Snowboard
From DDL Wiki
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== Use Study == | == Use Study == | ||
- | The main steps in using the product are listed below. | + | === Main Steps === |
+ | |||
+ | The main steps in using the product on a typical snowboarding ride are listed below. | ||
* Travel to mountain and ski resort | * Travel to mountain and ski resort | ||
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* Go down the slope: set edge, shift center of gravity and twist board to turn, traversing the fall line | * Go down the slope: set edge, shift center of gravity and twist board to turn, traversing the fall line | ||
* Unstrap rear foot and take ski lift again | * Unstrap rear foot and take ski lift again | ||
+ | |||
+ | The snowboard is comprised of two main parts: the board and the bindings. We analyse how to use each of them separately. | ||
+ | |||
+ | === Bindings === | ||
+ | |||
+ | The bindings attach the boots of the snowboarder to the board. They enable the user to control the board by using his weight and exerting forces on his legs. | ||
Before fitting the boots into the bindings, the user can adjust the angle that the bindings makes with the board. By releasing the four screws that secure the mounting disc to the board, the mounting disc can be pulled off, allowing the base plate to rotate. Once the user has set the base plate to the desired angle, he can tighten the screws that secure the mounting disc to the board. The mounting disc itself will secure the base plate. | Before fitting the boots into the bindings, the user can adjust the angle that the bindings makes with the board. By releasing the four screws that secure the mounting disc to the board, the mounting disc can be pulled off, allowing the base plate to rotate. Once the user has set the base plate to the desired angle, he can tighten the screws that secure the mounting disc to the board. The mounting disc itself will secure the base plate. | ||
- | Each boot is held into place by two strap-and-buckle assemblies and a highback. The user begins with adjusting the | + | Each boot is held into place by two strap-and-buckle assemblies and a highback. The toe strap secures the front part of the boot to the baseplate, while the ankle strap tightens the upper part of the boot against the highback. The user begins with adjusting the desired angle for the highback (the angle will affect the snowboarding style) by releasing the angle limiter lever, setting it to the desired position and tightening it again. Then, he pulls the levers of the buckles to release both toe and ankle straps so that he can insert his snowboard boot into the binding. Then, he tightens both straps to secure the boot into the binding. |
+ | |||
+ | === Board === | ||
== Mechanical Function == | == Mechanical Function == | ||
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| 1 | | 1 | ||
| Plastic | | Plastic | ||
- | | | + | | Secures the baseplate to the board, and allows different angles between board and binding |
| Injection Molding | | Injection Molding | ||
| 68 | | 68 | ||
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|- | |- | ||
| 25 | | 25 | ||
- | | | + | | Baseplate |
| 1 | | 1 | ||
| Plastic | | Plastic |
Revision as of 16:47, 12 February 2012
Contents |
Executive Summary
Stakeholders
We have identified four major stakeholders in the life cycle of the competitor's product: the user, the retailer, the manufacturer and the shipping company. Below is a list of the needs of each stakeholder concerning the product.
Users
The user is the main person to use the product, therefore his needs are the ones that should be first taken into consideration when redesigning the competitor's product.
- Low price
- Light with sufficient rigidity and flexibility
- Durable
- Board should have sharp edges but remain safe to carry
- Adjustability and strength of bindings
- Ergonomics of bindings: they should be easy to strap on and release
- Appearance, branding
Retailers
The needs of the retailer are centered around making profit by selling the product, and facilitating the after-sales service.
- Profitability
- Appearance, branding, appeal
- Easy to store: small weight and dimensions
- Serviceability: standardization of parts
Manufacturers
The needs of the manufacturers are aimed at easy and cheap manufacturability.
- Simple geometries
- Limited number of parts
- Cheap materials that are easy to work with
- Cheap manufacturing processes
- No toxic materials
- Easy to store: small weight and dimensions
Shipping Companies
The shipping companies want an easy to carry product.
- Package should be light and compact
- Durable: resistance to vibrations and shock
- Replacement parts must be easily shippable
Use Study
Main Steps
The main steps in using the product on a typical snowboarding ride are listed below.
- Travel to mountain and ski resort
- Purchase ticket
- Put on boots, hat, gloves
- Strap front boot into binding
- Take ski lift and get to the top of mountain
- Strap rear boot into binding
- Go down the slope: set edge, shift center of gravity and twist board to turn, traversing the fall line
- Unstrap rear foot and take ski lift again
The snowboard is comprised of two main parts: the board and the bindings. We analyse how to use each of them separately.
Bindings
The bindings attach the boots of the snowboarder to the board. They enable the user to control the board by using his weight and exerting forces on his legs.
Before fitting the boots into the bindings, the user can adjust the angle that the bindings makes with the board. By releasing the four screws that secure the mounting disc to the board, the mounting disc can be pulled off, allowing the base plate to rotate. Once the user has set the base plate to the desired angle, he can tighten the screws that secure the mounting disc to the board. The mounting disc itself will secure the base plate.
Each boot is held into place by two strap-and-buckle assemblies and a highback. The toe strap secures the front part of the boot to the baseplate, while the ankle strap tightens the upper part of the boot against the highback. The user begins with adjusting the desired angle for the highback (the angle will affect the snowboarding style) by releasing the angle limiter lever, setting it to the desired position and tightening it again. Then, he pulls the levers of the buckles to release both toe and ankle straps so that he can insert his snowboard boot into the binding. Then, he tightens both straps to secure the boot into the binding.
Board
Mechanical Function
Product Parts
Exploded Assembly
Here we show the exploded assembly that results from the dissection of one binding. The board itself and the other binding are not shown on the picture.
Bill of Materials
Table: Components of Snowboard
Design for Manufacture and Assembly
Failure Modes and Effects Analysis
Design for Environment
A snowboard has very low greenhouse gas emissions in use. The only emissions associated with use are the additional emissions from transport, which we consider negligable if transported inside a vehicle, but could be significant if transported externally, as for example on the roof of a car which would add drag. To assess the design for environment we considered that snowboards are transported in a ski rack on a car and then the added CO2 of drag and the CO2 from manufacturing was estimated.
The emissions caused by the added drag can be estimated by considering a increase in fuel consumption of 5% when using a ski rack [ 1 ] . When estimating an average driving distance to snowboard as 200 miles, a car with 20 miles/gallon, 5 trips/year, a 10 year life span and an average of 3 snowboards in the rack, the amount of gas needed to compensate for the ski rack can be estimated to 8.3 gallons. Considering 8.9 kg CO2 per gallon of gas [ 2 ] the total CO2 emissions from the use of a snowboard is approximately 75 kg. For such a rough estimate it is natural to round it to the nearest order of magnitude of 0.1t CO2.
To estimate the amount of CO2 emissions from manufacturing we used the Economic Input-Output Life Cycle Assessment (EIO-LCA) method [ 3 ] to create the table of CO2 emissions below. The table represents the CO2 emission from all the economic sectors involved in producing products of a 1 million $ value from the sporting and athletic goods manufacturing sector. This method gives a total of manufacturing emissions as 0.25t CO2 when considering an average price of 400$ for a snowboard.
Table [1]: CO2 emissions for 1 million $ spent in the sporting and athletic goods manufacturing sector
However the method is very unprecise in our case as snowboards only represents a small fraction of the sporting and athletic goods manufacturing sector, so the value found represents the average emissions from all sports equipment which could vary enormously from one product to another.
At the end of the use cycle the snowboard would most likely end up in a landfill, as it contains a mixture of wood, plastic, metal,resin leather and foam, which would be extremely expensive and inefficient to take apart and recycle. Instead of attempting to make a recycleable snowboard it would be more effective to attempt to increase the use cycle. This could be done by improving the surface quality, having replaceable edges or making it easier to change the color and designs on the board to make it look up to date.
DFE Conclusions
The total estimated CO2 emissions from the board are 0.35t. The conclusions are that if a tax of 40$ per ton CO2 is implemented, the snowboard would cost 14$ more (a 3.5% increase in price). A consumer would probably not be affected by this increase in price, however if the cost is paid by the manufacturers it would be significant as they would lose 14$ times number of boards sold, possibly losing millions. If this is the case manufacturers would likely look for ways in which to reduce this cost. Transporting the snowboard during the use cycle accounts for around 30% of this CO2 cost and reducing this is what our group identifies as the main area in which the snowboards carbon footprint can be improved.
Team Roles
Saviz Mowlavi - Team Leader
Evan Walden - FMEA Lead
Philip Brown - DFMA Lead
Erik Ringvold - DFE Lead
Christopher Tomaszewski
References
[1] http://editorial.autos.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=435406 [2] http://www.eia.gov/oiaf/1605/coefficients.html [3] http://www.eiolca.net/