Background

A personal mobility e-vehicle is a compact electric-powered vehicle for one person with a small amount of luggage. A personal mobility e-vehicles can have one or more wheels and can reach a modest speed of between 6 and 25 km/h for a limited range. Personal mobility e-vehicles include electric skateboards, kick-scooters, self-balancing uni-cycles and Segways. Note that electric bicycles, electric motorcycles, and 3 or 4-wheel mobility aids (for seater riders) are not classified as personal mobility e-vehicles. Personal mobility e-vehicle have risen in popularity in the twenty-first century as batteries improved and people sought out alternatives to driving cars in cities.
 

The design brief

Design a personal mobility e-vehicle for the local transportation within urban areas of one adult and luggage. The personal mobility e-vehicle may be used for commuting, for shopping, for leisure, or any activities that you choose. Your personal mobility e-vehicle must be electric powered, sustainable with modest energy demands, and must prioritise the safety of the rider and other roads users. Consider the e-vehicle’s means of propulsion, its controls and navigation system, cargo hold, and other parts. Build a small-scale model of your personal mobility e-vehicle to show your design solution to your fellow students and teachers. Alternatively, you may build a computer-aided design (CAD) model of your design concept, if you prefer. Work on this project in a team with a group of your classmates.
 

​​​​​The design thinking process

Follow the six stages of the design thinking process to ensure that you are thorough and do everything necessary to succeed in your design project. First, you endeavour to understand the design topic and EMPATHISE with the needs of the users. With that understanding, you can DEFINE what is essential to the product or system that you are designing. Then you IDEATE, that is, you creatively come up with ideas and develop them. The next step is to PROTOTYPE your chosen design solution in a physical form and improve it through trial-and-error. Then you TEST your design idea to elicit the opinions of users. And finally, at the end of the process, you REFLECT upon your project to benefit from the experience. Use the appropriate methods from the Design Thinking for Schools website as you proceed along the design thinking process.
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Note for teachers

Undertaking a student design project using electrical parts or microcontrollers such as Arduino requires:

• teachers who are able to supervise such a project;
• laboratories or workshops with electrical and electronic parts and tools;
• ​​​​​​​and students who are trained to work with electricity, tools, and equipment.

Read the guide for teachers on Safety for the PROTOTYPE Stage for Level IV to safely supervise this design project.