Looking for any advice/suggestions/input for my product design 4th year university project!
I'm designing a festival trolley to transport your gear from the car to the tent, i'm going to start manufacturing a prototype next month.
I'm sure you guys are familiar with the current offerings and see them scattered around the walkways on your way to your camp. The four wheel ones are basically garden trolleys marketed as festival trolleys, they aren't designed for heavy loads and stacking high. More suited for short distances. And the two wheeled sack carts that are designed for a warehouse environments.
For transporting it there, it will either be collapsible to fit into the boot of a car or sit ontop of the car like a roof rack, ideally without requiring roof bars to be fitted.
I'm also thinking of having it serve as a chair as a secondary function....although i'm concentrating on making it a festival trolley that works at the moment.
I've also considered it functioning as a cooler box too...although i'm unsure on how many people would want this feature? Thoughts?
I've attached a quick sketch of my current design which highlights the desired features can be seen below, and i've written out my justifications of each feature.
Let me know any further features that might be desirable too.
Four wheels: For greater stability, although i have considered three wheels too.
Pneumatic or semi-pneumatic rubber tires: Unsure which to go for yet, although semi-pneumatic has better puncture resistance.
Two handles: One at the front, one at the back, allowing for both push and pull. Pushing will be the primary method as it is more ergonomic. The handle at the front is for a second user to assist pulling uphill and over rough terrain.
Ratchet straps: Bungee cords are popular but I imagine incorporating some fixed ratchet straps which have a larger surface area should be better at securing the load. Hopefully this will put people off from using seran wrap and duct tape, which has environmental implications.
Breaks: Users i've spoken too have expressed struggles when going downhill. Adding breaks should help better the control. (these will also have a lock mechanism to prevent theft)
Mud guards - Unsure about these as people have reported wood chippings clogging up between the guards and wheels which jam it.
I've been looking at fishing trollies for inspiration, and buggies for collapsible systems. Any suggestions of where else to look?
Additionally, rhe shape of the trolley and collapsible system is not yet finalised. I'm still unsure if it'll be a bare metal frame or canvas.
My tutors suggested having a base in which modular attachments can be purchased for the trolley. E.g. if you're travelling as a large group a more heavy duty frame can be attached to the base, whereas a smaller group could opt for a smaller version. Although i disagree with this, as i imagine users would want to put as much on their trolley as possible to save their back, no matter how small or large your group is. What are your guys thoughts on this?
