2022
3 Weeks
Dezeen x Arrival Future Mobility Competition
Solo Project
3 Weeks
Dezeen x Arrival Future Mobility Competition
Solo Project
Omni-directional steering.
Designed for smart-phone navigation.
Designed for smart-phone navigation.
Electric scooters are often the preferred mode for last mile transportation because they cover short-to-medium distances in busy London city streets. However, a common problem riders face is the dreadful scooter ‘lift’ when manoeuvring to the sides or turning around while navigating potholes, crowds or heavy traffic. Currently, people can choose to carry and re-orient the scooter or make a significant detour, which can sour the riding experience since momentum is broken.
Smart phones are essential for urban navigation. While riders can mount their phones on scooters’ handlebars, majority of designs fail to consider how people’s phone get juiced while they travel around. Most phone mounts do not secure both the phone and the power bank and hence people have to rely on hacks to hold both items securely while they ride. Without a connected power bank, this can be problem when people traverse a foreign environment as they would typically run navigation applications longer and this drains the phone’s battery.
Omni is an electric-scooter which can travel freely and swiftly in any direction thanks to 2 independent, ball wheels with integrated motors. The primary benefit of ball wheels is that they can turn in multiple directions when driven on different axes, thus improving manoeuvrability. Riders can now steer Omni side and backwards as well as rotate on the spot with relative ease. This would be beneficial when navigating tight spaces and suggests new modes of steering; for example, Omni can be steered to mimic tank or crab movements.
Omni’s cockpit clearly displays 4 buttons which represent the drive direction: forward, back, left and right. Information such as speed, battery life and Bluetooth connectivity can be easily reference from the LCD screen once the prominent, power button is pushed. The brake and integrated phone mount sit comfortably on each side of the handlebars respectively. A USB-C port affords phone charging via the cockpit’s in-built power bank. This ensures that the rider’s phone never runs out of juice.
At the front, 2 powerful headlights, positioned strategically into the cockpit and above the front wheel, illuminate the space ahead and guarantee visibility during low or no light conditions.
At the back, Omni’s kickstand doubles as a reflector to keep vehicle visibility high; the reflector is intentionally positioned sub-flushed to the kickstand so that it stays clean and unscratched.
As people reach their destinations, Omni can be folded for portability and storage. Omni’s telescopic arms can be adjusted before the front is pivoted backwards along 2 rail structures to reduce footprint.
Awards
Status Pending
Dezeen x Arrival Future Mobility Competition, 2022
Dezeen x Arrival Future Mobility Competition, 2022