm weather, the university still faces one problem: the rainy monsoons in the winters. According to the U.S. Climate Data, an average of about 16.18 inches of rain annually precipitates. While this may seem like a meager number compared to the rest of the USA, much of the rain is highly concentrated into just a few months in the year. A majority of the rain occurs from the months of November to March. This can become a problem for Stanford students and people who ride bikes because their bike seats end up becoming drenched in the rain. Students have to wake up from a long night of studying only to be greeted by a wet bike seat and have to suffer from a wet butt. This is a problem because a wet caboose can ruin a person’s mood! We have discovered a way to keep butts dry. Although the problem may seem limited to only a certain group of people (Stanford students), this trouble is actually prevalent throughout the world. In China, a population of 1,342,700,000 people, more than 500 million people use bikes. Additionally, in Japan, the country with the second largest population of bicycle users, about 72,540,000 people use bikes. This is out of a population of 127,370,000 people. With a large annual rainfall in each country, keeping bikes dry is an ongoing issue for them, showing that the problem spreads beyond Stanford. It is a widespread obstacle in even some of the most populated countries. From these results, we can clearly see that a more adequate and sufficient way to handle this problem is necessary. B. Problem StatementAttending Stanford in northern California, having a wet bike seat is a recurring problem. We hope to explore developing a solution, because we know that this is an issue for people in many more places than just Stanford. Let’s say you are in a hurry for a meeting or class and run out to your bike only to find a wet bike seat. If you’re wearing a nice outfit you will have to run inside to get a towel, towel it off, and bring the towel back inside, which could take up to 3 or 4 minutes. By that point, you are late. Some students put plastic covers over their bike seats, and take it off before they ride it. However, this is a hassle because they are usually dripping wet and the students have to remember to put it on when they park it. The team R.E.M.M. Life will investigate the issue to try to find a solution to ease students’ angst because no one wants a wet butt in the morning. Our device will propose a convenient alternative to appropriately drying off bike seats without tarnishing the bike’s current mechanism, function, and comfort. IV. Analysis of the Problem A. Current SolutionsAs a way to currently alleviate the wet bike seat epidemic, students utilize plastics bags to cover seats right before an expected rain shower, but there is still a fault in this answer. Where does one place the drenched plastic bag after use? A student cannot simply throw the bag in his or her backpack because then his or her papers will become wet. This solution could ruin assignments, homework, and projects and cost a student his or her grade and expensive laptop. Alternatively, instead of keeping the bag, the student can throw away the plastic bag in a trashcan, but this solution is very wasteful and can squander a student’s time just trying to search for a near by trashcan. Another solution is to use paper towels to manually dry the seat off. Although this method might sound effective, there are still faults built into it. This process will increase the number of used paper towels and play a negative role on the environment. Already in the US, “3 billion pounds of paper towels are used each year. That’s over 45 pounds of paper towels per person, per year” . Paper towels are already being wasted and continuing to wipe bike seats off with them will only exacerbate the problem. With this method, we can reduce the amount of paper towel consumption with an environmentally friendly approach. Also, it is very easy to forget to bring power towels from the nearest restroom and by the time one remembers to grab some, he or she will already be at his or her bike. It will be a hassle to run back into his or her dorm. Consequentially, this can cause the student to be late to class.B. Design ConstraintsBefore coming up with the possible solutions for our problem, our team considered the constraints that framed our problem. First we considered the fact that our goal is not necessarily to keep the bike seat dry, but to keep the rider’s butt dry. So our first constraint is that our product needs to help reduce the amount of water on a rider’s butt more effectively than current solutions.Next, the team looked at the issue with current bike seat covers, namely how to remove the device/solution when not needed so that it’s as convenient as possible. This means designing a solution that doesn’t have many negative externalities in terms of the solution’s non-use life. We want to avoid having to worry about a wet plastic bag or bike seat cover, and create a solution that you can use and then forget about when you don’t need it.In addition, we wanted our solution to be able to be activated in under 20 seconds so that it doesn’t interfere in making people late to classes/meetings. This also is beneficial as riders don’t want to spend too much time in the rain if they’re caught on a rainy day.We also wanted to consider the environment, as we realized some of the current solutions (utilizing plastic bags and paper towels) were wasteful. Thus we wanted a solution that would cause the least amount of waste as possible.Lastly, we wanted to create a product that could be affordable to as many people as possible. With this in mind, we wanted to try to create a solution that, mass produced, could be affordable to college students, to commuters, and to anyone with a bike. Thus our final goal is to make a product for under $10. V. Design Alternatives Considered Team R.E.M.M. Life considered four products besides the final design choice. We decided initially that our aim was that the bike seat doesn’t get wet, or that if it did get wet, it wouldn’t matter. The team also determined that the product was required to have two attributes: reliability and durability.The first idea involved using super-hydrophobic spray, which is a spray now available on the market, that when put on a surface, completely repels water. This seemed like a perfect solution and at first we didn’t understand why it wasn’t already a product, however, we then found that the spray had a fault that disallows it from becoming very popular. The spray functions on a nano-technological scale that is very delicate. It becomes inactive when it experiences substantial friction or abrasion. That simply wouldn’t work for a product with a one-time installation because friction from bike riders was enough to disrupt the water-phobic properties of the spray. We also considered a device that periodically sprayed on your bike seat, however that would be extremely expensive and we figured that people wouldn’t pay for that. The second product that we considered was a removable bike seat that is carried with the user and Velcro’s to their backpack. The bike seat would have to go inside some sort of cover in case it was currently raining. Although this eliminates the problem completely, it would cause a lot of hassle for the user. In our opinion, the hassle of carrying the bike seat with you outweighed the advantages. We were also unsure on how to adopt existing bike seats to disconnect easily and we would have to create an entirely new bike seat, which would be expensive. The third idea that we considered was a weather application that notifies the user when they need to cover their bike seat. Our advisor Gary Banta explained that dew on bike seats is related to the black body effect, which involves temperature differences between the atmosphere and the bike seat, and that we would need to take that into account as well. This broke the assumption that the solution had to be a physical product, but the problem is that it wouldn’t solve the initial issues of having to carry around a bike seat cover. The user would have to go to their bike and cover the seat whenever they are notified and that would arguably be just as big, or bigger of an inconvenience than covering their bike seat every time they are not riding it. Additionally, as we all know, weather predictors are very commonly incorrect so it would be impossible to completely fix the issue this way. The final idea that R.E.M.M. life seriously considered and eliminated last was the flip-over bike seat. This idea involved having a hinge that connected the seat post and the bike seat and would flip open to the side with the press of a button. The user would flip over their bike seat every time that they got off their bike. As shown in the diagram below, the user would have to manually flip over the bike seat, with the pencils representing the hinge that would rotate during the process. This is last idea we eliminated and therefore did lots of further testing on it.Figure I: Flip-over bike seat diagramVI. Basis for Design SelectionWhile brainstorming various designs we believed simplicity, intuitiveness, and cost were the most important objectives that our final design needed to fulfill. We wanted our customers to be able to immediately comprehend how to use the waterproof bike seat and not have a large part of the burden be on them. For instance, one of our ideas -- having a removable bike seat -- was eliminated because we felt that making the user carry the bike seat around would make the bike seat be more prone to becoming lost. In addition, if the user lost the bike seat or forgot to bring it while it is raining outside, that would create a bigger hassle than just having a wet bike seat. The user would thus not be able to ride the bike and only make the individual even more late to class. In addition having a bike seat that would flip over ultimately seemed on the more complicated side given the likelihood that the bike seat could break due to a hinge breaking or screw coming out. In addition, after creating a prototype of this version of the bike seat, we tested the seat by pouring water down the bottom of the bike seat (when the seat was flipped over) and noticed that water trickled down and ultimately made the whole bottom seat wet. Thus, because functionality was prime, we neglected the flipped over bike seat idea. Aside from functionality, simplicity and cost were primary objectives in choosing a bike seat. Our goal is to create a bike seat that keeps the rider dry, yet simultaneously is quick and easy to use, requiring as little time as possible to use and figure out how to use.Figure 2: Objective Tree11430001085850 Figure 3: Priority Checkmark ChartFigure 4: Best of Class Chart857250295275VII. Results of Alternative Analysis During testing, we found that our idea of flipping the bike seat over would still spray water onto the top of the seat during the flip. In addition, it would collect water on the bottom, be very expensive, and would probably have to require buying an entire bike seat. If we created a universal hinge that could be added to any bike seat, it would require a complicated set-up. It would also require a lot of maintenance because there are a lot of moving parts. We decided that although it is an interesting and innovative idea, functionality is our most important credential and it does not meet it adequately.Figure 5: Flip-Over Bike Seat TestingFigure 6: Testing Continued -378523133350VIII. Design Selection, Features, and Cost AnalysisOur waterproof bike seat is made of various simple parts that we collected from the hardware store. We kept the idea of having a cover, however, improved it in such a way that the bike rider would not have to remember bringing a cover each time it was raining outside. Instead, the cover would already be under the bike seat, rolled up inside a cylindrical cover, allowing the rider to pull the cover out or letting it snap back in whenever the rider would be using or removing the cover. Our waterproof bike seat cover is made up of these various materials: one tarp, one PVC pipe, two tape-measurers, three metal dowels, one bike light connector, and four nuts. Features(1) TarpTarpaulin, also known as tarp, is a strong, thick, waterproof material made of polyethylene. The material is coated with Low Density Polyethylene, which helps make the material waterproof and water-resistant. Tarp is often used for extreme outdoor use, is resistant to mildew and chemicals, and doesn’t cause any adverse environmental effects. We chose tarp because it is inexpensive, economical, durable, flexible, and environmentally friendly. In addition, the tarp is thick enough to withstand inclement weather and is sturdy enough to endure the tension that may form as a result of the bike seat pulling on the tarp when it is pulled out. (2) PVC PipePVC pipe is a plastic cylinder-like pipework that is often used for containing heating and cooling fluids, chemicals, waste-water, and drinking water. We used PVC pipework because it is cheap, durable, and easy to work with. The PVC acted as a case for the tarp that was kept rolled around within the PVC pipe. The tarp would then be pulled out of the pipe when needed to be used to wrap over the bike seat. (3) Tape MeasuresWe used two tape measures to encase the cylinder on each side. Tape measures are durable, thick, cheap, and sturdy, thus the case was useful in implementing nuts and bolts on each side to piece the bike cover mechanism together in one piece. Cost AnalysisTape Measure: $4.49 x 2Tarp: $5Rods: $2PVC Pipe: $3---------------------------------------------Total: $18.98The total cost of our product is about $20. Although it isn’t that expensive, our goal for the future is to try and decrease the total cost of the product. VIII. Final Design SelectionThe ultimate design our team decided on was a retractable seat cover. Our aim was to create an apparatus which would attach to either the underside of the seat or the post of the seat. From this, one can pull out a cover out and over the top of the seat (where it would latch on) to keep the seat dry. When the cover is not needed any longer, the cover will then be unlatched from the seat and retract back into the apparatus which houses it. Figure 7: Bike cover prototype ideaWith our goals in place we started ideating possible ways to bring this design to reality. We briefly talked over just having a seat cover attached underneath that would just be pulled out and stored manually, but then realized that wouldn’t be much more effective than a typical seat cover. So we decided to look for other solutions. We then came up with the idea of having the seat cover retract back into a device much like a tape measure or projection screen would. We all thought this would be an appropriate plan and set about determining the mechanisms needed to create such a device.32861259525Talking with our mentor Gary Banta, we discussed the possibility of a custom 3-D printed device to house and retract the seat cover, however, due to time and cost issues, this possibility was dropped. To then further spawn ideas, the team met with a wide variety of random material (ranging from tape measures to pencils, markers, a standard bike seat cover) to create ideas. With a tape measure as inspiration, we then turned to it as a source of device ideas. By taking apart a tape measure, we found the internal coil spring which retracts the tape measure after use. Expanding on this device, we reasoned that having a coil spring at either end of our apparatus would allow for us to create a way to automatically wrap up our cover after it is done being used.We determined that connecting metal dowels between 2 tape measure spring coils, we would successfully wrap the tarp up using the spring. We found through testing that using three dowels spaced out around the springs would have the best result. From here all that was needed was to find a housing for our apparatus. During one of our meetings with mentor Gary Banta, he suggested that we looked into PVC piping as a potential housing for our seat cover. As it is relatively cheap and easy to build with, we agreed to go down that path.So with this, we took a trip to a local hardware store and bought a small length of PVC pipe and tarp that would make up our apparatus. For construction, we began by cutting out a long length of tarp with the width just larger than a large bike seat and long enough to cover the seat and attach to the seat post, we then sewed the front of the cover back to create a pocket to cover the nose of the seat. We attached the metal rods to the springs and sewed the cover to one of the rods. The rolling mechanism was then slid into the PVC pipe enclosing, where a slit was cut out to allow for access to the cover. With this, we attached a bike seat attachment so that the apparatus can attach to the seatpost of a bike. The apparatus fits under both normal and large bike seats and covers both effectively. We have succeeded in creating a functional prototype, but of course more work would be needed to make this device ready for the market.Figure 8: Sketchup Model of Internal Spring Mechanism1681163104775-209549104775Figure 9: Spring Mechanism Testing-20954919050Figure 10: Sketchup Model of PrototypeLateral view: Anterior view: 208597547625-35242447625Figure 11: Final Prototype2533650114300-352424114300Figure 12: Prototype Testing-1142992286002886075224958-11429937147502924175161925IX. Future implementation and ConclusionThe materials required for our prototype in total cost about $19 dollars buying directly from the store, but we believe that it could be mass-manufactured easily and that we could expect to put the product on the market for 10 dollars. Our target demographic would expand much further than Stanford students, it would spread to professors, commuters, and anyone who uses their bike for transportation around the United States and eventually, beyond. We would begin by marketing in the bay area, and then spread further than that later. One idea we had that would possibly give the product more appeal is personalization. We realized that drawer-liners were made of a very similar material to tarp, and that they are already available in many different prints and colors (see picture below). This material may even be better than tarp for rolling into the PVC Pipe contraption.Figure 13: Personalized Bike Covers-1238240Additionally, looking to future design research and implementation, R.E.M.M. life would look for a solution for wet bike handles, and always continue to perfect our solution to a wet bike seat. We would also work to make the PVC pipe that holds the cover much smaller. Our bike seat currently occupies a large amount of space underneath the bike seat, however, our priority was having the user maintain a dry butt while times of inclement weather; size was not our priority. Thus, for our future models we plan to reduce the size of our product, make it mechanically more equipped such that the user simply has to press a button that would eject the bike cover out of its cover, and lastly, have it be able to eject the cover if it detects rain is about to pour, preventing the seat from being wet at all costs. Works CitedBecky. "Banish the Paper Towel." Banish the Paper Towel. The Energy Co-op, 15 Nov. 2014. Web. 17 Mar. 2015. <;."Bicycling at Stanford." Bicycling at Stanford. Stanford University, 2009. Web. 17 Mar. 2015. <;."College Hopes and Worries." The Princeton Review. Web. 12 Mar. 2015. <;.“Plastics Pipes, Fittings and Valves for the Transport of Fluids.” ISO. 15 March 2015 <;.“Precipitation Map of Japan.” World Trade Press. 15 March 2015. Web. <;."Superhydrophobic Coatings." NEI Corporation. Web. <;."Temperature - Precipitation - Sunshine - Snowfall." Climate Palo Alto. US Climate Data, 2015. Web. 17 Mar. 2015. <;.“Top 10 Countries with Most Bicycles per Capita.” Spokefly. 15 March 2015. Web.<;."The Stanford Lands: The Campus Plan." Stanford. 15 Mar. 2015. Web. <;.“What is a Tarp?” Tarp USA. 15 March 2015. Web.<;. ................
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