Project goals, specification, and progress thus far

Problem Statement:

To design, construct, and share a bicycle blender apparatus and detachable bike stand that renders the bike rideable when not in use for blending.

Our community partner for this bicycle blender project is Grupo Fenix, focused in Sabana Grande, Nicaragua. Sabana Grande is a rural village approximately 200 km outside Managua with  approximately 500 residents. The community relies heavily on wood for cooking and suffers from deforestation and poverty. Currently, a youth group involved with Grupo Fenix has developed a design for the bicycle-powered blender. Their current design relies on a platform in which the bike attachment only has one wheel. A method of securing the blender to the bicycle while retaining complete function is necessary to make the bicycle successfully have multiple purposes. The bicycle powered blender is a method of income generation for residents, as residents will make smoothies and

Based on the current design and the community with whom we are forming a partnership, we would like to build a simple blender apparatus and a stand, made from local materials, that supports the back wheel while in use for blending.

Project Specifications:

Measurable outcomes that the project should accomplish

• Create a blending attachment that can fit on 80% of Nicaraguan bicycles and does not inhibit the bike from being ridden (includes stand for back wheel and blending apparatus)
• design review will be followed by multiple rounds of testing and improvement
• Design a universal bike stand (training stand) easily made from local materials and provide this design to Grupo Fenix
• transportable but supportable
• consult estuardo about our stand design
• Test bicycle-powered blender design on campus using at least 5 different bikes
• Blender will blend fruits and beans

Pugh Chart:

	Making a blender	Pre-constructed blender (S)	Metal Stand	Wood Stand
Cost	+	S	S	+
Construction feasibility	-	S	S	+
Use of local materials		S	S	S
Durability	-	S	S	-
Aesthetically pleasing	-	S	S	-

Documentation/ Updates:

In class on Monday, we sketched a couple of designs for stationary bike stands we were considering as a method of securing the back wheel while the bicycle was in use for blending. We also outlined the basic mechanism for a blending apparatus that could be connected to the bike.

During class, we received a lot of feedback about possible improvements and points of clarification for the designs. After each group had examined our designs, we reevaluated our plan of action. We realized that the stand had to be a lot more flexible (in terms of supporting a wide variety of bikes), which would mainly come from attaching the stand to the bike frame rather than the bike wheel. We took inspiration from Jodie Wu’s bike stand, as it would be a much more viable solution to creating a stand that would fit a diverse array of bikes. By the end of the class, we created a styrofoam prototype of the stand. 

In other news, we recently talked with our community partner from Grupo Fenix. We have discovered that the blender is mainly being used for blending fruits and beans. The youth group actually has a design for a metal bike stand, though it is not durable and needs considerable improvement. We have also learned that the community has recently acquired welding capabilities, which would allow us to use metal in our construction process. Additionally, our community partner was interested in a design that could be made without using a store-bought blender (and rather a pitcher with an attached blade) in the interests of cost. Our next steps will be to design and carry out a critical module and to develop a materials list for the blending apparatus.