CYCLIP
Good working bicycle lights are mandatory. That is not without reason. Missing lights on the bike can be very dangerous for both the biker itself and other road users. Fines for cycling without light are expensive. Nevertheless, bike lights are not all very practical. They can be stolen or the battery can suddenly be empty. As a student you have a busy life, so buying new ones when the old ones broke, is not always directly possible. This is where Cyclip comes in: a chargeable and magnetic bicycle light that makes sure students always have working lights on their bike which can be attached and removed in a blink of an eye.
Cyclip, keeps you riding safely.
Vision
Cyclip makes sure students always have working lights on their keychains. In this way, Cyclip makes sure that students do not have to worry about their bicycle lights. Cyclip offers a cheap and practical alternative for students.
Cyclip in detail
Cyclip consists of a base, two lights, two lenses, and the connection between the base and the lights. The base has four functions: it holds the lights, provides them electricity, gives feedback to the user on how much electricity is left, and is the connection with the keychain.
The lights' main function is to be seen by other road users and remain fixed for the whole duration of the bike ride.
The lenses have the function to give the light the right colour and making sure the electronics inside are protected.
For the connection between the base and lights, it is important that the lights are firmly attached to the base, that the charging system is waterproof, and that there is feedback for the user on whether the lights are correctly connected to the base.
When going for a ride, take your bike keys and pull out the lights. The lights will automatically turn on when they are removed from the base. The magnetic light can be easily attached to all metal parts of the bike. Take your ride and afterward put the lights back into the base to charge. Just like a phone or power bank, the base of Cyclip is chargeable using USB-c which means the user does not have to change the battery and is able to enjoy the bicycle lights for a longer period of time.
Cyclip is mainly made of PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoates), a material which is biodegradable, sustainable, relatively cheap (in comparison with other sustainable materials), and suitable for a production run of 100.000. PHA is strong enough for a fall from the bike without breaking. A point to keep in mind is that PHA shrinks after injection molding. However, as Cyclip has a simple car-inspired form, this shrink impact is minimal. The production costs of Cyclip would be €6,24 so with margins Cyclip could be sold for €12,99, which is a student-friendly price.
Cyclip the process
Cyclip is a project of 30 days over the span of ten weeks and is created with a group of five students: Lotte Boekestijn, Isabella Boezel, Thom Tuinenburg, Cinta Parengkuan and I. We began with generating ideas for making a lamp. We chose the most promising ideas and plotted them in a c-box. Five chosen ideas, from different places in the c-box, were worked out as concepts. A bicycle light was chosen. Using SCAMPER, variations of this concept have been brainstormed. From this, the first concept including context, user group, and user scenario, has been made. This concept has been tested by the user group to get a greater insight into the needs of this group.
Based on this research, the form of the concept has been redesigned using the SAME method. The look needed to be simple, smooth, and modern. This is why the new design is based on a sports car.
In the next phase a preliminary design has been made thinking about each part of Cyclip: what is the function, which interactions are involved, how is it produced, which materials to use, mould designs, how much does it cost, what electronics are needed, what size can it be, etcetera. This phase is evaluated to further research the sore spots of the design.
In the last phase, these spots are redesigned so that Cyclip could hypothetically go into production right away.