Project Overview

Goals and Objectives

The goal of this project is to design a statically stable personal urban transportation vehicle. This vehicle will ideally accommodate an older demographic while also appealing as a novel product to current users. This vehicle will be an advancement of current technology that already exists in the market. The design will be a statically stable vehicle meaning that it will be able to stand up on its own without the assistance of a user to help balance the vehicle. Ideally, the vehicle will assist users who need to travel in an urban environment but do not want to use a car or public transportation. The team's objective is to construct and test an alpha prototype by the Senior Innovation Expo in May 2022. The team will prepare several reports and presentations throughout the project's timeframe, following the six phases of the project.

Motivation

The use of personal transportation vehicles is constantly growing, as people want quick and efficient transportation methods. Common ways that people are getting around include cars, public transportation, or just simply walking. However, the recent development of personal transportation vehicles offers a more efficient method of transportation. The market for PTVs mainly consists of standing electric scooters, electric bikes, and even more complex vehicles such as skateboards or hoverboards. Each of these vehicles satisfactorily meets transportation needs; however, they can be challenging to use. Younger consumers generally have an easier time using these current vehicles because they require an increased amount of balance and require the user to do some work while riding the vehicle. Older demographics or users believe that these methods of transportation do not fit their needs. As such, consumers need a new type of PTV that can make transportation more efficient while considering the needs of consumers with less innate knowledge and balance required to pilot the products currently on the market..

Market Research

To gain understanding of customer needs, the team distributed a survey to 87 participants. This survey collected basic data regarding age, gender, the frequency at which the participant was in an urban environment.

Budget

The team was funded 700 USD to aid in the project. Some of the more expensive components were salvaged from the previous STATIC team. The team will take an advantage of this opportunity to reduce costs.