Seat Angle Dimensions

[From Graham Butler February 16, 2011

Here are the screen shots of the seat vs base measurements.  SolidWorks takes the smaller angle as default to the actual seat angle is 180 less the measurement.

 

We're worried that the seat angle is too acute in high rider mode.

Low rider mode seat angle is 109 degrees, same as Bobby Hall bike.

Comparison Drawings: Morph4 vs Morph 2 Do the Numbers Match Up? Yes.

Before we go into detailed design for the actual Morph 4 prototype, I asked Alan to check the key dimensions of Morph 4 against those for Morph 2. Everything looks good in the drawing above.

Trail in Low Rider: 2.5" (okay, a bit more trail than Morph 2's 1.3")
Trail in High Rider: -1.3" (same as Morph 2)

Wheelbase High Rider: 42.46 inches (1/2" more than Morph 2)
Wheelbase Low Rider: 59.37 inches (3/4" more than Morph 2)

Height to seat joint, low rider: 9.83 inches vs 12.03 Morph 2
Height to seat joint, high rider: 23.67 inches (.4 inches higher than Morph 2)
Seat height delta: 13.84 inches (2.63 more than Morph 2...very important for low CG in low rider)
Eye height delta: 16.21 inches (extra is due to change in seat back tilt?)

These are the measurements for Morph 2. Note that Morph 2 doesn't have the automatic seat adjustment system, and that it doesn't come down as far.

All of these dimensions and angles look good. Nice drawings, Alan. Very clear and simple.

PDF: Morph 4 Dimensions Compared to Morph 2

[From Alan Ball: January 12, 2010]

A while ago you requested some orthographic views with key dimensions called out for the M4. Check out the drawing I have attached here. Is this what you had in mind?

For comparison , I have included a drawing of the M2 geometry, which I documented in CAD and was measured and confirmed against M2. As you can see, the basic dimensions are almost the same, with differences occurring due to M4 greater range of morphing motion.

Do You Love Seeing the Details?: Two Years of Morphing Handcycle Photos and Videos Examine Every Moment, Every Measurement

CONFUSION ALERT! What looks like image galleries below are really SCREEN GRABS of the Picasa Web Albums galleries! So no, you can't click on the little images to see it bigger. Instead, you need to click on the ORANGE links to see Picasa Web Album it is associated with (and alas doesn't go to if you click on the photo itself!

Note: When you play a video, you can choose "View HQ Video" on the upper right of the screen. This will make all subsequent videos at the higher (much better!) resolution. The original videos were shot at 800x600 with a Panasonic TZ1 camera, and later videos are shot at 1200x800 with a Panasonic TZ5 camera. Find this video to learn why popcorn is so important to the Morphing Handcycle project.

Morph HC Online Sketch Session with Rory McCarthy and Alan Ball - We Start Curvy and Go Straight.

We started the session by looking at the issue of curved vs. straight tubes. Alan turned on the layer that shows where the main joints are.

Just in case you want some dimensions and angles.

Curvy Morph in upright mode. Bill expresses concerns about curved tubes. One concern is how it looks...not as angular as our earlier designs, and also the difficulty in fabrication. Discussion moves to what would a design with straight tubes look like. Alan made some screen captures and we did some overlay drawings.

Here we straighten some of the tubes.

Now the upper tube has once joint, rather than two.

Lower member also now has one joint.

Now we look at straightening the main tube. But it bangs into the seat, which can change angles.

Now the main straight tube is below the seat joints.

Adding the gusset tube to the head tube.

Another design for the main tube. One little weld, and then it hits the head tube in the middle.

How it looks in low rider mode.

Now exploring how to make the members look good in low rider. Want them to be parallel.

The upper, blue member now has an angle that causes the tube to be parallel to the green one on the bottom.

Same design in high rider mode.

We discussed that there are 6 places where we have a fork. (oh my!). Need to figure out something that is lightweight, low cost, and looks good, and then gets repeated six times.

The center upper drawing shows a very short fork at #6.

We agreed that Alan should take another pass at the frame design, and we'll get back on the phone to refine further. Note that the initial curvy frame that he designed was about 3 hours of work! We are getting very fast at being able to make new morph designs in very minimal time.

Next Morph - 3D Model showing 5'2" and 6'2" Riders

We're just starting to look at different size riders for the Morph Out design. The 3D model below shows two rider sizes, 5'2" and 6'2", in low and high rider positions. Notice, for example, the position of the feet relative to the front wheel, and of the hands relative to the pedals. The bike is set for the larger rider.

The Solidworks e-Drawings file lets you see this vehicle in 3D, and also choose the configuration you wish to view (lower left of display). Get the free e-Drawings viewer here, and try it out!


Just Like Your Teacher Told You, Geometry is Important -- A Detailed Look at the Geometry of the Next Morph

This Powerpoint presentation reviews today's online design session with Alan Ball, Rory McCarthy, and Bill Warner. The goal is to nail down the geometry of the morphing mechanism in stick figure, and then proceed with some basic frame design.
 
Now that we've got two morphing vehicles on the road, the benefits of the Morph II design are easy to see. It has excellent steering geometry in low rider and high rider modes. Mainly, we need to fix the issue that we can't adjust the seat angle, and the struts provided on Morph II turned out to be an unworkable solution due to the high forces that travel through those struts while you are sitting, and even higher forces while you are riding.
 
This presentation compares Morph II, the Bobby Hall, and a proposed new design, which essentially keeps the Morph II morphing frame, but allows it to morph through its full travel. Next will the the challenge of designing a seat that allows the proper adjustments.

bobby hall handcycle compared to morph 2 and proposed morph out

I would like to establish the desired dimensions for the next version of the Morph hand-cycle, called "Morph Out". It seems like the dimensions embodied in Morph 2 work better than the dimensions of Morph 3, particularly in regard to ease of turning and "float". Morph 3 is superior in that the low position is lower than m2, and the frame is significantly lighter.
 
As a goal for Morph Out in the low position, it should match the geometry of the Bobby hall hand-cycle. In the high position it should be as high as Morph 2 high position.
 
What follows is a pdf comparison of these different layouts, and proposed layouts for Morph Out. Please comment.
 
Al