Discussion:Open Source Velomobile Development Project

De VPH

Copied from old Pedalwiki. Archive of disscussion until today. --Theosch 3 juin 2009 à 21:41 (CEST)

Thanks, Brian for setting this up. Obviously, we are all interested in the development and promotion of Velomobiles. Should we say that there are several fronts to explore: Frame development, Fairing development, marketing and promotion? There are good examples of all of the above. Where I can help is 3D visualization of frames, components and entire systems. Please refer to www.design4today.com to see some of my examples. Here is a quick fairing using NURBS modeling. I use 3ds max software, as well as Autocad to create models. here is a quick example: http://www.design4today.com/temp/velo-02.jpg

Cheers!


Yeah, thanks and congrats for setting this up. I love wikis! Too busy to contribute for now, probably. Good luck! Charles 21:46, 7 Jan 2005 (PST)

Sommaire

Question from Richard Ballantine (RB)

8 Jan - Query from Richard Ballantine (RB) - How many machines do people have in mind?

Not sure exactly what this question is asking. If "How many on the road?" - would having 200 VM's on the road this summer answer that appropriately? If "How many different types supported by this project?" - mimimum two (from my perspective); maximum would be dictated by number of people actively contributing. Dick

Response: How many machines might be built? - Richard

Possibly 15 fairing builders scatererd in as many areas, helping with a half dozen fairings per year, another 50 purchased?

a "poor man's" velomobile

What I think you guys are proposing is commendable. It's frustrating that some of the people who could benefit most from a velomobile are the ones least able to afford it (I probably have to include myself in that group!)

Some time ago I floated the idea at ihpva about building some sort of "poor man's velomobile" -- taking an upright bicycle that allows you to put your feet on the ground (I'm thinking like a Giant Suede or Electra Townie) and coupling it with the German WPS weather protection system, which can be found here:

http://www.bike-wps.com/

Unfortunately I discovered that the company will not ship to the USA because of "liability issues." But I thought it would be a really neat idea to take a bicycle that offers more comfort and safety than a conventional one along with a device that could keep you at least somewhat protected from rain and wind, all for under US$1000.

I sincerely hope you guys come up with a great alternative.

French Velomobile Project

We are working on a similar project in France and would be glad to contribute, if sometimes in French... but drawings wouldn't have to be translated, would they ? Yves BERTIN Association pour le Développement du Vélomobile en Ville

Nous poursuivons un but similaire en France et serions heureux de partager cet outil Wiki pour faire avancer un projet ouvert et de faire cause commune entre participants transtatlantiques.

http://velocouche.forumactif.com/viewforum.forum?f=5 http://velocouche.forumactif.com/index.forum

et sur un espace de discussion aussi autour de la liste vph en France (vph@whpva.org).

Building off of "stock" trikes

The fastest route to affordable volomobiles (ie the sub $3000 vehical) might be to build off of one of the existing commercially available trikes, the Greenspeed, Terratrike or Catrike. For US consumption, given the exchange rates, there is obviously an advantage to the domesticly produced Wizwheels terratrike and the Catrike which both produce quite nice tadpoles that sell for under $2000.

I envision a semipermenant tailbox that would double as the rear fender. I would make it weather tight and lockable. Something like a cross between the the jester tail box [1] and a motorcycle tailbox [2]

Then I envision a blown fairing like the ones Mark Muller sells. Then what’s left is the middle and bottom. There would be obvious marketing advantages of offering accessories to brands that already have a customer base. Ideally they could be sold through the trike manufacturer's web site. They could also be modular. Start with the tailbox and add the fairing and middle as the weather gets colder or wetter.

Of course this might be more of a route for an entrepreneur rather than an open source approach.

An example of a trike with a ZZipper fairing and a body stocking on a TerraTrike is shown here.

Utility Velo

Howdy folks,

It doesnt really look like this project has seen much action lately. I'm wondering if this kind of dropped by the wayside or if its moved somewhere else. I took a bit of time off from thinking about velo projects, but its back on my mind.
Mthyer 21:45, 15 March 2007 (PST)

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