Can anyone think of a brilliant engineering research project?

I soon have to pick what my fourth year engineering project is going to
be. There's a list of projects that the university sets but students
can submit their own ideas if they'd prefer. I'd like to run my own
project, but I can't think of a suitable topic. The final output is a
12,000 word thesis based on theory and experimental results. I have a
budget of money, workshop hours and computing time in which to complete
this, and most projects are expected to involve some sort of physical
construction element i.e. creating the component you designed, or
building an appropriate test rig to obtain data you need.

So can anyone think of a great project, preferably unicycling related?


--
kington99

Dave

- what a thoroughly post-modern subversion of the cycling genre -
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How about a geared unicycle project or something to do with suspensions?
Those are pretty much the most discussed things to improve unicycling
these days
Well with the geared unicycle, isn't that what a schlumpf unicycle was
made for?? A good idea for a project would be to see what brake
callipers and suspension would do to a unicycle. In other words, would
this benefit those who do MUni or trials. Another idea might be to
create a freewheel unicycle, as in a unicycle when you pedal forward it
moves but when you star to pedal backwards the unicycle goes into a BC
like form.

Hoped this helped and hope your project gets you top score.
Hazmat


--
Hazmat

1 weird and unusual greek cypriot australian destined to be different
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As I am only on my second day of learning to ride a unicycle, I would
suggest a training/learning aid. Something along the the lines of a
training hub that only rotates in the forward direction. When you can
ride 150m or so you rotate "the switch" to the freewheel setting.

Good Luck


--
rustycogs
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kington99 wrote:
So can anyone think of a great project, preferably unicycling related?



Well, there was a thread a few weeks back asking what peoples dream
wish list was. The two things I asked for were;



- A folding/collapsible 36" wheel that will allow you to fit it in to
a standard back pack. If course it's got to be light and strong.
Having given it some thought, though, I don't think the wheel is
going to be the hard part... the tyre probably will be though!


- Variable length cranks that can be adjusted on the fly.




Good luck with the projects, and can you let me know when UDC have them
in stock


--
semach.the.monkey
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To elaborate on the adjustable cranks idea, I think it would be cool to
not have it like Kooka cranks where you have to switch the pedals, but
to have an inner mechanism where you tap a button with your ankle (like
changing gears on a Shlumf) and it will extend by say 5mm. You can keep
pressing it to make it go longer, but you'd have to figure something
out to make them get shorter. These would probably only get used by
distance riders though, cause doing any serious drops and hopping etc.
would probably break them.


--
maximus unius
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How about adjustable frames so people who can't reach the pedals could
lower the frame to reach them.


--
Hazmat

1 weird and unusual greek cypriot australian destined to be different
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How about adjustable seatposts so people who can't reach their pedals
can lower... oh wait...


--
DustinSchaap

FOUNDER OF EENWIEL.NL (\"HTTP://WWW.EENWIEL.NL\")
*Sponsored by 'MUNICYCLE.COM' (http://www.municycle.com) , 'QU-AX'
(http://www.qu-ax.com) and 'SEMCYCLE' (http://www.semcycle.com)*
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maximus unius wrote:
To elaborate on the adjustable cranks idea, I think it would be cool to
not have it like Kooka cranks where you have to switch the pedals, but
to have an inner mechanism where you tap a button with your ankle (like
changing gears on a Shlumf) and it will extend by say 5mm. You can keep
pressing it to make it go longer, but you'd have to figure something
out to make them get shorter. These would probably only get used by
distance riders though, cause doing any serious drops and hopping etc.
would probably break them.



Well, I kind of imagined them with a small motor attached to a gear
mechanism that could wind the cranks in and out. The control for it
stumped me for a while, then I started to think about pressure
transducers in the pedals so that it would actually know how hard you
were pushing and adjust the length accordingly. Maybe with speed
sensors too.

STM


--
semach.the.monkey
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How about looking at the stresses created at the hub and cranks on a
unicycle when it is jumped compared with a bike. The stresses are
higher even though the cranks and jumps are both smaller. It would
involve some intersting gig design and construction and testing. :-)
It may also have an interseting final design that may include an
optimised hub and crank system that is strong and lighter than the
current over kill designs.

Roger


--
rogeratunicycledotcom

++++++++++++++++++
Unicycle.com in the UK
The UK's Unicycle Source
www.unicycle.uk.com
+++++++++++++++++++
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for my high school projct i am makin:

a unicycle frame tat can extend from a 24" size to 36" size.

a handle (a lot like the T7), but adjustable in and out so you can put
it where you want it, using a seatpost clamp.


--
iridemymuni

maker of the happy birthday threads

ive got:

John Childs, Klaas Bill, Kris Holm, Samia, Harper, Bryan Stevens,
Wobbling bear, Mike Swarbrick, Cathwoood, Scott Wallis, Mikefule,
Raphael (jjuggle), James Potter, ITEMNO530, DogBowl, Yoopers,
Habbywall, Terry and Jagur.
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