Do you ever find yourself hitting the snooze button over and
over, and then wishing you could fly or had roller skates for feet so you could
make it to class on time? James Yao, a first year Visual Arts major, solved
this problem by building an electric bike.
Yao came to UC San Diego to build his bike.
“I’ve been wanting to do this for awhile, ever since I first
saw electric bikes in my junior year of high school,” said Yao. “I designed the
bike over the summer but I didn’t have the time or money to hire someone to
machine the parts. My top two choices for schools were the University of
Washington or UC San Diego, but my design wasn’t good for the rainy weather.”
When Yao arrived at UC San Diego, he asked his orientation
leader about resources for makers on campus and heard about EnVision. When he
saw the photos of the space on the website, he knew he could finish the
project.
Yao used the 3D printers to prototype brackets for mounting
his electric motor and the soldering stations to build the electronics.
According to Yao, the 3D printers provided the biggest
benefit. “At first, my design didn’t work – the bracket wasn’t strong enough,”
said Yao. “I was able to iterate on the design by printing versions.”
Yao’s bike goes up to 25 mph, which helps him get from
Warren to his 8:00 a.m. class on the other side of Peterson Hill! Jealous? Who
knows, maybe he’ll help you build one!
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