Bicycle-powered attachments : designing for developing countries

There are 550 million smallholder farmers around the world who earn less than $1/day who could benefit from pedal-powered attachments. This project discusses factors to consider in designing for developing countries and highlights experimental methods that help to optimize the power transmission of bicycle attachments. In comparing power transmission through three main modes off of bicycles, via chain drive and friction drive, this thesis proposes recommendations for design in developing countries, including the advantages of chain-driven attachments and considerations necessary for successful implementation.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Author dc:creator

• Wu, Jodie (Jodie Z.)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• David Gordon Wilson.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/54536

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/54536