What will it do? Who's done what beforehand? What will you design? What materials and components will be used? Where will come from? How much will they cost? What parts and systems will be made? What processes will be used? What questions need to be answered? How will it be evaluated?
Your project should incorporate 2D and 3D design, additive and subtractive fabrication processes, electronics design and production, embedded microcontroller interfacing and programming, system integration and packaging Where possible, you should make rather than buy the parts of your project Projects can be separate or joint, but need to show individual mastery of the skills, and be independently operable
1-What will it do?
Skit will be an electric ski, that is, a pair of skis that will move with the assistance of an electric motor. The electric motor will move a caterpillar that will push the ski from behind.
The final goal will be to be able to ski on places without lifts:
1-On flat surfaces, to go from one place to another.
2-On slopes, to go up with the motor and go down freely.
The utopic final goal will be to avoid ski lifts on the mountains, and it would be great to combine with solar panels to have a completely clean energy.
2-Who's done what beforehand?
To my knowledge, nobody did that before. There are some similar products, but nothing integrated on a ski:
2-Electronic PPM controller and display management
3-Ski press
4-Pair of skis with composite materials
5-Caterpillar, including wheels, gears, plates, motor mount and track with studs
6-Integration case for battery and electronics
7-Vinyl logo
What processes will be used?
Vinyl cutting for the logo
Laser cutting for the model and the caterpillar template
CNC machining for the ski press, wooden core and caterpillar plates
3D printing for the hand controller, gears, different wheels and system integration case
Electronic boards CNC milling and soldering
Embedded programming for the controller and display
Composite making for the ski blades
Molding and casting for the caterpillar studs
What questions need to be answered?
1-Is it feasible to make an electric ski?
2-Will it work?
3-Will it be useful?
How will it be evaluated?
As the project is planned as spiral development, the evaluation has to be also spiral, based on the different steps:
1-The prototype of one ski moves properly. The battery, the electronics, the controller, the motor and the caterpillar are integrated and move following the throttle.
2-A second ski is made and works as described in point 1.
3-The skis move on the snow without a person on them.
4-The skis move on the snow with a person on them.
