The project was a huge success. Maine day went off with out a hitch, there was a huge turnout for the presentations and people were very pleased with the project. We spent many hours, and lots of late nights working on the project and it all paid off in the end. The race was very exciting for spectators and was a fun way to end the long year. Kim Keeley was very impressed with all of the designs and said she would ultimately like to combine the best aspects of each of them into one ultimate vehicle. If you have not visited the site before feel free to look around. There is lots of information and pictures buried in the site. Thanks for visiting. Orange Team
Testing, Testing Testing!!
Many new pictures have been added to the site. You can click on the picture below to see photos from testing. There are also many new photos on the construction photos page.
We have spent the last few weeks testing, breaking, rebuilding and testing again. We have made leaps and bounds towards what we believe is the ideal setup for the hand powered requirements of the land mine victims in Mozambique. Our testing has included many laps around the campus, running into curbs, going down stairs, riding over grass, dirt, and anything else we could find. We talked to as many people as we could to get their thoughts on the bike. Our biggest test was a day that included over six miles of riding around town. This was a great long term longevity test for our design. It showed us a couple of flaws that needed to be addressed to make the tricycle more durable.
A Big Thanks
We would like to give a big thanks to Jim Rose of Rose Bike Shop in Orono Maine. Jim has so kindly helped us out in anyway possible on this project. He has helped with keeping the cost down for us by providing us with old used parts that we needed to complete the tricycle at no cost. Jim and his mechanic Cory have been essential in helping us solve some of the bike related issues in building our tricycle. Feel free to click the banner above and browse his website. Thanks again Rose Bike!
STATUS UPDATE 3/16/2010 :
The tricycle is completed with minor changes from the original design. We got it all together and only had a few issues. The steering system was modified slightly from the original design to allow for a sharper turning radius. Also more braces were added to the frame to help with some flexing issues. We have tested the bike a lot and it is holding up well. We are still working on the drive system for ideal gearing and also getting the full stroke to power the wheel. We still need to add on the front brakes to allow for maximum stopping power. The parking brake with the rear brake works great. It will help a lot with entering and exiting the tricycle. We have added several more pictures to the Construction photos page. You can click the link or picture above to view them. Thanks
The tricycle is taking shape! The team worked hard tonight and go the bike rolling on all three wheels. The front frame/ axle was completed and attached to the frame. We are very pleased how well the front wheels turn with very little effort. The seat frame rails were attached to the main frame rails. The handle bars were welded to the steering tube and grips and brake levers attached. The mounts for the push pull/ steering tube were fabricated and attached to the frame. All of the other small pieces were fabricated and are ready for assembly. The next step will be to get the push pull tube welded into its hoop and start welding the drive train elements permanently into place. From there it will be down to affixing the seat, brakes, brake cables, and painting. Lots more pictures have been added to the Construction Photos page. Check it out!
STATUS UPDATE 2/11/2010 :
Construction has begun! After the first night of construction all of the major pieces for the tricycle have been cut to length. All of the axle slots have been cut into the frame members. The donor bikes where stripped of their wheels, brakes, reflectors, and crank set that will be used to complete the tricycle. All the tubing has been prepped for the frame and is ready to be welded up on Monday the 15th. Click on the picture above to go to the construction photos page.
STATUS UPDATE 2/2/2010 :
The design process for out Land Mine Victim Mobility System is now completed. All parts have been selected for optimum price, comfort, and effectiveness. A full bill of materials with part prices, weights, specs, manufactures etc is now complete and can be viewed on the management page of our website. A task sheet has been compiled that will serve as a timeline of events for fabricating and assembling the tricycle. We have obtained nearly all the materials to complete building the tricycle and the things we don’t have yet have been ordered. We hope to start and finish building the tricycle in the next 3 weeks. Check back for weekly updates and pictures from the building process. We may even have some videos of the building process!
The 2009/2010 MET senior project will be to design, construct and test a vehicle that can comfortably and efficiently be used by a landmine victim in Mozambique. The vehicle will be designed for bilateral amputees and spinal cord injury patients.
Thus the vehicle must be powered solely by their hands. It must be able to travel on rough terrain, carry a payload and, most importantly, be comfortable and easy to use.
Thank you for visiting the orange team website. We encourage you to look around on the site. There are many pages with pictures, research material, information on the project, and the steps we took to reach our design. We feel our design well suits the needs of the landmine patients in Mozambique and Kim’s plans to have the bike ultimately be manufactured in Mozambique to bring jobs to the country.
