tingilinde

quick and dirty velomobile

The idea behind a velomobile is to use a recumbent bike, trike or quadricycle and put a fairing over it to cut wind resistance and give a bit of protection from the elements.  They are mostly unknown in the US.  Holland and Germany seem to be the major domains - they are more practical than a bike for long (say more than 10 mile) commutes, and less practical for parking.  They also tend to be nearly handmade and expensive.

A few people have been making inexpensive fairings going mainly for wind resistance reduction.  Pop one on a trike or quad and you should have a less expensive velo that can easily be converted back to the original state.  

Firefly uses a mostly transparent body that lights up from the inside for night use.  It looks like a design exercise, but could be a nice project for folks who know how to build stuff.  There are a lot of nice (and not so nice) recumbent trikes out there.  Catrike is very popular and good brand.

I wonder if bright lights inside would cause drivers to take note and render this safer than riding a bike?  What is the limit for lighting before the police deem it a hazard (really bright flashes for example)?

a hanging tree house

Just hang this from a tree and you have a treehouse of sorts.

retro early 70s clock

Mechanical digital clocks were popular in the early 70s.  Here is an updated version...  I have no idea how well it works or how well it is built, but it will appeal to some.  I wouldn't want to have to clean it though...

a wooden sandwich

Greg notes a curious bike.  I wonder how it rides?  Many many years ago I rode a bamaboo framed bike on a fifty mile ride and liked it a lot (although not as much as my old steel frame Raleigh Pro).  

You would certainly get attention, but I wonder what the point is other than design.? 

Bikes go through explosively creative phases.  At the moment there is a great deal going on with fat tired bikes that ride well on beach sand or snow.

I'd like to see a road version of a 36" tired bike, but that is another story...

 

 

 

designing roads for mixed use

Making roads safe for cars, bikes and pedestrians ...  how the Dutch do it.  Additionally speed limits in urban and suburban areas are lower than in the US (30 kilometers per hour - about 19mph - is common) and most motorists are or have been bike riders, so there is a much greater understanding of how traffic can mix.  The payoff is much safter streets for cyclists and pedestrians.

It is very unlikely such measures would be adopted in the US. The suggestion of slowing traffic in urban and suburban areas is treated with hostility - even when cars run over kids in the street.  But the Dutch design and lower speed limits would be a good start if a town or city wanted to make their place safer and more accessible.

 

 

 

maybe we should talk about volume instead

Living space is usually measured in units of area.  Perhaps volume makes more sense - or at least total available area...

This design by Specht Harpman (noted in Treehugger) only has a 425ft² footprint, but they were able to take advantage of the 25 ft (!) ceiling and access to a roof terrace.  Nicely done, but a bit more effective floorspace than the footprint suggests.

 

 

 

dangerous fashion

Some fashion is decidedly unhealthy (via the Smithsonian Magazine's Threaded blog)

 

(a tip of the hat to Sukie)

 

3d inner ear scanner

3D printing technology is largely useful for prototyping at this point.  But there are some markets where prototyping something small from a material that can be easily printed is practical and desirable. Lantos Technologies announced they have a 3D ear canal scanner.  Just the thing for perfectly fitting hearing aids, headphones and ear protection plugs and probably better than the current fitting solutions.

design? and the history of technology

There are times when the mind wobbles.  

The Kuba Komet from a site with a lot of informaiton on early television.  Some of the mechanical designs from the 1920s are - well - interesting.  Some work at Bell Labs.

(hat tip to Tim for pointing out the site .. it is possible to spend too much time poking around)

 

how some bikes are designed and made...

Factory tours can be fascinating ...  Here is a tour of Trek's headquarters...

part 1 - overview

part 2 - product development

part 3 - compositites fabrication

Colleen's special super tall frame bike was built and tested in the area shown in part 2.

Not many companies that make things offer tours of their facilities, but if you have connections you might try to use them.  My experience has been that many of these people love to show off what they do.