Prior work
Bicycle balancer & 4WD Rickshaw design
2019-2022
We experimented with a bicycle balancer design (similar to training wheels) that used very lightweight handmade tires.
We started designing a 4 wheel rickshaw with 2 chain cranks and 2 corresponding chains, one for the rear-wheels and one for the front.
Bicycle: Carrier and seat
2018-2019
We created a carrier design below the head-tube and a seat design based on a leafspring and coil-spring combination for a common roadster bicycle.
SUV: Roof redesign
2018-2022
We cutout the roof from an SUV style car (Toyota Qualis) and added a hollow galvanised iron tube based framing system to strengthen the frame with cross-bracing at the roof level (similar to a rollbar). We also built a sloped receptacle framing system on top of the strengthening frame for adding roof panels for both weather protection and to channel wind through the car.
Sub-compact car design illustration
2018
We created an illustration (using Inkscape) of a sub-compact car body design.
Hatchback: rear-cabin interior
2015-2017
We experimented with rear-cabin interior reorganisation on a sub-compact (Honda Brio) and a compact (VW Golf) hatchback.
Motorcycle: muffler redesign
2012-2016
We started making land-vehicle design modifications with a revised free-flowing muffler redesign for a common motorcycle (TVS XL100).
We removed all the diffusers in the existing design and added a tuned port at the outlet.
This was done by creating a pressure guide on the inside of the main muffler cavity and adding a fixed length narrow outlet pipe at the exit-point of the main muffler cavity.
All sheet-metal cutting and welding work with an oxy-acetylene torch welding machine.
Land-vehicle Design: State-of-the-art
Automotive
Large established manufactuers have a basic structural design that has been developed and refined over several decades.
Minor changes are made to this structure, which is primarily the chassis (e.g. BMW CLAR, VW MQB. Merecdes MFA).
Since production happens at very large scale in assembly-line factories, a single design is made for each usage class, and the design is done in-house, over several years, linked to a production process.
Motorcycles
The design state-of-the-art is similar to automotive (e.g. Cradle, Diamond, Backbone frame types). The number of chassis designs is a lot larger and design revisions happen
twice as frequently as automotive.
Usage classes are based on engine size and weight.
There is more outsourcing of the design process, and smaller designers can exist, since a new design is a lot cheaper to protoype.
Bicycles
A bicycle is designed as a bicycle-frame only, by a an established brand (e.g. Diamond, Step-through, Cantilever frame types).
All other components that go into a finished bicycle are designed by specialised component manufacturers, such as
wheels and tires,
gear-shifting mechanisms,
brakes,
drivetrain components such as chain-cranks, chains and freewheels,
and shock-absorption systems.
Usage classes are based on terrain, targeted speed, loading level etc.
Of late, DC-motor based drivetrain assist sys
Motorised 3-Wheelers
Motorised 3-wheelers are commonly produced industrially for cheap and traffic-efficient transportation (cargo and to a lesser extent passenger taxis).
This is a recent class of land-vehicles and only a few designs exist.
Tricycles
Tricycles, are very cheap to protoype. A handful of companies design and produce several such designs at very small scale.
In recent years, DC-motor powered cargo-trailers have also been designed
as bicycle add-ons, and have operational characteristics similar
to tricycles.
Pushcarts
Low-cost commercial pushcarts are typically 4-wheeled with no steering control.