01.2019 - 04.2019
Dart Electric
Ride-share Bike
Dart is an electric ride-share bicycle that refuses to compromise and dares to be exciting.
Dart was awarded the IDEA Award 2020 Gold Award for the student category.
My contribution:
Interviewing & Surveying, Ideating, Sketching, Prototyping & Testing, CAD, 3D Rendering, Branding
Teammates :
Victoria Chiang, and Omari Hitson.
Be more than just transportation, be an experience.
Dart is an electric ride-share bike that aims to provide an exciting and enjoyable riding experience. Dart empowers users to feel in control of their life, in both performance and style. Unlike its competitors, Dart has the speed and visuals of a performance bike while maintaining accessibility with a step-through frame.
Comfort and speed at the same time.
The adjustable handlebar makes conquering difficult city topography a breeze by enabling a dynamic shift between a focus for comfort and a focus for speed and is enhanced by the front hub motor.
Easy locking, easy parking.
Whereas current bikeshares have a lock module on only one side of the bike, Dart’s lock module can accept the integrated cable lock from either side, which simplifies the parking process for the user and increases the likelihood that Dart will get parked and locked properly to bike racks.
Background
Micro-mobility and ride-sharing is the future
Ride-sharing services have seen explosive growth in the past few years as the industry established itself as a necessary part of the city transportation eco-system, and has seen a large resurgence since their early dip in the pandemic.
Problem
Most ride-share bikes are a compromise
Many of the ride-share bike services on the market focus only on the utilitarian aspect of the service and misses the experience of riding the bike. People mostly perceive ride-share bikes as a tool to get from point A to point B.
Most ride-share bikes are cruiser bikes
Cruiser bikes are designed for easy riding. While cruiser bikes are easy to mount and ride on flat ground, they are slow and difficult to ride on hilly terrains, and they are not very exciting to ride.
Excitement is a crucial part of what our team wanted to bring to the table while maintaining the utility of a ride-share bike. We wanted Dart to change people's perception about what ride-share bikes can be.
Sketch development
One of my early directions was to reference the geometry of road bikes. However, having a horizontal tube on a bike could make mounting the bike difficult for shorter people or those who are wearing dresses. Since this is a ride-share bike, the team decided that it is important that everyone can ride this bike, so I removed the top tube and use other geometries on the bike to imply speed and power.
Early prototypes
At the same time as I was are sketching, I was constantly making small-scale models to get a feel of what the design would look like. Pink foam models as well as some laser-cut acrylics were used to test out early shapes of the bike.
Form & CMF iteration in CAD and Keyshot
I concluded from my research that electric bikes have great potential for enhancing the rideshare experience, so a large part of my focus fell on the design and placement of the battery cell. It serves as a sculptural component that will impact the proportions and stance of the bike as well as a color block for branding.
I eventually settled on this lime green on black for its high contrast, correlations to athletic products, and its difference from existing rideshare bike colors.
Testing for bike geometry
We conducted many tests with users of different heights. We had to ensure that our bike would fit a wide range of user and body types. We also determined the angle at which the pivoting bike stem would produce a meaningful change in riding characteristics.
Building the final prototype
To validate our design, the team created a full-scale model. We used layered plywood to construct the body of the bike. The mechanical stem, chain guard, and modular compartments are all made from 3D prints, while the wheels, handlebars, and gears are off-the-shelf parts.
