Honda Team: Piper MacDonald, Kat Rencs, Sophia DaCosta, Linnea Finkle
2022-2023: In collaboration with Honda, this student team designed and fabricated a portable electric micro-bike for suburban dwellers and light rural users. The project was inspired by the 1981 Honda Motocompo, a compact gas-powered scooter to take commuters on the last leg of their trip. The focus of this updated project was a collapsible seated e-scooter capable of handling varied terrain and use-cases.
The team conducted a competitor analysis and prepared a user persona, both of which informed the key design requirements for the seated e-scooter. The team then generated a wide range of component concepts to address foldability, storage, stability, and usability, among other requirements. The team combined the selected component concepts into multiple full-system e-scooter concepts, iteratively evaluating, refining, and narrowing until they had a single selected system. After developing a virtual model and fabricating a physical prototype of the selected system, the team collected user feedback regarding ride quality, stability, comfort, and aesthetics. The team delivered their design ideas and recommendations to Honda to inform further development.