Scaling Greenfoot Africa's Zelo electric cargo tricycles by creating and testing a system that could safely support a large bike frame jig, rotate 360- degrees, and lock at different angles to make the bike welding process safer and more streamlined.
D-Lab class
Design for Scale 2025
Community partners
- Greenfoot Africa: Worked with: Johnson Jaka and Erick Kuley
Country
Tanzania
Team
- Qiana Felician, 2027. Qiana is a third-year undergraduate student at MIT studying Mechanical Engineering and Management.
- Walter Woo, HKS MPA, 2026. Walter is a graduate student at Harvard obtaining a Masters in Public Administration.
- Serena Sara, 2027. Serena is a third-year undergraduate student at MIT studying Mechanical Engineering and Design.
- Peter Zhao, Harvard GSD MDE 2027. Peter is a first-year graduate student at Harvard majoring in Design Engineering.
Project/product description
Arusha, Tanzania is a city of around 600,000 people, a major diplomatic hub, and close to notable geographic sites like Serengeti National Park and Mount Kilimanjaro. Not as dense as after African major cities, Arusha is home to many small-medium businesses. As the population and economy grows, the need to service the transportation of goods increases. Greenfoot Africa is seeking to address this growing demand. Because of the dispersed nature outside of the city center and the relative accessibility of components, Greenfoot Africa is able to produce and maintain e-bikes locally.
Currently, alternative logistics solutions include larger trucks, gas-powered motorcycles, and hand-carrying items. An e-bike is an elegant solution because it has a lower cost of operation than trucks or motorcycles. It is cheaper to expand the number of e-bikes versus trucks or motorcycles. It has a higher carrying capacity than hand-carrying and motorcycles. A standardized e-bike platform with an integrated software solution provides a more robust logistics capacity in Arusha than compared to other competitors.
Our final prototype tests out the concept of a rotisserie-style jig frame mount that is able to hold up and rotate Greenfoot Africa’s proposed jig designs. Using two engine stands, this product enables more efficiency in welding without having the welder weld in uncomfortable positions.
The design of the engine stands allows for a variable length of the jig frame and can sufficiently hold up the weight of a steel jig and the steel frame of the bike. The height of the engine stand enables complete rotation of a standing bike.
We are taking the engine stands to Greenfoot Africa in Tanzania to allow for integration into their current processes.
Contact
Heewon Lee, MIT D-Lab Lecturer and Research Associate
