Class Project

Created a fully functional Ripstik

Background

The final project for my “Design for Fabrication” class was to create a human powered mechanical vehicle to race against other teams in a two loop race. While most teams tried building some type of bicycle, we decided to recreate a Ripstik, which is similar to a skateboard.

First Prototype

Design Features:

  • Base cut out of plywood on a band saw

  • Wheels taken from an actual Ripstik

  • Torsion bar and tube taken from an actual Ripstik

  • Aluminum brackets cut from a U channel and bent to 35 degrees

Final Prototype

New Features:

  1. Put sheet metal plates on the wooden blocks to distribute the force and keep them from cracking

  2. Used steel wheel hubs from a skateboard and tapped holes so we could attach the wheels

Example Ripstik

Failure Modes:

When we took this prototype for a test ride we noticed two points of failure:

  1. The wooden blocks holding the torsion bar in the middle cracked

  2. Once we stepped on the Ripstik, the aluminum brackets would deform and drag against the ground

Outcome:

  • We built a fully mechanical vehicle that could handle real world forces and maneuver around a track (including going uphill)

  • We beat all the other groups in the class and took first place

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