Many thanks to Kurtis Major for his experience and help!
12/9/09
2nd Prototypes Ready!
Second prototypes are ready for packaging!
Many thanks to Kurtis Major for his experience and help!
Many thanks to Kurtis Major for his experience and help!
12/5/09
15 days and counting
OK, it's 15 days until our small team leaves for Cameroon to do some product testing! We are really excited and the last minute tasks just keep adding up. Add this onto the normal overload that occurs at the end of the semester, plus the fact that it is the holidays, and you can only imagine how "fun" it is to try to get anything done right now. But, the good news is that the team has been hard at work for three months now and the prototypes have been assembled and troubleshooting was minimal. The bags are getting packed, lists of what to bring are getting made and we are about ready to go.
We hope to post something while we are gone but we may not have access to internet. We'll be staying at the home of Dr. Morfaw, in the village of Mveh. This is near Menji, which I can't find on any map that I have found. However, the area is "findable" on Google. Type in Fontem, Cameroon. It is right on the P19 "highway". If you draw a triangle by starting north of Fontem at Atebong and go down to Elumba, then over to Mbo and back up to Atebong, that'll give you an idea of where we are going to be. No paved roads in sight!
We'll be working in the fields with farmers, harvesting cassava root. We'll then use our prototypes to get the goods to some of the local markets – on foot. We'll also be meeting with some of the local blacksmiths and metalworkers in the area to show them our proof of concept prototypes and get their idea of how they would make them in their shops. We hope to be able to visit local markets and also see some of the traditional cultural events that still take place in this remote region of Africa. We'll have a local NGO representative with us all the time, along with our cultural emissary, Nkemnkong (aka Dr. Steve Wilcox of Design Science in Philadelphia).
We hope to post something while we are gone but we may not have access to internet. We'll be staying at the home of Dr. Morfaw, in the village of Mveh. This is near Menji, which I can't find on any map that I have found. However, the area is "findable" on Google. Type in Fontem, Cameroon. It is right on the P19 "highway". If you draw a triangle by starting north of Fontem at Atebong and go down to Elumba, then over to Mbo and back up to Atebong, that'll give you an idea of where we are going to be. No paved roads in sight!
We'll be working in the fields with farmers, harvesting cassava root. We'll then use our prototypes to get the goods to some of the local markets – on foot. We'll also be meeting with some of the local blacksmiths and metalworkers in the area to show them our proof of concept prototypes and get their idea of how they would make them in their shops. We hope to be able to visit local markets and also see some of the traditional cultural events that still take place in this remote region of Africa. We'll have a local NGO representative with us all the time, along with our cultural emissary, Nkemnkong (aka Dr. Steve Wilcox of Design Science in Philadelphia).
12/4/09
Wood Wheel Dimensions
Dimensions for the market cart wood wheels (Diameter of wheel + axel hole, width of wheel)
18" x 2.5" OD (0.5" ID)
11/25/09
11/23/09
11/20/09
11/18/09
11/15/09
U-Connector Prototype parts
Terence explaining the Universal Connector Concept and showing the parts
Cart Test Prototype
Pulling the cart is equally as comfortable but travels through the terrain much easier than pushing.
11/9/09
11/8/09
10/29/09
10/19/09
Market Cart Mock Up with Frame and Joints Mapped Out
We then mapped out where a frame would be on the market cart and where and what the joints might look like.
Within the next week we will be fabricating and testable market cart to load up and use on a muddy hilly trail.
After that we plan on fabricating joints using the universal method for testing in Cameroon.
Universal Connector Concept Redefintion
After building the full scale mock ups of the cart and scale universal connector archetypes we realized it would be more beneficial to combine the 2 concepts
Full Scal Mock Up Market Cart Rev. 1
This design worked much better. Angles were revised and a form of a tie down 'net' was added. With this set up we were able to carry a much larger load. In a display scenario we could untie the net as goods were removed.
Full Scale Mock - Market Cart
The first full scale pass could be pushed, pulled, or stand on it's own to display goods. The mock up is build on a simple moving dolly. We noticed that angles needed to be refined for when in it's display position and the top hood was not very necessary for containing goods.
10/15/09
10/13/09
Maker Faire Africa
This is all about DIY. A plastic recycler, rice planter, bamboo trailer, energy capturing merry-go-round, aluminum batteries... check it out.
10/5/09
10/1/09
Wind-powered Electricity in Africa/USA
Had we more time, this is an interesting segway into the potential advantages of eco-powered products. "Helix’s vertical turbines are ideal for powering cell towers and are both elegant and unobtrusive. Not only are they quiet, but they generate enough juice to pay for themselves in six months. That means it isn’t too much of a stretch for telecom companies to invest in them."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)