POJECT SUMMARY
March-September 2019
Build your own SUB, recycle 43 bottles, and practice this amazing sport! This design is a collaboration with Alvaro Chang Say (Industrial designer). The project had as its goal to design a SUP made of plastic bottles that could be easily assembled and be as hydrodynamic as possible. We are currently looking for a sponsor to fund the plywood structure to make it accessible to low-income communities
DESIGN PROCESS
The first thing we defined was how the bottles would be assembled to the plywood structure. Then we defined the general SUP shape, selected the bottles that would be needed to achieve the shape, measured them and drew each piece of the structure in AutoCAD. Then we used a CNC to cut the plywood structure and finally assembled it all.
BACKGROUND RESEARCH
PE Stand Up Paddles
PROS: Hydynamic & lightweight
CONS: Shaping surfboards leaves a lot dust, toxic when inhaled
Classic SUPs are made from EPS foam, a non recyclable, highly pollutant material
Chemical resins used for coating the foam
Existing Recycled SUP's
PROS: Made with recycled materials
CONS: Don't have convex bottom (like classic SUPs)
Still need some sort of glue to connect the bottles with each other
STARTING WITH THE DETAILS
Bottle Assembly Mechanism
The mechanism we ideated to connect the bottles together took advantage of the screwing bottle cap. It consisted of two parts; a wooden structure and the bottles. We designed circular perforations in the wood structure considering that when capping the bottle it would fasten with the structure and at the same time, keep its usual airtight seal preventing water from filling it.
STRUCTURE
Plywood Body
After defining how the bottles would be held together, we started brainstorming how to attach the plywood strips with each other. First, we did calculations on how many bottles would be needed to achieve floatability. Then chose the bottles we would use and how to arrange them to acheve the mos hydrodynamic design possible
We chose to use a crosslap joint design and made 3D models to see how the whole structure would assemble.
CLOSEUPS
How some parts of the SUB are assembled and how they work
Structure and deck before assembly
Assembly of the structure to the deck
Casting the molds [without a light bulb] for the first prototype
Slot fot carrying the SUB
BLUEPRINTS
Blueprints for CNC milling
Then, the pieces were cut from one and a half plywood sheets.
ADDITIONAL COMPONENTS
Paddle Design
To achieve the best paddle we referenced an already existing paddle to achieve the best performance possible
First we studied the shape of several paddles and chose the one that could be better adapted to be made out of wood
Then we created sketches referencind the rape and angles of the existing paddle
Fin Design
For the fin, we did the same plus we adjusted it to fit in the plywood structure with the cross lap joint
TESTING
We tested the SUB on the sea. It floats really well (tested with 80kg)
The fin should be longer for improved direction, or two secondary fins could be attached
Me and Alvaro Chang Say with our creation before testing
Testing floatability without a user
User testing
