Design Project List

2000 Dr. Donald L. Goddard PhD PE

The following list of design project ideas is copyrighted by Dr. Donald L. Goddard. Academic use
of these project ideas is encouraged provided appropriate credit is given. Incorporation into other
acadmeic works can be arranged. Acknowledgement is due to Dr. Sumon Sinha for contributing
the basic ideas for 2 landing gear projects and the slat retractor project.
Adjustable Car Door Hinge System...........................................2
Curb Climber Attachment for Wheelchair.................................8
Adjustable Glasses Frames .........................................................3
Disassemblable Gun Safe.............................................................8
Adjustable Wrench ......................................................................3
Disk Type Parking Brake for Automobiles................................8
Adult Tricycle................................................................................3
Doggie Doo Disposer (Portable Pooch Poop Packer).............8
Air Cannon.....................................................................................3
Electric Car Air Conditioner.........................................................8
Amphibious All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) Adaptations..............3
Electric Dog Brush for Shedding Dogs .....................................9
Amphibious Recreational Vehicle Adaptations.......................3
Electric Jack....................................................................................9
Angle Head Drive for Power Screwdriver or Drill ....................4
Electric Lawn Mower Mechanism..............................................9
Arbalest or Ballista .......................................................................4
Electric Winch Mounting & Power System..............................9
Automatic Hitch Pin .....................................................................4
Electric Winch Snowplow Lift Attachment...............................9
Automatic Rifle Bolt Handle........................................................4
Electrical Jacket .............................................................................9
Automobile Brake Augmentation...............................................4
Energy Storage System for a Human Powered Vehicle ...........9
Automobile Stacker......................................................................4
Engine Crane..................................................................................9
Automotive Baby Restraint for Breast Feeding.......................4
Engine Starter................................................................................9
Axle conversion for "Free-Wheel-Towing" of Car..................4
Flagpole, Antenna Mast or Bird House Support .....................9
Back-Hoe Bucket Ejector.............................................................4
Fluorescent Light Installer.........................................................10
Ballistic Coefficient Calculator For firearms hobbyists ...........5
Folding Bicycle............................................................................10
Battering Ram Resistant Door.....................................................5
Folding Components for a Bicycle ...........................................10
Bed Warmer...................................................................................5
Folding Motorcycle or Bicycle Helmet....................................10
Belt Drive for Mower-Tractor......................................................5
Freeze Proof Water Piping.........................................................10
Bi-directional Lock Mechanism..................................................5
Functional Shutters for Hurricane Force Winds....................10
Bicycle Crank to Shaft Attachment............................................5
Garage Door Balancer Take-Up Reel........................................10
Bicycle Drive Train .......................................................................5
Gas Spring Replacement for "Hatch Back" Cars ....................10
Bicycle Headlight Powered by Gas Light..................................5
Gear Box for an Escalator...........................................................10
Bicycle High Pressure Vulcanizing.............................................5
Generator Exhaust Heat Exchanger..........................................10
Bicycle Lock System.....................................................................5
Geneva Mechanism....................................................................11
Bicycle Transmission Design......................................................6
Grinder Head With Minimal Interference ................................11
Blowgun Dart for Fishing ............................................................6
Ground Effect Assisted Suspension........................................11
Blowgun-Rifle ................................................................................6
Ground Grabber for Vehicle Winch..........................................11
Blowgun Shooting Gallery...........................................................6
Gun Display Case and Safe .......................................................11
Boat Air Bags to Restore Buoyancy..........................................6
Hand Installed Sights for Rifles ................................................11
Boat Tiller Holding Device ..........................................................6
Height Controlled Toilet ............................................................11
Boat Trailer with Buoyancy.........................................................6
High Powered Rifle Bullet Stop.................................................11
Boat Trailer with Extendible Tongue..........................................6
High Pressure Hand Pump for Airguns...................................11
Boat Trailer with Winch-Out Capability....................................6
House Elevation System............................................................11
Bottoming Rollers for RVs..........................................................6
Home Hydro Therapy Tank.......................................................11
Breath Heat Exchanger for Winter Camping.............................6
House Support Brackets ............................................................12
Built in Boat Propulsion...............................................................7
Hunter's Hoist..............................................................................12
Bungee Descent System..............................................................7
Hunter's Transport, Plus............................................................12
Cable Bridge...................................................................................7
Hunter's Tree Stand....................................................................12
Cable-in-Sheath Lube Injector....................................................7
Ice Chest That Folds ..................................................................12
Can Crusher...................................................................................7
Landing Gear Retraction Modification ....................................12
Car Side Bumpers ..........................................................................7
Landing Gear for Light Plane.....................................................12
Cellar Door Counter Balance Mechanism.................................7
Laser Grenade..............................................................................12
Centrifugal Clutch Design ...........................................................7
Lawn Mower Automated to Cut Runway or Fairway............12
Chair for Heavy Persons..............................................................7
Lightweight Rental Trailer.........................................................12
Chamber Block for Guns ..............................................................7
Linkage compounded Come-Along .........................................13
Chimney Assist for Wood Stoves .............................................8
Linkage Type Boat Lifter Trailer...............................................13
Cold Weather Chimney................................................................8
Low Frequency "Rocking Chair" Mechanism........................13
Compost Agitator and Aerator...................................................8
Lug Nut Lock Remover..............................................................13
Constant Force Load Binder.......................................................8
Magician's Stage Gun.................................................................13
Crosswind Anemometer for Shooting .......................................8
Manual Automotive Window Mechanism.............................13
Page 1 of 24

Manual Elevator Positioner Escape Mechanism....................13

Measuring Dispenser for Spices and Condiments ...............13
Mechanical Wood Splitter.........................................................13
Mechanics Wrenches Improvements ......................................13
Mine Sweeper..............................................................................14
Motor Home Boat AND Car Trailer..........................................14
Motorcycle Shoulder Helmet ....................................................14
Multi-Amperage 220 V Outlet ...................................................14
Multi-Pulley, Rapid Rigging Block...........................................14
No Fizz Loss Pop Bottle .............................................................14
Non-Clogging Gutter System....................................................14
Off Road Vehicle Bumper...........................................................14
Oven Racks that Move ..............................................................14
Patio Crane for Patio Apartments .............................................14
People Balancer...........................................................................14
Pipe Crawler.................................................................................14
Pneumatic Winch System..........................................................15
Pocket Container.........................................................................15
Porch Roof for Hurricanes .........................................................15
Portable "Crate" Handler...........................................................15
Portable Allergy Air Filter..........................................................15
Portable Paper Towel Dispenser...............................................15
Portable Pocket Sized Bidet.......................................................15
Power Boot Scraper....................................................................15
Power Steering System Trim Mechanism................................15
Pregnancy Support .....................................................................16
Prestressed Concrete Post Casting System............................16
Pruning Pole Improvements ......................................................16
Pump Handle Linkage.................................................................16
Quick Detachable Lawn Mower Blade.....................................16
Re-greaseable Front Hub Design .............................................16
Recliner Rocker Mechanism......................................................16
Reloading Sizing Die...................................................................16
Remotely Piloted Vehicle (RPV) Recovery System................17
Retirement Community Vehicle .................................................17
Rifle Bipod with Adjustment for Height and Tilt ...................17
Rifle Magazine.............................................................................17
Rifle Rear Sight............................................................................17
Rifle Trigger Mechanism............................................................17
Rigid Forend for a Pump Action Rifle ......................................17
Roof Workers Crane...................................................................17
Rotating Seal for Space Station................................................17
Runaway Wind Turbine Emergency Stopping System.........18
Safe Tent Heater..........................................................................18
Safer Oven Door..........................................................................18
Safety Trailer Hitch.....................................................................18
Scooter Luggage.........................................................................18
Sealed Breech Revolver.............................................................18
Seat Belt Snugger........................................................................18
Second Chance Fastener...........................................................18
Safe" Firing Pin Retro-Fit ...........................................................18

Adjustable Car Door Hinge System

A frequent source of complaints and
quality control problems for automobiles
pertains to adjustment of the alignment of

Self-Parking Shower Head .........................................................19

Sewage Check Valve...................................................................19
Shock Absorbing Bicycle Hub .................................................19
Shoe and Boot Dryer..................................................................19
Shopping Cart That Carries Shopper.......................................19
Shuttered Muzzle Brake .............................................................19
Slat Retractor...............................................................................19
Small Engine Reduced Speed Output ......................................19
Snagless Duct Joint....................................................................19
Soft Surface Fastener System...................................................19
Solid Fuel Motor.........................................................................20
Solid Fuel Starter.........................................................................20
Spill-proof Cup ............................................................................20
Stand-up Wheel Chair................................................................20
Steering Angle Indicator............................................................20
Steering Angle Limiter................................................................20
Streamlined Truck Cab Door.....................................................20
Swords to Plowshares Firearm Conversions ..........................20
Table Leg Bracing System.........................................................20
Tail Gate Lift.................................................................................20
Tandem Bicycle in "Tail Gunner" Configuration ...................20
Temperature Moderating Coffee Cup......................................20
Terrorist Resistant Lighting ......................................................21
Theatrical Special Effects and Comedy Devices ....................21
Thermal Activated Clothing......................................................21
Time Capsule and Storage Vault...............................................21
Tire Tread Wear Rate Indicator................................................21
Toilet Paper Roll Launcher........................................................21
Toilet Seat With Height Adjustment .......................................21
Trailer Brakes ...............................................................................21
Trailer Towing System...............................................................21
Transmission Jack Adapter.......................................................22
Trunk Rack...................................................................................22
Tube Squeezer.............................................................................22
Tumble Abrasive Cleaner-Polisher...........................................22
Twistable 4-Wheel Drive Frame................................................22
Two Length, Quick Change, Snow Shovel Handle................22
Un-interruptible Power Supply .................................................22
V-belt Tightener..........................................................................22
Vacuum Chamber for Manufactured Housing........................22
Vacuum Degassing System for Dry-Cleaned Clothes ...........23
Vacuum Drying System..............................................................23
Variable Ground Clearance Suspension ..................................23
Walker with Adjustable Legs....................................................23
Wall Walker.................................................................................23
Water Heater Auxiliary Unit ......................................................23
Wet Toilet Paper Dispenser......................................................23
Window Grating Latch...............................................................23
Windshield Wiper Mechanism.................................................23
Zero External Power, Remote Thermostat System for Heating
Systems ........................................................................................24

the doors. Alignment by clamp bolts

requires special clamping plates, is time
consuming to adjust and is subject to
loosening and slippage. Design a system
of "deformable" hinges and incorporate a
Page 2 of 24

means to deform them or design an

appropriate tool to deform them. The
design must consider all the necessary
positioning of the door and binding of the
hinges.

Adjustable Glasses Frames

When ordinary bifocal or trifocal lenses
are used in glasses, it is necessary to
position the head so that the line of vision
passes through the portion of the lens
which provides the appropriate correction
for the distance to the object to be
examined. For many purposes a
compromise position of the lenses in front
of the eyes can be found. Such a
compromise results in wearers of bifocal
lenses tipping their head back to examine
an object close up in order to use the
lower, close focusing lens. In some
situations such a head back position is
entirely impractical. When working on
certain types of machinery (e. g. under the
instrument panel of an automobile) it is
impossible to get the head into an
appropriate position and tilt it back to use
the close focusing lens. Design a practical
mechanism into a glasses frame which can
be used to shift the lenses so that the
desired focal length portion can be
positioned directly in front of the pupil of
the eye. The mechanism should not be
cumbersome and should not be
esthetically objectionable or obvious. It is
also desirable that the mechanism should
provide precise repeatable positioning, be
simple, be resistant to damage, and should
lend itself to being produced
economically.
Adjustable Wrench
For this project you should assume you
have been commissioned by Niemann
Marcus to design an adjustable wrench
approximately equivalent to an 8 inch
"Crescent Wrench". Your design is to be
superior in every way possible, except
cost is not to be a major concern. Such
features as "corrosion resistant super
alloy" as a material will be considered a
real plus. An easier adjustment
mechanism, a locking adjustment, more
comfortable grip, smaller jaws for tight fits,
etc. should be definite design goals.
Adult Tricycle
Current adult tricycles offer transportation
for only a single occupant. Design an
adult tricycle (or quadracycle) which will
transport two adults, allow both to pedal,
but still be readily usable by a single
occupant. In order to produce a saleable
maintainable design, the design should
utilize standard bicycle or small machinery

components wherever possible. The

design must offer a range of pedaling
ratios such that the lowest gear has at
least 3 times the mechanical advantage of
the highest. A differential mechanism
must be used in the driving axle to give 2
wheel drive, (e.g. a differential axle of a self
propelled lawn mower). Your design
should be as light or lighter than current
designs and support at least a 350 lb.
passenger load. Thorough fatigue
analysis is required for any aluminum
members which support the passengers.
Air Cannon
\For various celebrations, noise making is
considered appropriate. Unfortunately
when fireworks are used there is serious
risk of injury or fire. A suitable (and
impressive) source of explosive noise can
be obtained using compressed air. A two
liter plastic bottle fitted with a tire valve
and pumped up to 100 psi or more can
produce noise equivalent to an "M-80".
Design a "cannon" which produces noise
by the sudden release of compressed air.
The design should provide for pumping
(possibly using a high pressure cycle
pump) and must provide protection from
accidental discharge while pumping when
someone's ear may be close enough to
sustain damage.
Amphibious All Terrain Vehicle (ATV)
Adaptations
Though none have achieved widespread
acceptance, a few amphibious all terrain /
multipurpose vehicles have been built.
These have usually consisted of a car
which "swims" or "flotation collars" fitted
to existing ATV's/. A frequent problem
with land vehicles which "swim" has been
that the term "swim" has been used to
characterize the very marginal propulsion
achieved in water. Special problems result
from, on-land suspension systems which
are subject to damaged by water. Design
suitable mechanisms to accomplish any of
the following: a. Road gear retraction
mechanisms which will allow essentially
standard suspension components to be
used for amphibious application without
suffering from temporary or long term
immersion. Such a design should consider
the necessity of adequate streamlining so
as to prevent unnecessary drag when the
craft is running in water. b. Modify
conventional road gear for use involving
Page 3 of 24

extensive water immersion. Devise

methods sealing drive train components
within a hull while allowing projection of
their ground engaging components.
These approaches must address the
problem that water leakage through seals
must not result in damage to bearings and
other sensitive components. c. Flotation
deployment mechanisms which allow
positioning of flotation components so
that they are out of the way on land yet
provide adequate flotation and stability in
the water. A deployable flotation design
should consider the need to keep land use
suspension components protected and,
must make special allowance for keeping
appropriate trim on the craft fore and aft
since most land vehicle chassis
arrangements have a predominance of
weight at one end or the other. "Out of
the way on land", must be taken to include
the necessary high ground clearance
requirements of ATV's. d. Providing for
propulsion in two different environments
is difficult. It is desirable to utilize a single
"prime mover". Even if two different
systems are used (e. g. conventional land
drive train system and out board motors),
it would be necessary to provide for
deployment of the water propulsion
system after launching. Design a system
for meeting the dual propulsion needs.
Although the above comments mention
pontoon floatation systems consideration
of more conventional hull flotation
systems should not be ignored. An
existing Jeep type vehicle or other land
based ATV might be used for a reference,
an existing amphibious ATV design might
be considered for significant redesign, or a
new amphibious ATV design might be
attempted.
Amphibious Recreational Vehicle
Adaptations
Though none have achieved widespread
acceptance, a few amphibious camper /
recreational vehicles have been built.
These have usually consisted of a travel
trailer / houseboat combination. Special
problems result from the necessity to
provide stable flotation , on road
suspension systems which are not
damaged by water, and propulsion
systems suitable to on land and water
environments. Design suitable
mechanisms to accomplish any of the
following: a. Road gear retraction

mechanisms which will allow essentially

standard suspension components to be
used for amphibious application without
suffering from temporary or long term
immersion. Such a design should consider
the necessity of adequate streamlining so
as to prevent unnecessary drag when the
craft is running in water. c. Pontoon
deployment mechanisms which allow
positioning of pontoons so that they are
out of the way on land yet provide
adequate flotation and stability in the
water. A pontoon design should consider
the need to keep land use suspension
components protected and, if used for
motor homes, must make special allowance
for keeping appropriate trim on the craft
fore and aft since most motor home
chassis arrangements have a
predominance of weight at one end or the
other. d. Providing for propulsion in two
different environments is difficult. It is
desirable to utilize a single "prime mover"
in the case of a motor home. Even if two
different systems are used (e. g.
conventional land drive train system and
out board motors), it would be necessary
to provide for deployment of the water
propulsion system after launching.
Design a system for meeting the dual
propulsion needs. Although the above
comments mention pontoon floatation
systems consideration of more
conventional hull flotation systems
should not be ignored. Some of the
existing houseboat / trailers have used a
hull system.
Angle Head Drive for Power Screwdriver
or Drill
One of the most inconvenient features of
power tools is trying to use them in odd
corners. Design an angle head drive
which can be adjusted for angle. The
mechanism should allow use of a power
screwdriver or drill when the head is offset
at some angle relative to the motor and
main reduction gearing. The angle drive
should occupy a minimum of space.
Arbalest or Ballista
A crossbow is an arbalest but it has the
problem that the bow inconveniently
projects out to the side. One substitute
for the bow is rubber, but this is prone to
force variation with temperature and
deterioration due to rot. Design an

arbalest using a solid spring mechanism

which does not have these difficulties.
Automatic Hitch Pin
When attaching farm equipment to a
tractor's drawbar, difficulty is frequently
encountered, due to rough ground etc.
Stopping the tractor and setting the
brakes with the tractor in the exact right
position so that the operator can dismount
and insert the pin can be difficult and time
consuming. Design an inexpensive device
which can perform the task of inserting
and withdrawing the hitch pin from the
operator's seat. The device can be
inexpensive to mass produce or
inexpensive to "cobble up" from discarded
equipment parts. The specification must
include that this device be resistant to
damage while the tractor is in normal farm
usage.
Automatic Rifle Bolt Handle
Virtually all automatic and semi-automatic
rifle mechanisms provide for direct manual
operation of the breech block so that the
mechanism can be initially loaded,
unloaded and jammed cartridges can be
cleared. The most common approach is to
have a handle connected to the bolt or
carrier projecting outside of the
mechanism. This is simple but results in
rapidly moving parts outside the
mechanism where injury can occur to an
improperly placed hand or other body part
or other items can be hit, broken or
thrown. Guns such as the civilian Colt
and its military counterpart the M-16
accomplish the task by having a handle
which when pulled back will encounter the
bolt carrier and pull it fully back and a
separate handle which will push the carrier
forward by increments. Design a bolt
handle mechanism which will remain
stationary until activated. When activated
it must latch onto the bolt where ever the
bolt is encountered and remain rigidly
attached to the bolt until the bolt is in an
"appropriate" parking location, at which
time it's release is automatic. A large bolt
handle which folds flat would be a
desirable feature.
Automobile Brake Augmentation
Design a system to melt ice or apply a
traction enhancing agent (e.g. sand) in
front of the wheels of an auto when the
brakes are applied.
Page 4 of 24

Automobile Stacker
In urban settings where space is at a
premium, some residents find themselves
with two cars and only one parking space
at the alley. To alleviate this problem,
design a mechanism which will allow one
or both cars to be positioned so that two
cars can be parked in the space normally
required for one. One cars might be raised
off the ground so that another car can be
parked underneath, or both cars might be
"stacked on end" or at an angle. Moving
one car so as to drive the other is
acceptable (as in the case of a 1 lane
driveway), but consideration should be
given to the concern for access to the car
interior, possibilities for using either car
without moving the other, safety, tamper
resistance, etc.
Automotive Baby Restraint for Breast
Feeding
Current baby restraints interfere with the
natural process of breast feeding a baby.
Design a baby restraint which will allow
breast feeding of an infant while keeping
the mother and baby adequately secured.
Existing standards should be used as a
guideline but not be considered absolute
since apparently those who developed the
standard were not particularly sensitive to
the need to maintain this natural activity
of human life.
Axle conversion for "Free-WheelTowing" of Car
Cars are often towed behind motorhomes
or other vehicles on a regular basis.
Design a "locking hub" adaptation for a
car which will allow the car to be towed
without the axles driving the transmission.
Back-Hoe Bucket Ejector
When back-hoes are being used to
excavate sticky soils, much time and
energy are wasted, not to mention wear
and tear on the equipment, trying to get
the bucket to disgorge its load. Design a
mechanism which will eject "sticky" soil
from the back-hoe bucket. Special
consideration must be given to making
sure the system is rugged enough for
general use.

Ballistic Coefficient Calculator For

firearms hobbyists
One of the most important pieces of
information for the performance of their
guns is the ballistic coefficient of the
bullets that they shoot. This piece of
information is often not available in any
easy reliable manner. All of the necessary
parameters for calculating this coefficient
are readily available except the "form
factor". Design a mechanism which will
accurately estimate the form factor or
design a mechanism which will more
directly measure the projectile's air
resistance. Provide a computer program
as well as formulas which will allow the
direct computation of the ballistic
coefficient from measured parameters.
Battering Ram Resistant Door
People living in high crime areas have
cause to be concerned about someone
battering down the door to their house
with a hand held battering ram, (e.g.
violent criminals, misdirected police swat
team, BATF, etc.). Some time advantage is
gained by using a steel door, but most of
these are mounted with conventional
hardware designed to resist more subtle
access attempts such as lock picking.
Rams work on the basis of impact
converting the energy of the ram into high
forces due to the short stopping distance
when the ram hits the door. A highly
elastic or "rubber" door and/or mounting
hardware would present a substantial
improvement in ram resistance. Design a
door to resist such violent attempts at
entry.

yard and garden equipment typically fails

1 or 2 times a season if more than lightly
used. If general references such as
Machinery's Handbook or Mark's
Handbook or specific references such as
design guides from Dayco or Gates rubber
companies are examined and compared to
the yard & garden equipment, the mystery
is solved. Most yard & garden equipment
so severely violates pulley size and back
flex guide lines that one is tempted to
guess that it might have been specifically
designed to destroy v -belts. Examine the
v-belt drive design of a 15+ horse power
yard & garden tractor, identify its weak
points and then redesign the system to
use belts so that they last. Consider the
possibility of clutching belts by moving
major components (e.g. the engine) and be
sure to design the clutching system so
that there will be no creep when the clutch
is released. If reverse is obtained through
the belt drive system it must be able to
function at full power. It should move
load not just reposition the vehicle.
Bi-directional Lock Mechanism
Often when a lock is encountered it is
unclear as to which direction to turn the
mechanism to lock or unlock it. This is
frequently the case on car door locks
which may always turn clockwise or
counter clockwise on some brands and
may always turn toward the free edge door
on others. Devise a lock mechanism
which will always unlock if the key is
turned either way when it is locked and
will also lock if it is unlocked and the key
is turned either way.

Bed Warmer

Bicycle Crank to Shaft Attachment

Due to the controversy over ELF induced

cancer risk, some people are concerned
about exposure to extra low frequency
electromagnetic radiation associated with
close proximity of electric wires.
Furthermore, standard electric blankets
provide no special ability to carry away
moisture from the skin. Design a device to
circulate warmed air under the covers of a
bed. The design must consider quantity
of heat to be delivered, distribution, noise
level, and safety.

Given the importance of minimizing both

radial and axial runout of the chain rings of
derailleur shifted bicycle, current methods
of attachment leave much to be desired.
Special problems exist due to the softness
of cost-effective lightweight alloys.
Design a method of attaching a
lightweight chain ring assembly to the
bicycle crankshaft so that it is both
concentric and square with the shaft. A
superior design will also address the
issues of; tightness of the joint, ease of
disassembly and reassembly, and
repeatability of position of the
reassembled parts.

Belt Drive for Mower-Tractor

V-belt drives on automotive engines
typically last for 50,000 miles or more and
several years whereas v-belt drives on

Page 5 of 24

Bicycle Drive Train

Design a bicycle drive train which
eliminates the maintenance and mess
associated with a chain by eliminating the
chain. Performance must be comparable to
a conventional 18 speed derailleur system.
Bicycle Headlight Powered by Gas Light
Getting a good bright light for riding a
bicycle at night is difficult. Batteries are
heavy and don't last long. Generators
produce drag, wear tires, and produce
weak light at low speed. Both the above
solutions really aren't very bright. Adapt
a gas light, to provide a bright light.
Propane and liquid fuels might both be
considered. Among the primary problems
will be, protection from wind extinguishing
the light, and keeping "g" loadings small
enough if a mantle type lamp is used.
Bicycle High Pressure Vulcanizing
"Hot Patch" Kit Many cyclists no longer
patch their inner tubes after a flat tire.
Many have taken to carrying a spare tube
and simply discarding the old tube which
often has only a tiny thorn puncture. The
reasons given are that: at pressures of 85
to 120 psi or more ordinary patches won't
hold, and patch kits are expensive, heavy,
difficult and time consuming to use. So
called vulcanizing or "hot" patches are
available at about one tenth the cost of a
tube and will hold at pressures far in
excess of ordinary patches. Design a
simple lightweight patch kit for applying
such patches. The kit should contain 2
standard hot patches of commonly
available size and shapes. The entire kit
should be considerably lighter and smaller
than a spare inner tube. The kit should
contain everything needed to perform the
patching especially including reliable
ignition. The kit should be rugged
enough to survive inside a bicycle bag
under rough usage for 2 years. The kit
should be able to sell for a price less than
the cost of 2 new inner tubes. The clamp
used in patching must provide comparable
clamping pressure to existing designs and
withstand the necessary high
temperatures without damage.
Bicycle Lock System
Stolen or stripped bicycles are a major
problem for cyclists. Adequate locks
leave much to be desired in convenience
and weight. Design a lock system (add on

or built in) which secures the wheels to

the frame and fork, and allows for easy
attachment of the bicycle to some
substantial item (phone pole etc.)
Consideration should be given to lock
pins passing through frame members, etc.
for built in designs. Passing cables,
chains etc through the spokes of the
wheels is not to be considered sufficiently
convenient. Desirable features would
include locking the crankset to the frame
and preventing rotation of crankset, and
wheels .

break, or pop etc.) when hit. The devices

must be able to be practically and safely
serviced by low skilled operators. There is
need to retain the ability of the darts to
stick in a target for scoring purposes.
There is need to provide mounting for the
blowguns which will allow them to be
naturally used without making it possible
for some person of little or impaired
judgement to dart someone's buttocks as a
joke, not realizing the seriousness of the
device.
Boat Air Bags to Restore Buoyancy

Bicycle Transmission Design

A blowgun has an interesting potential for

the hunting of small game. In order to add
fish to the list of possible game, devise a
blowgun dart which will stick securely in a
fish, and provide inflation to cause the
fish to float. Consideration should be
given to making this a suitable survival
tool, size, weight and shelf life will be
important factors.

Some boats can fairly readily be made to

float even when swamped by the addition
of flotation. For others, particularly
ballasted sailing craft, this safety feature is
impractical. Design an "air bag" system
which can be installed within the hull of
such craft which can inflate and provide
adequate buoyancy by filling areas within
the boat which are normally required for
other use. Aspects to consider should
include: manual actuation, emergency
manual inflation, automatic inflation if the
boat submerges to a specific depth, the
hazard of injuring or trapping someone
below decks, optimum pressure for the
inflation tank or inflation device.

Blowgun-Rifle

Boat Tiller Holding Device

The blowgun is a simple and effective

device for shooting darts, but could be
improved so as to make it an even more
practical device for dispatching garden
pests, rats, squirrels, rabbits, birds etc..
The practical accuracy of a blowgun is
largely limited by the lack of sights, a
steady grip and a means for closely
regulating the amount of air pressure
used. Design a blowgun-rifle which
addresses these and possibly other
concerns of range and accuracy.

To Aid Tacking In small sailboats, the

operator typically holds the tiller (control
handle for the rudder) and the mainsheet
(rope which controls the main sail). When
tacking, (a zigzag course which allows
progress into the wind) it is necessary to
shift sides of the boat, avoid being hit by
the boom on the bottom of the sail, and
swap hands. This process could be
greatly aided if the tiller could be
momentarily held as the process is carried
out. Design such a tiller holder.

Blowgun Shooting Gallery

Boat Trailer with Buoyancy

The blowgun is a low cost simple

projectile device which is surprisingly
easy to use with acceptable accuracy. As
such, it lends itself to use as an
entertainment device in a carnival midway
game. The device also has certain
associated risks since it is fundamentally a
weapon. Design a carnival shooting
gallery or major components for such a
gallery. Consideration should be given to
realistic moving targets which are self
indicating (e.g. the target should fall,

Boat launching ramps utilize the concept

of running the trailer into the water until
buoyancy of the boat assists launching or
removal of the boat from the water. When
the tow vehicle attempts to pull the trailer
and boat out (a sometimes difficult or
impossible task) the principle of an incline
is being used to lift the load. Design a
trailer which circumvents this process to a
degree by increasing the buoyancy of the
trailer. Consider the possibility of inflating

a continuously variable transmission for

use on a bicycle. The transmission must
have comparable weight and ratios to a
conventional 18 speed derailleur system.
Blowgun Dart for Fishing

Page 6 of 24

buoyant bladders from the exhaust of the

vehicle or with stored or pumped air.
Boat Trailer with Extendible Tongue
When launching small boats, the driver of
the tow vehicle often has great worry
about exposing the vehicle to the effects
of the water. Design an extendible trailer
tongue which will allow the boat trailer to
be much farther behind the tow vehicle
when launching as compared to towing on
the road. Consideration must be given to:
the balance of the loaded trailer and
tongue load, attachment of a tongue
jack, safety of the system with respect to
accidental extension while towing.
Boat Trailer with Winch-Out Capability.
A major problem for recreational boaters is
pulling their boat out of the water at a
typical boat launching ramp. Wet tires
and slippery surfaces combined with
breaking surface adhesion of the load and
lifting the weight of the trailer and boat
combine to make a situation where the tow
vehicle can be easily damaged. Most boat
trailers are equipped with a winch to load
the boat on the trailer. Design a scheme
which will allow the same winch to be
used to pull the tow vehicle boat and
trailer up the ramp for the initial difficult
distance.
Bottoming Rollers for RVs
Because of the long overhang behind the
rear axle on camping trailers and
motorhomes, problems of bottoming can
occur when the vehicle encounters a dip
or ramp. To avoid solidly hanging the
vehicle, small sturdy rollers are sometimes
put on the frame to allow the frame to roll
off of the impediment rather than suffer
the damage associated with being dragged
or worse yet, digging in if the vehicle is
traveling backwards. Unfortunately such
rollers tend to be quite rigid and can result
in large impact forces to the frame. Design
rollers which incorporate a spring element
to lessen impact.
Breath Heat Exchanger for Winter
Camping
When camping in the winter many people
cannot remain warm enough because even
if their sleeping bag provides perfect
insulation, the loss of heat through
breathing cold air is more than their
metabolism will make up while sleeping.

Design a suitable sleeping bag heat

exchanger for breathing while backpack
camping during the winter. High
importance should be given to light
weight and compactness while being
carried. Attention should be paid to
stoppage from frost accumulation,
moisture drainage, resistance to
interference while turning during sleep,
and possible suffocation hazard.

establish a bridge for vehicles where none

exists. One method of doing this can be to
string cables across the obstacle and use
some sort of pulley attached in place of or
with the wheels of the vehicle. Propulsion
then becomes a problem as the vehicle
attempts to climb the cable sag. Devise
such a bridge system giving special
attention to load capacity and the drive
system which allows the vehicle to travel
the bridge.

Built in Boat Propulsion

Small sail boats must be moved out from
the dock into the wind. Since such boats
often lack a motor, the usual method
involves a paddle or oars. Once under
way the oars or paddle can readily become
an obstacle and an annoyance. Design a
system which can be built into the boat to
provide adequate propulsion for putting
out and docking small sail boats.
Consideration should be given to: the
system should not result in significant
drag when under sail, a pump installed in
a tube to provide a propelling jet of water,
a folding propeller system, the need for
fore and aft propulsion.

Cable-in-Sheath Lube Injector

Bungee Descent System

Can Crusher

In order to make rapid descent from a

helicopter to the ground when there is
insufficient space the military has
developed means of repelling down ropes.
This system works but has problems with
speed safety and required skill levels.
Design a system which could be
considered for civilian and/or military
applications which would allow the
user/load to "Bungee" down to the
ground. The objective is to have a system
in which the payload/user can be dropped
at the end of an elastic rope so that the
velocity is essentially zero as the
load/user reaches ground level. For the
military this might have the added
advantage of the user being able to make a
last second change of mind followed by a
rapid exit. Special consideration should be
given to gauging distance to ground,
getting the proper elasticity in the bungee,
helicopter rise when load is released,
automatic release mechanisms for loads as
they reach ground level, deceleration of
the bungee during snap back, etc.

Many simple can crushers have been

marketed. Virtually all have some sort of
crude slider mechanism which tends to
bind, accumulate residue from the cans,
and, if lubricated, spread grease in
undesired places. Using the principles of
kinematics, design a can crusher based on
a "straight-line" mechanism with pin type
joints. The mechanism should be
optimized in some manner to give high
mechanical advantage in the first stage of
the stroke when the can walls must be
buckled and high mechanical advantage
during the final stage of the stroke as the
can becomes compact.

Cable Bridge
In emergencies, natural disasters and
military operations, it is often necessary to

Certain control cables on cars (such as

parking brake cables) or bicycles often fail
due to lack of lubrication. These cables
fail at locations where they pass through
guide sheaths which become dry or rusty
inside and abrasion weakens the cable
until it breaks. These cables and their
sheaths are often permanent assemblies
which require extensive disassembly to
lubricate. Devise a system of lubricating
such cables (preferably grease) in place so
as to reduce the lubrication time from on
the order of an hour to the order of
minutes.

Car Side Bumpers

This has been a logical idea for decades
but has never been successfully sold to
the motoring public. Assuming that such
a system could be successfully marketed,
design a system of side bumpers which
deals with the difficulties of getting past
the doors and wheel wells of an
automobile. This might be best done for a
specific vehicle. Consider the possibility
of a niche market for such an item with offroad vehicles.
Page 7 of 24

Cellar Door Counter Balance Mechanism

Unlike ordinary doors to access a
building, an outside cellar door is
sometimes used to cover an outdoor cellar
stairway entrance. Such a door is often
placed at an angle of around 30 degrees
from the horizontal and opens essentially
upward. Because of the direction of
opening, it is desirable to have a
counterbalancing mechanism. Such a
mechanism must take into consideration
space limitations and dynamic effects,
(e.g. a spring which might fling the door
open would be unacceptable). Design and
analyze a suitable door mechanism.
Centrifugal Clutch Design
a centrifugal clutch for a moped or
scooter. Be prepared to show that your
design has improvements over existing
devices.
Chair for Heavy Persons
People who weigh more than the average
person, often break normal chairs, either
by causing earlier deterioration of joints
and members or more dangerously by
sudden catastrophic failure. Persons of
considerable weight (100 kg.+) may also
have need of other special features such
as a large chair with no arms or arms which
they won't become wedged between, and
a chair which it is easy to get on and off
of. Simply taking existing chair designs
and reinforcing them may result in
excessively heavy or esthetically
offensive designs. Design a chair for
heavy people which is light weight, stable,
strong and convenient. Careful stress
analysis is crucial to a proper design.
Chamber Block for Guns
One way to assure safety of a firearm is to
block the chamber so that no cartridges
can be loaded into the chamb er. At gun
shows accidents have occurred due to
careless individuals "testing the feeding
mechanism" and more sinisterly by
irresponsible "anti-gun terrorists" loading
the guns in hopes of producing a
dangerous incident. Such chamber blocks
would be undesirable if they prevented
examination of the gun bore. A highly
desirable feature would be to permit the
passage of light, or transparency of the
block. It would also be required that the
block not be damaging to the bore, either
mechanically, chemically or by trapping

damaging substances. A cheap, "few

sizes fits all" device of this sort should be
the objective.

and weight driven systems with

escapements should be investigated as
possibilities.

Chimney Assist for Wood Stoves

Constant Force Load Binder

Many chimneys used with wood stoves

are poorly configured, causing the smoke
to come back down to the ground before it
adequately dispersed. This results in
considerable annoyance to neighbors.
Design a low initial cost, easy to install
device which will reduce smoke return to
the ground. Consider that in many cases
the chimneys are not high enough to draw
well, and roof interference is often the
cause for the smoke stream's return to the
ground. Another cause to be considered
is the downwind low pressure along the
chimney, which can pull the smoke down
the side of the pipe.

Load binders are used to tighten chains,

cables or ropes around loads on trucks,
trailers and train cars to keep the load
secure. Usually there is some settling of
the load which causes the restraints to
come loose. Design a load binder that will
take up the slack in the restraint without
substantial reduction in tension. Consider
the possibilities of take-up mechanisms
built into the vehicle as well as take-up
mechanisms built into more conventional
load binder devices. Be sure to consider
how the load binder system is to be
tightened up so as to avoid excessive time
in applying the load binders.

Cold Weather Chimney

Crosswind Anemometer for Shooting

Modern chimneys are commonly made of

galvanized and/or stainless steel with
some insulation. Such chimneys, when
used in cold climates, tend to suffer from
condensation of the water vapor which
results from the combustion of the fuel.
The condensed water, which often
contains other contaminants, then drips
back down the chimney until it finds a leak
path or returns to the combustion chamber
where it accelerates corrosion of the
system. Design a chimney which avoids
condensation problems or deals with them
successfu lly. Thermal expansion must be
accommodated in the joints as well as high
temperature structural stability in case of
excessive exhaust gas temperatures. Exit
condensation is a concern which must
also be dealt with since the nature of ice
formations there can obstruct the
chimney.

Range Judging the "crosswind

component" of the wind is a skill which
target shooters need to develop. As an
aid to this, design a simple calibrated
mechanism which will measure the
component of wind velocity across an
outdoor rifle or archery range. The
mechanism should be simple to build if
intended for user fabrication or simple to
install if intended for commercial
fabrication. It should accommodate easy
repair or considerable damage tolerance to
account for being hit by stray projectiles.

Compost Agitator and Aerator

Home gardeners often like to use
homemade organic compost. The most
difficult part of making good compost can
be turning the compost pile in order to
aerate the pile to promote complete and
proper decomposition by aerobic bacteria.
Design a system, correctly scaled for
home garden use, to automatically turn
over and aerate compost. Design
concepts considered should include nonelectric systems for reasons of portability
to "remote" locations and safety reasons.
Drive mechanisms such as spring motors

Curb Climber Attachment for

Wheelchair
Ordinary curb stones and similar obstacles
can pose a substantial barrier to wheel
chairs. While efforts are being made to
eliminate these problems in the
construction of public works, they will still
exist elsewhere. Design a method to get a
wheel chair over a single such obstacle. A
better design will accommodate the case
where the "ground level" is not just a
simple step change, but may be the same
or different height and/or slope.
Disassemblable Gun Safe
Many gun owners are currently buying
"light duty" safes to store their firearms in.
Although not as massive as smaller vaults
and safes, the size of the contents causes
the safes to be of considerable mass and
bulk. Design a "disassemblable" gun safe
that can be moved in pieces and will have
Page 8 of 24

comparable strength to "one piece"

welded units. Due to the lack of one piece
welded construction, design of corners
and joints will be a primary area of
challenge. Each component of the
disassembled safe should be safely
movable, up a narrow flight of stairs, by
hand, without additional tools by an
average woman.
Disk Type Parking Brake for
Automobiles
One of the obstacles for using disk brakes
on all 4 wheels of cars is the lack of a
satisfactory disk parking brake
mechanism. Vehicles which use 4 wheel
disk brakes often have an auxiliary drum
brake mechanism for parking. Design a
mechanism which can be used with disk
brakes to provide an adequate brake
which overcomes difficulties such as:
adjusting to disk position, obtaining an
adequate grip force, not seizing on a hod
brake disk, not causing a slow cooling
spot which warps the disk, provides a
suitable emergency brake, etc.
Doggie Doo Disposer (Portable Pooch
Poop Packer)
Various schemes are used by
conscientious pet owners to clean up after
their dogs or cats. Various forms of socalled "poop scoopers" are used to pick
up this odious material but few if any have
provided for it's transport. Design a
device which will pick up and provide for
temporary transport of this material,
unobtrusively. Consideration must be
given to leak tight transport and avoiding
contamination of the exterior of the device
when picking up feces.
Electric Car Air Conditioner
Air conditioning of electric cars poses a
serious problem. Since electric cars are
primarily being proposed for urban areas
and air conditioning is more required for
these uses, this is a priority. One
approach to the high energy demands of
air conditioning might be to use the filling
station approach in which the user stops
at a filling station and fills up the air
conditioner with "cold stuff". Candidates
for "cold stuff" could be ice or other
phase change cold storage material.
Consideration should be given to
materials such as dry ice, liquid nitrogen,
liquid air etc.. Analysis of this "ice box"

approach to auto air conditioning should

also address the level of insulation that
lightweight car construction could
achieve. It should be noted that some
materials such as ice can undergo two
phase changes to absorb heat while
others only undergo one.
Electric Dog Brush for Shedding Dogs
Shedding of hair by pets is an annoying
problem, but many pet owners are too
busy to give their animal the amount of
grooming which would be required to
control the problem. Design a powered
brush which will be an effective pet
grooming aid for this problem. Special
attention will be required for the safety
and comfort of the pet and operator, and
noise control will be a priority.
Electric Jack
Design a jack which can be plugged into
the cigarette lighter or clipped onto the
battery of an automobile to raise the car.
Electric Lawn Mower Mechanism
With increasing concerns about urban air
pollution by lawn mowers as well as other
upkeep and pollution problems of such
internal combustion driven machines,
considerable attention is being given to
battery powered electric lawn mowers.
The use of the inertia of the grass blades
to cut them with a fast moving blade of
questionable sharpness may not be the
best approach when limited energy
sources require high efficiency. Design a
high efficiency cutting system for battery
powered electric lawn mowers. Limited
sharpening requirements or self
sharpening mechanisms should be high
priorities. Safety and "clippings handling"
are other key concerns.
Electric Winch Mounting & Power
System
While not particularly powerful, electric
vehicle winches have proven very
effective for off road vehicles. (They
generally do not have to be that fast, they
work when the engine is shut down, they
work totally submerged in fresh water, and
they are highly controllable.) Design a
mounting system which allows a winch to
be stored within the vehicle until needed,
then be placed in a receiver on either end
of the vehicle. Securing the winch to the
receiver should automatically make

appropriate power connections. Serious

consideration should be given to making
the power control part of the power
distribution system rather than the winch
unit, so that winch weight can be reduced
and permanent dashboard controls can be
installed. The control must allow for the
winch to be fully controlled from outside
the vehicle as well as from within.

Engine Crane

Many off-road vehicles are equipped with

electric winches, many others are
equipped with snowplows. Devise a
snowplow mechanism for such a vehicle
using an electric winch to raise and lower
the plow so that the need and cost of a
separate actuator is eliminated. A
particular reference vehicle and winch can
be chosen. The device should provide
for, at least, limited use of the winch with
the plow in place, and easy removal of the
plow when it is not needed. The plow
attachment features to be added to the
vehicle frame should not greatly impair the
off road functionality of the vehicle.
Safety for both the operator and
equipment should be key considerations.

Design a crane which can be cheaply built

by a hobbyist mechanic which can be
attached to the walls of a 1 car garage (or
supported from the floor) and is suitable
for hoisting the engine and transmission
from a conventional car. Assume a large
V8 engine. You may use an existing hoist
if you wish and concentrate on the "track
or boom" mechanism. ********** As a
variant of this project consider making an
"appropriate technology" floor supported,
roll-around, version of this crane out of
wood. Use metal only as reinforcement to
the wood or for "fittings". Utilize rope and
pulley force multiplication to keep cost
low and the technology very simple.
Design the tires for "soft" ground rather
than pavement, utilize no glue or welding.
For safety, screws and nails should be
used in shear only, never in tension. Only
rivets or bolts which have extensive
bearing on the other side of a member
should be used in tension. Wire binding
may suitable to reinforce wood against
splitting. Purchased boat winches or
block and tackle systems may be
considered for use, more than one might
be used on the crane as actuators.

Electrical Jacket

Engine Starter

In our security conscious society, electric

stun devices have been developed as
weapons/defenses against assault.
Devise an electrically insulating jacket
which has conductors fed by an electrical
stun device to make an "touch-me-not"
jacket which will stun anyone who
attempts to grab the wearer. Special
attention will have to be given to the
switching device so that the wearer will be
safe from self-shocking while retaining a
sure ability to activate the device in a
manner which would be difficult to defeat
by an attacker.

Design a "no kick back" human powered

starter for small reciprocating engines in
the 3 to 20 horse power class. The
objective should be a system which would
allow a typical 70 lb. person to be able to
start a 20 hp, standby electric generator
set or large garden tractor.

Electric Winch Snowplow Lift

Attachment

Energy Storage System for a Human

Powered Vehicle
Human powered vehicles traveling in hilly
terrain can be much more efficient if
energy is not wasted, at high speed,
against air resistance while going down
hill but is saved for the next uphill. Design
a system which will allow for such energy
storage.

Page 9 of 24

Flagpole, Antenna Mast or Bird House

Support
An average householder may have use
for an elevated structure for the needs
noted or similar purposes. Servicing of
the system can be difficult and hazardous
due to having to climb or the efforts to
lower the system for maintenance. Design
an easily installed system which allows for
the pole or mast to be raised or lowered
with minimal effort and special equipment.
Consider a system with a built in "gin
pole" or other raising device. Consider
ways to make the raising or lowering loads
on the foundation consistent with the
foundation loads during normal use so as
to avoid an excessively costly foundation.

Fluorescent Light Installer

Design a device which will install/remove
fluorescent light tubes without requiring a
ladder. The device should allow the
installation/removal of tubes from a fixture
in which they are spaced .75 inches
between tubes and have a reflector .75
inches above the tubes. The device
should allow a 5 foot tall person to install
lights 12 feet above the floor without
climbing on some support. Long and
short reach models are acceptable in order
to achieve ease of use for the average
operator.
Folding Bicycle
Design a bicycle which folds up to a
reasonable size for carrying. Your design
must maintain appropriate gear ratios,
weight, and provide protection from a
greasy bicycle chain.
Folding Components for a Bicycle
When an attempt is made to pack a
bicycle(s) into a car, (assuming the wheels
are removed), the volume occupied by the
bicycle is greatly exaggerated by the fact
that close packing can not be
accomplished due to the way in which the
handle bars, pedals and derailleur extend.
Design folding or quick detachable
handlebars and pedals and a "greasy
chain"/derailleur protector.
Folding Motorcycle or Bicycle Helmet
One of the major objections to the regular
use of safety helmets is that they tend to
be bulky and difficult to store. When the
helmet is intended for use with a compact
transportation device such as a bicycle or
motor cycle the bulk of the helmet directly
defeats the criterion of compactness, and
interferes with the ability to carry a spare
for a passenger. Design a helmet which
can be reduced in size for storage while
retaining comparable protective function
when in use.
Freeze Proof Water Piping
Failure of water pipes is a common
problem in cold climates. Some pipes will
stand several cycles of freezing before
rupture, e.g. copper tubing. Other piping
materials are insufficiently mechanically
strong for some applications, e.g. plastic
piping. Design a system of metal water
piping which will resist 4000 freeze-thaw

cycles without failure. Cost and

compatibility with existing systems must
be considered as high priorities.
Consideration should be given to crosssectional shapes other than round.
Consideration must be given to strength
at pipe joints, elbows, etc. So called
"brute force" solutions which involve
using high strength materials or extra thick
walls for the majority of the piping must
include comparative cost analyses and
examination of the effects on installation
costs, extra supports etc.
Functional Shutters for Hurricane Force
Winds
Shutters are normally thought of as frilly
accessories to the exterior decor of a
house these days, but our ancestors knew
better. Real shutters were intended to
provide protection from severe weather or
even assault. We are reminded of the
need for weather protection when we see
preparations being made for hurricanes, as
residents of the affected area board up
their windows with plywood, etc. in a
makeshift effort to protect themselves. A
proper shutter would be strong enough to
resist hurricane force winds, be safely
deployable in high winds (possibly
without going outdoors), have a jam
resistant, weather durable, support and
deployment system, and might even
provide for some degree of being able to
see out rather than totally obscuring the
window.
Garage Door Balancer Take-Up Reel
Torsional coil springs are commonly used
to assist in lifting garage doors for both
manual and powered systems. These
compact mechanisms use a spring driven
shaft above the door opening with take up
reels on both ends. Unfortunately these
systems are often very crude, utilizing set
screws on a thin wall tube to attach the
reel. This can suffice if the system is set
up properly and the set screws maintain
their integrity. However, if the system
must be later readjusted the crude set
screws prove a problem for precise
adjustment and the stored energy in the
spring presents a hazard to the worker.
Devise a simple take up reel of moderate
cost which will alleviate this problem.
Some system such as a clamp on hub with
a worm drive attachment of the reel that
allows continuous adjustment could be
Page 10 of 24

one possible approach. The continuous

adjustment of the take up reel under load
is the key feature being sought. Reliability
and safety are key issues.
Gas Spring Replacement for "Hatch
Back" Cars
Compressed gas springs have gained
great popularity among auto designers for
use on rear hatches and lift gates on
automobiles. They provide a useful force
displacement characteristic and have a
relatively safe failure mode in that they are
not particularly subject to sudden
catastrophic failure. Unfortunately gas
springs seldom last as long as the useful
life of the car, function poorly in cold
weather, are expensive to replace, leak oil,
and pose an injury hazard when their
performance is insufficient and the user
forgets to duck his/her head and gets a
nasty cut on the head from the edge of a
door which should have been much higher
or when the prop-stick which had to be
rigged as a supplement slips out. Design
a spring mechanism to replace a gas
spring in such an automotive application,
either as a new design to manufacture or
as an after-market replacement for a
specific existing gas spring application.
Consideration should be given to all sorts
of springs including torsion bars, coiled
torsion springs, belville springs, coil
springs, spring driven linkages, etc..
Gear Box for an Escalator
An escalator must raise people from one
floor to another in a department store.
Design a gearbox which will move the
escalator which is driven by an electric
motor running in the range of 1700 to 1800
rpm. The escalator is to work between
floors 20 ft apart and carry a maximum of
30 people at one time. The idle load of the
system may be assumed to be 15% of full
load.
Generator Exhaust Heat Exchanger
When ordinary supplies of electrical
energy are unavailable as in recreational
vehicles and power outages, gasoline
powered generators are quite useful.
However along with the need for
electricity there is often the need for hot
water. The exhaust of the gasoline engine
usually contains more than enough heat
for the purpose. Design a co-generation
retrofit for gasoline powered generators

which will provide heated water. Special

concerns include:
Boiling of the water in the unit
Increase of engine back pressure.
Contamination risk to the water due
to failure in the unit or during normal
operation.
Thermal shock resistance in the heat
exchanger when adding cold water to
a hot, empty heat exchanger.

While perhaps not generating enough

resistance for the full capacity of the
winch in all cases, the device should be
strong enough that the winch will not
break it when it does get a good grip. As
a safety issue, the device should not
elastically store sufficient energy that it
can let go and snap back to cause an
injury.

Design a geneva mechanism to rotate a

steel mass 12 inches in diameter and 3
inches thick. The cylinder is to be rotated
in a vertical plane (horizontal axis of
rotation) the driving shaft of the geneva
mechanism is rotating at 300 rpm and the
mass is to be rotated 90 degrees about its
cylindrical axis at each step. The objective
is to design a geneva mechanism and its
frame, which will provide the desired
motion with a reasonable life expectancy
for the machine.
Grinder Head With Minimal Interference
Most bench grinders consist of an electric
motor with grinding wheels on each end of
the shaft where it emerges from the motor.
This configuration leaves the motor
frequently in the way of maneuvering the
work piece. Design a grinding wheel drive
system which eliminates interference to a
far greater degree.
Ground Effect Assisted Suspension
When it is necessary to take a repair
vehicle into a farm field to repair
machinery, the soil will often not support
ordinary suspension systems. On the
assumption that such fields are generally
flat and open, design a ground effect
assist system for a one ton or larger repair
truck which would substantially lower the
ground pressure of its wheels to allow
passage over the field.
Ground Grabber for Vehicle Winch
Many an outdoorsman has purchased a
winch for his/her truck, 4wd, or ATV only
to find that when stuck there is no tree or
rock etc. to fasten the cable to. There is of
course some ground nearby since the
vehicle drove there somehow. Design a
device which will "grab the ground" well
enough to make the winch useful. The
device should be able to accommodate
frozen rocky ground or soft ground.

High Powered Rifle Bullet Stop

Given the concern over secure storage of

gun collections and the simultaneous
desire to display a gun collection, design a
combination display case and safe that
allows the guns to be readily viewed while
at the same time keeping them safe from
theft. Both systems that maintain full
security and reduced security in a viewing
mode can be considered.

As population increases, good rifle ranges

become more and more remote from the
shooting public. To properly prepare for
hunting, there is need for considerable
practice and sighting in of high powered
rifles. The primary difficulty for indoor
ranges suitable for high powered rifles is
stopping the bullets behind the target.
Even heavy steel plate deflectors (e.g. 2
inch) are subject to sudden failure from
fatigue after repeated pounding. Devise a
bullet stop which will stop high powered
rifle bullets reliably without a significant
risk of sudden complete failure.

Hand Installed Sights for Rifles

High Pressure Hand Pump for Airguns

Given the current availability of cheap

optical sights for rifles many rifles are
being manufactured without any other
means of sighting. However there is a
certain demand for "iron sights" on rifles.
The cost of retrofitting such sights is
prohibitive because of the difficulties of
drilling into the barrel of the gun in exactly
the right place without accidentally
penetrating the bore. Design a set of
good looking rifle sights which can be
attached rigidly to the barrel of existing
rifles with the use of only simple hand
tools. Glues can be considered but are
probably inadequate for other than sealing
and non-slip purposes due to the rugged
treatment to be encountered.

An article in the December 1992 American

Rifleman magazine provides a technical
evaluation of an airgun which utilizes a
high pressure reservoir. The reservoir
needs to be pressurized above 3000
lbf/in^2. Normally this would require
powered equipment to achieve. Devise a
human powered air pump which can
achieve these pressures. An evaluation of
both ergonomics and mechanical
efficiency should be provided.

Gun Display Case and Safe

Geneva Mechanism

some may wish to use the system's motion

as an aid to arising. Give special
consideration to supply and waste pipe
sealing, control positioning, and safety.

Height Controlled Toilet

A standard height for a toilet is no longer
satisfactory as society seeks to more
generously accommodate those who use
wheel chairs, and others with mobility
impairments. Leaving feet dangling or
excessive pressure on the backs of the
thighs is an irritation to the majority, while
making the seat too low makes arising
difficult for those with mobility
impairments. Raising the seat relative to a
fixed toilet bowl produces problems of
sanitation and backsplash. Design a toilet
which can be raised and lowered by an
electric motor driven system (or possibly
by water pressure or other method) to
accommodate various users. The system
should be able to lift the toilet and user as
Page 11 of 24

House Elevation System

An elevated house can escape substantial
damage when flooding occurs and may be
safer from vandalism, but an elevated
house can be inconvenient to use. Design
a house elevation system which can raise
a house to avoid flood damage. A meter
of lift may suffice in areas subject flooding
in hurricane storm surges or 3 or more
meters may be required in river bottom
areas. Attention should be paid to lateral
stability of the system and horizontal
flood water loadings. To prevent damage
the house must not suffer from twisting or
sagging in the raising & lowering process.
Home Hydro Therapy Tank.
There are various forms of physical
therapy for aging or injured bodies that
utilize immersion of the body in an erect
position in warm water. The buoyancy of
the body makes possible certain exercise
that is otherwise impossible. Often these
are used with a floatation ring under the

armpits. Normally this requires a large

pool at a physical therapy center. Design
a single occupancy tank which can be set
on, not into, a floor within a house for this
purpose. Special considerations include:
Ease of entry for a partially disabled
person
Storage and recovery of warmed
water
Drowning safety considerations
Emergency escape

House Support Brackets

In various locations, such as steep
hillsides, high water table areas, flood
prone areas, seashores, etc.; houses built
on poles are a popular design. One
problem in such construction is getting
the house level and keeping it that way.
Design brackets which will allow fastening
the house structure to the poles so that
the height of the attachment can be
adjusted as an aid to construction and
leveling in the event of settling or other
disturbance of the poles. The brackets
should be designed for use with wood,
steel, pre-cast concrete, poured at site
concrete, and in each of these cases with
poles which terminate at and support the
floor platform as well as poles which
continue to upward to support the roof.
Variations of the design may be
considered to accommodate the various
pole materials and styles or a single
design may be used. The range of
adjustment of the brackets should not be
less than 0.3 meters, but assessment of the
appropriate range should be included in
the analysis.

for various uses should be included in the

design.

to 4 passenger plane with fixed gear. You

pick the plane.

Hunter's Transport, Plus

Landing Gear for Light Plane

Hunters often need to transport supplies

or equipment to a camp in rugged country,
on foot, over narrow trails. Pack animals
are effective but often not practical. Light
weight is essential. Design a device which
will increase the carrying capacity of one
or two hunters under such conditions. In
order to increase the value of this device it
must be possible to transform it into
another useful device once the destination
is reached. (e. g. A one wheeled cart
which becomes a ladder type or free
standing type of elevated hunting stand.)

Design shock absorbing landing gear for a

light plane (micro-light to 4 passenger
size). You pick the plane.

Hunter's Tree Stand

In many areas, hunting is conducted from
tree stands. Many devices have been
made which will attach a platform and/or
seat to the side of a tree trunk for this
purpose. The currently available devices
generally work well only if the tree is
straight, vertical, and of uniform diameter
if the device is of the "climbing" type.
Unfortunately the trees in the best
hunting locations rarely cooperate.
Design a device which can be attached to
a tree trunk in order to support a hunter.
The device must allow for crooked nonvertical irregular trunks while allowing the
platform/seat to be positioned in a level
configuration in both directions,
regardless of the side of the trunk it is
mounted on. Show by comparison that
your device is comparable/superior to
existing devices in both cost and weight.
Ice Chest That Folds

Hunter's Hoist
Small "block and tackle" systems are often
sold as "hunter's hoists" for raising game
for dressing out. Such devices are usually
flimsy and poorly designed. They are also
of limited usefulness. Design a simple
system which can be used for hoisting,
but which can be reconfigured to allow the
hunter to drag the game up a steep incline
while pulling down the incline. Such a
system should be as light weight as
possible, resistant to tangling, and quick
to be reconfigured for various tasks.
Winch type mechanisms as well as "block
and tackle" devices should be considered.
Variable degrees of mechanical advantage

While in use keeping items cold, the size

of an ice chest is essentially predetermined. However once empty the
large size can be a real nuisance for
transport or storage. Design an Ice chest
that folds. Key points to consider include:
Adequate Wall strength
Leak resistance
Single item whether assembled or
folded to avoid lost parts.
Insulation value.
Landing Gear Retraction Modification
Design a retractable landing gear
modification for an existing aircraft. The
design may be for a micro-light size or a 2
Page 12 of 24

Laser Grenade
Laser technology has been applied
effectively in creating a gun sight which
projects a spot of laser light at the point of
impact of a gun. Since any technology
can and usually will be misapplied by
those with evil intent, counter technology
is desirable. Design a "Laser Grenade"
which can be tossed into any situation
where terrorists or assassins are using
laser sights. The grenade would project a
myriad of laser spots randomly moving
about to confuse the gunmen as to where
their own laser is pointing. Advanced
features should include matching colors
with those commonly available for laser
sights and realistic motion for projected
beams (e.g. dwell and jump rather than
continuous motion).
Lawn Mower Automated to Cut Runway or
Fairway
Small plane pilots and golfers have need
of long mowed strips of grass and may
need to maintain their own. The object of
their hobby is not to mow grass, so devise
a means to automatically mow such a
space. The mower system should be both
simple and efficient. It would be highly
desirable if the system could be a special
adaptation of existing self-propelled
mowing equipment but could be designed
from scratch.
Lightweight Rental Trailer
As cars become smaller their cargo
capacity decreases, and the utility of a
small trailer becomes more valuable.
Rental trailers have the problem that even
the smallest of them typically weigh 350
kilograms or more when the towing
capacity of the car may be 450 kilograms.
Using an existing rental trailer design as a
reference, design a lightweight rental
trailer having similar capacity and
durability but only half the weight.

Linkage compounded Come-Along

Typical "Come-Along" fence stretchers
and load lifters work by having a handle to
ratchet a cable drum. Some of these
devices multiply the force produced by a
factor of 2 by having a pulley at the hook.
Design a come-along which uses a simple
linkage to compound the force from the
handle to the cable drum. This might be a
simple 4-bar linkage.
Linkage Type Boat Lifter Trailer
The difficulty in getting a boat onto a
trailer and out of the water might be eased
if the boat could be lifted and placed on
the trailer rather than simply floated and
dragged onto the trailer. Design a trailer
which takes this approach. consider the
use of a balanced linkage to perform the
task. Water fillable counter weights might
prove an effective way of assisting this
task.
Low Frequency "Rocking Chair"
Mechanism
Rocking chairs can be very comfortable
and have proven health benefits. For this
reason "rocking chair features" have been
built into many pieces of furniture. With
the possible exception of a porch swing
on a long chain, few if any such devices
have the comfortable low frequency
rocking action of an "old fashioned"
rocker. The classic rocker has problems of
tipping over, migrating across the floor,
requiring a hard floor, floor wear and floor
marking. Design a mechanism which will
give a satisfactorily low or adjustable
rocking frequency. Analysis should be
made of satisfactory classic rocking chairs
to establish a standard of satisfactory
rocking action. A simple 4-bar mechanism
may be considered, since the path may not
be "simple" a differential equation should
be written for the approximate motion and
used to analyze the frequency. A
"lockout" type feature should be
considered for safety of access by those
who need a steady chair while rising or
seating themselves.
Lug Nut Lock Remover
In order to keep valuable high
performance/appearance wheels from
being stolen, special lug nuts are used. If
the special socket for these is lost, then
the nut requires a special removal tool.
Current designs involve a tapering set of

hardened blades which are driven down

over the special nut to bite in and get a
grip which allows removal. This destroys
the nut and the blades dont last very
long. Design a lug nut remover which will
grip a typical locking lug nut and remove
it. The first level of improved design
would be indefinitely reusable. The
second level of improvement would not
destroy the lug nut. Designs involving
glue and low melting alloy metals should
be considered as well as pin-sockets
which replicate the interior of the special
keyed socket.
Magician's Stage Gun
Design a mechanism to be fit to a modified
version of an existing common firearm
which will allow smoke and projectiles to
come out of the barrel when not activated
but will capture the bullet and allow the
smoke to exit normally when it has been
activated. The mechanism must function
with all standard ammunition. This is to
be used for a "catch the bullet in the teeth
act" and a high degree of reliability is
required.
Manual Automotive Window Mechanism
With the advent of electric windows as a
popular option, the design of manual
mechanisms has suffered. Poor
compromises to allow commonality of
parts between power and manual options
has resulted in poor handle placement,
excessive operating forces, and awkward
motion requirements. Select an existing
design which suffers from such problems
(e.g. Chrysler Mini-Van) and design a
better system. Reliability and low cost are
key elements in this design.
Manual Elevator Positioner Escape
Mechanism
One of the problems with elevators is that
they can get stuck between floors. Due to
people performing stunts on elevators,
(elevator surfing), elevator escape hatches
are not necessarily the best choice, not to
mention the hazards associated with using
such an escape hatch. The seriousness of
the situation if caught in an elevator
during a fire etc. are obvious. One
solution would be to provide a method for
repositioning the passenger car of the
elevator manually in the event of a stuck
elevator. This might involve a car which is
movable relative to a lift chassis or
Page 13 of 24

possibly a manual cable take-up device

might suffice. Motion equivalent to about
one floor of lift should suffice. Design
such a mechanism consistent with good
elevator design practice.
Measuring Dispenser for Spices and
Condiments
When dispensing salt, spices, sugar, or
other condiments; getting the right
amount can be a bit tricky. This is
especially true when, for instance,
sprinkling white salt on white mashed
potatoes, over a white plate, on a white
table cloth. The ambient lighting and the
lack of contrast between the salt and food
can make this tricky, (especially if the
shaker holes are large). Design a simple
dispenser for such materials which allows
a visually perceptible, measured amount to
be dispensed.
Mechanical Wood Splitter
Many hydraulic wood splitters are
available. Most of these are driven by
electric or gasoline motors. When the
wood is split the motor is allowed to pump
fluid into the splitting cylinder and the
wood is slowly split. Design a system
(not hydraulic) which has some sort of
energy accumulator which will allow the
motor to be smaller and yet split the wood
faster when actuated. (e.g. flywheel
system, guillotine, spring system, etc.)
The system must be possible to build with
the range of tools, materials, and
components which might be readily
available in a typical small farm situation.
The level of safety must be reasonable
assuming a moderately competent,
moderately knowledgeable operator.
Mechanics Wrenches Improvements
When working on machinery it often
seems that every extension for use with
socket type wrenches is either too long or
too short to fit. Design a set of tool
improvements for use by mechanics.
These might include: a. Variable length
socket wrench extensions. b. Variable
offset box and open end wrenches. c.
"Bendable" "goose neck offset"
wrench, which has a handle curved in the
plane perpendicular to the bolt shank.
Such tools would have to stand all the
forces which are standard for wrenches or
the forces to which good quality,
commercially available, wrenches can

stand up. It is anticipated that superior

material properties and careful analyses
will play an important part in these
designs or that clever design will be
required.
Mine Sweeper
Peasants returning to war ravaged lands
frequently find that the fields they must
bring quickly back into production have
been sown with anti-personnel mines.
Adapt an existing rotary tiller or similar
tillage implement to an existing farm tractor
to make a minesweeper which will prepare
the ground for crops while
destroying/detonating antipersonnel
mines.
Motor Home Boat AND Car Trailer
Most motor homes are used for recreation
travel, and recreation often means boating.
However many motor home owners like to
take a small car along to avoid having to
move the home every time transportation
is needed. Each of these items may be
pulled on a specialized trailer, but in most
jurisdictions only one trailer can be pulled.
Design a single trailer which will function
as a boat trailer and a car towing trailer,
simultaneously. The size of the towing
vehicle is normally substantial but
consideration should be given to the
minimum size motor home for which this
concept is appropriate.

Multi-Pulley, Rapid Rigging Block

High quality systems of small pulleys are
used on sailing boats to control the
various lines which control the boat.
Often these systems have to have the
lines re-rigged through the pulleys. A
person's life may depend on the proper
performance of the components. Design a
pulley system which will allow rigging of a
set of pulleys without having to run the
entire length of rope through each pulley.
High security against unintended opening
is required. The block assembly needs to
be stronger than the rope which it
accommodates.

Kitchen oven racks have to be

repositioned up and down to
accommodate various baking objectives.
Most oven rack systems do not move
well. They often have welded wire racks
sliding on porcelain surfaces. Especially
with contamination, age and when hot,
this system fails to qualify as easy to
adjust. Design a system which overcomes
these problems while being comparably
cheap to manufacture.
Patio Crane for Patio Apartments

No-Fizz-Loss Pop Bottle With carbonated

beverages being predominantly sold in 2
liter size bottles, a major problem is the
loss of carbonation in partially empty
bottles. Design a system that will allow
standard 2 liter bottles to retain the
carbonation in partially full bottles.
Approaches that might be considered
include:
Filling the bottle with something else
as the beverage is drained. (e.g. a
water bladder).
Collapsing the bottle so that the
remaining contents fill the available
space.
Re-pressurizing the bottle.

So-called "patio apartments" are built in

multi story apartment buildings and
require that on any floor but the ground
floor, that appliances and heavy furniture
be carried up to the apartment. Patio
apartments have a balcony except on the
ground floor where they actually have a
patio. Design a simple crane which can be
attached to the posts of a typical patio
apartment balcony and be used to lift
appliances & furniture to the upper levels.

Non-Clogging Gutter System

Current motorcycle helmets protect the

head, design a helmet which also protects
the neck from spinal injuries.
Consideration might be given to a helmet
which rests on the shoulders, but other
approaches should not be ignored.

Rain gutters for roofs are often a

necessary nuisance. While they relocate
undesirable concentrations of rain water
they require frequent maintenance to keep
them clear and functioning. Design a clog
resistant system. Give special attention
to: Supports, avoiding clogging at
entrance to down spouts or in the down
spouts dealing with ice buildup,
clearing the system without resort to
ladders or climbing.

There are a maddening multiplicity of 220

volt outlets in use today. The reason is
that if the outlet can provide too much
amperage for the appliance, a fire hazard
exists. One solution is to make all 220 volt
outlets alike and place fuses in the plug
that goes into them. This results in an
excessively large plug, and eliminates the
advantage of resetable circuit breakers.
Devise an outlet that senses the
permissible amperage for the plug that has
been inserted and adjusts a circuit breaker
accordingly.

Oven Racks that Move

No Fizz Loss Pop Bottle

Motorcycle Shoulder Helmet

Multi-Amperage 220 V Outlet

for off-road use and which can be

repositioned for on-road use.

People Balancer
Tool balancers are commonly used to
support heavy tools on assembly lines by
using so called constant force springs to
hold the tools up on a cable. Such a
concept applied to people can have
benefits for amusement, work, safety and
medicine. A near-zero gravity rig would
be an exciting toy. Work on large
structures might be enhanced in both
efficiency and safety if workers could hop
up 10 to 15 feet at a time. Being able to
jump from a height of 50 or 60 feet might
prove a viable way to avoid injury in a fire
if descent were slowed by a people
balancer. Medical patients might be able
to enhance their recovery if they could
move about with reduced weight while
using a people balancer.

Off Road Vehicle Bumper

Bumpers for off-road vehicles have
requirements for ruggedness beyond
normal on-road bumpers. Additionally
off-road vehicles need to have their
bumpers high for ground clearance but
need them lowered for legal requirements
when on road to interface with bumpers
and crash impact zones of other vehicles.
Design a bumper which is rugged enough
Page 14 of 24

Pipe Crawler
It is often necessary to pass wires through
pipes or conduits which may branch. This
has been done in some cases by trained
animals, e.g. a dachshund which pulled
lead wires through sewer pipes when
inserted at one manhole and called at
another. Design a "pipe crawler" which
can pass through a useful class of pipes

and make turns at desired locations.

Provide for remote viewing and steering
so that an operator can choose to take one
particular branch or another. The unit
should have some capability to negotiate
pipes or conduits which are already
occupied by some cables or debris. This
project might be broken down into sub
projects of traction-suspension-steering
mechanisms and propulsion-steering
control mechanisms.
Pneumatic Winch System
Winches for off-road vehicles need to
have easy routing of substantial power to
the winch which needs to be mounted at
the appropriate place on the chassis.
Additionally it is highly desirable to be
able to operate the winch with the vehicle
in any position without using the primary
power source of the vehicle, (e.g. upside
down in water). Power-take-off driven
winches are hard to route shafting for and
hydraulic winches tend to be expensive
and still require the primary power source
to be active. Electric winches tend to lack
adequate power especially for repeated
winching. Design a pneumatic winch
system with adequate pressure storage for
winching when the main power source is
dead and for prolonged winching when
the main power source is active.
Consideration should be given to an
electrically driven compressor since some
vehicles already have such a unit, (e.g.
Hummer's variable tire inflation system).
The system will involve compressor,
storage, air lines, pneumatic motor, torque
multiplication, and winch. Purchased
components with or without minor
modifications should be considered
Pocket Container
Certain personal items are normally worn
but must from time to time be temporarily
removed. Items such as dental retainers,
eyeglasses, and some jewelry must be
protected from crushing if they are to be
placed in a pocket. Crush resistant
containers for items such as these are
unacceptably bulky to be carried along the
remainder of the time. The objection to
carrying such a case results in many
broken and bent eyeglasses and dental
retainers etc. Design a container which
can be configured as a rigid protective
container, or reconfigured as an
unobtrusive, flat or flexible, "pocket-

fitting" item. E.g. a box with hinges at all

corners which when bent to one extreme
form rigid right angles between adjacent
sides, but when the box is opened may be
folded the other way to result in a flat
packet of panels. The container should
comp are favorably to existing containers
in strength, size, and "comfortable pocket
fit", (i.e. avoid sharp corners etc.).
Porch Roof for Hurricanes
During hurricanes, porch roofs are
particularly vulnerable because the wind
can get under them. Design a mechanism
which will make a porch roof an asset
rather than a liability by lowering the outer
edge of the porch roof to the ground and
securing it. The objective is to streamline
the house, to direct the wind up and over
the roof and to provide additional
shielding for the wall and windows.
Portable "Crate" Handler
Design a device which can be used to
transport heavy loads, (refrigerators,
minicomputers, video game machines,
washing machines etc.) up and down
stairways without shock. Expense should
minimized (2-3 times the price of a
standard hand truck). The device must be
portable.
Portable Allergy Air Filter
Allergy sufferers can be helped by various
air filtration systems which remove the
offending substances from the air.
Removal techniques currently in use
include filtration, electrostatic deposition,
and absorbent filtration (typically
charcoal) to remove or neutralize the
offending agents. Unfortunately most
units to accomplish this are bulky and
impractical for the traveler. Design a unit
to accomplish this task which can be
easily carried in a traveler's suitcase
without taking up excessive additional
space. Typically, the unit would be set by
a bedside to provide fresh air to the
sleeping allergy sufferer. Consider: the
volume of air cleaned per unit time, the
user should not sleep in a severe draft,
the useful life of a filter, etc.
Portable Paper Towel Dispenser
Paper towels are useful in many jobs, but
that usefulness would be enhanced if the
towels could be taken to the job. Design a
dispenser which meets this need. Factors
Page 15 of 24

to be considered should include: 1.

Minimum space requirement, 2. Onehanded dispensing of towels, 3.
Relocation without soiling towels with
dirty hands, 4. Stability, 5.
Resistance to spooling off towels in
wind, etc.
Portable Pocket Sized Bidet
Anorectal and perineal area health
problems are socially embarrassing
problems for which people often try to
cover their embarrassment by using
humor, but they are no joke to the persons
who suffer with such problems. One of
the key problems in dealing with
hemorrhoids, anal fissures, and genital
infections is proper cleansing of the
perianal area. This is often best done by
the use of a bidet. Unfortunately for
people needing this device, it is not
commonly found in most rest room
facilities. Design a pocket transportable
substitute for a bidet. The system should
have a capacity of at least .5 liters of
water (preferably 1 liter or more) and
should be easily directable when used in
conjunction with conventional toilets.
The system should be easy to clean, and
not conducive to fungal growth in the
reservoir, passages, or nozzle. It should
be able to be used unobtrusively, and
should be able to be used in a variety of
rest room facilities.
Power Boot Scraper
In order to remove mud and clay from
boots, various scrapers have been
commonly used. Due to the leg muscles
being designed primarily for walking and
not manipulating a muddy boot against a
cleaner, doing a reasonably thorough job
requires removing the boot and scrubbing
the mud off. Design a cleaner for boots
which will remove mud and clay from work
boots by utilizing a power source other
than leg muscles. Consideration should
be given to hand operated and powered
designs as well as electrically driven,
pneumatic etc.
Power Steering System Trim Mechanism
Most power steering systems have a
degree of "self restoring" action. When a
turn is completed, releasing the steering
wheel will cause the steering system to
return to the straight ahead position.
These systems have a neutral zone at the

straight ahead position. In this zone there

is little or no restoring force so that the
wheel can be turned to accommodate
normal camber in the road which tends to
cause drift to the edge of the road.
Without this feature the operator would
be fatigued trying to resist the self
restoring feature. On highly cambered
roads, in cases of unevenly worn tires, or
in steady prairie winds, the driver often
finds himself/herself outside of this
neutral zone and driver fatigue is
increased. Design a system which will
allow the driver to "trim" the system so
that a steady drift to either side can be
compensated for.
Pregnancy Support
During pregnancy, the forward abdominal
load of the full uterus tends to deflect the
spine and place downward pressure on
the blood vessels and organs in the
bottom of the abdominal cavity. Devise a
means to lift this load and straighten the
spine. Possibilities might include various
springs and harnesses. Special
consideration must be given to any risks
of interfering with the normal course of a
pregnancy.
Prestressed Concrete Post Casting
System
Strong durable posts for fencing and other
uses are a frequent requirement for farms.
One solution to this problem is to use
prestressed concrete posts. In order to
make such posts the steel reinforcing must
be stretched within the forms before the
concrete is poured. Design a simple,
economic system for accomplishing this
task. The system should provide
adequate mold capacity for a standard size
concrete mixer. Tensioning devices
should be very simple to fabricate or
should a low cost purchased item. The
ability to make posts of various lengths
should be provided for, as well as
providing for attachment to the posts. A
definite plus would be a means to form
suitable posts of various thicknesses, as
in a triangular cross section mold which
can be filled to various depths.
Pruning Pole Improvements
Pole type pruners are used by
homeowners, orchardists, and nurserymen
to prune the upper branches of trees. The
current designs have not changed much

over the years. Design a pruner pole with

one or more of the following changes. A
Pruning Pole with Proportional
Mechanical Advantage: As the cutter
passes through the branch it at first is
cutting only a small width, then the full
width and finally a small width. For this
reason and possibly others, the force
required to make the cut varies with the
blade position. Design a mechanism
which will match the mechanical
advantage to the work load to achieve an
easier more efficient cutting action.
Various multi-bar linkages, cam drives,
non-round gearing, etc. should be
considered. A Power Actuated Pruning
Pole: Given the wide availability of battery
powered, electric cord powered, and
"gasoline powered" equipment for lawn,
shrubbery, gardening, and home
maintenance, design a power actuated
pruning pole. Special consideration
should be given to safety, the size of the
cutting head for close cuts, power source,
maximum practical capacity etc.. Pruning
Pole with Compact Cutting Head: Cutting
branches from trees is often complicated
due to problems with getting the cutting
head close to the base of the branch.
Also, nearby branches may interfere with
actuation of the cutter mechanism. Design
a suitable cutter mechanism so that the
cutter head is extremely compact.
Consider use of high strength materials,
extremely compact mechanism, positioning
force multiplying mechanism slightly
remote from the cutter, etc.

Quick Detachable Lawn Mower Blade

One shortcoming of the rotary lawn mower
is the difficulty associated with removing
the blade for sharpening. Design a system
which will allow quick safe removal of the
blade for service while maintaining secure
attachment during operation. Special
consideration must be given to issues of
safety and of fatigue of the blade and
attachment parts.
Re-greaseable Front Hub Design
Hubs on 4 wheel drive vehicles contain
bearings which are subjected to frequent
submersion in water. Disassembly for
repacking with fresh lubricant and
maintaining of high seal integrity are not
possible with adequate reliability given
current technology. Design a 4 wheel
drive hub which allows a common grease
gun to be used to purge and re -grease the
hubs without substantial disassembly.
Attention must be given to assuring that
the greasing process does not damage the
seal integrity of the hub.
Recliner Rocker Mechanism
Design an improved mechanism for a
recliner / rocker chair. In addition to
allowing the chair to rock, recline, and
deploy a foot rest, the new mechanism
must allow a selection of rocking or stable
while the foot rest is deployed, and allow
for separate adjustment the headrest
angle. The headrest must return to normal
position automatically when the chair is
brought up to normal position.

Pump Handle Linkage

While hand water pumps have been
around for centuries, they are not immune
to improvement. Since better seals have
nearly eliminated priming concerns, the
sealing of the pump rod against the
entrance of contaminants has been
stressed. These designs, however, tend
to suffer from bushing failure which allows
leaks or from binding of the various
cover/seal systems used to close the top
of the pump. Design a straight line linkage
for use on a hand pump to extend bushing
life by eliminating the need for the
bushing to guide the pump rod. Simple,
low cost, maintenance free design should
be the objective.

Page 16 of 24

Reloading Sizing Die

In the hobby of ammunition reloading, the
conventional resizing process causes
increases in the cartridge case diameter to
be transformed into growth in case length.
This results in potentially dangerous
excessive case neck length, the necessity
for case trimming, potentially dangerous
case neck thickening, excessive cold
working or the necessity of annealing, and
case wall thinning. Design a die to
minimize these problems. Radial
compression in some sort of a collet die
might be considered. Compatibility with
existing reloading presses is extremely
desirable as well as reasonable cost for
manufacturing.

Remotely Piloted Vehicle (RPV) Recovery

System
Scientific and military RPV's are being
used to fly instrument packages into areas
where it would be inconvenient, costly, or
dangerous to send a manned vehicle.
These vehicles normally lack normal
landing gear for reasons of weight and
absence of a suitable runway. Design a
recovery system which will recover a 75
pound RPV from flight at 25 mph without
imposing a deceleration in excess of 2 G's.
Retirement Community Vehicle
(or features for such a vehicle) In our
society, mobility is one of the great
enhancers of quality of life. Age often
brings substantial reduction in mobility.
To enhance quality of life, design a
vehicle or selected aspects of such a
vehicle to be used by senior citizens to
maintain their ability to go to the store,
visit friends, etc. etc.
Rifle Bipod with Adjustment for Height
and Tilt
Bipods have become quite popular for use
on hunting rifles for long range shooting.
While many bipods are available few allow
accommodation to non level support
surfaces. Even fewer still are compact or
concealed within the stock. Design a
bipod which will be both unobtrusive and
will accommodate non level surfaces
which may be at various levels to the
desired height of the rifle barrel.
Consideration should be given to the
appropriate range of heights to be
accommodated and the effect on accuracy
of the rifle due to the attachment, (it is
hardly likely to be acceptable to attach it
to the barrel).
Rifle Magazine
Given the current hysteria about so called
"assault rifles" and large capacity
detachable magazines, design a box
magazine mechanism which allows "closed
action" reloading of the magazine. The
intent of this design should be to make a
model variation of certain rifle types to
allow them to be suitable for the standard
rapid-fire phase of standard rifle target
matches, while avoiding the stigma which
is being imposed on detachable
magazines. The magazines should allow
the use of streamlined pointed bullets
without a "primer hazard" as is found on

tubular magazines. The emphasis on

"closed action reloading" is intended to
allow the design to be adaptable to rifle
actions which do not allow ready access
for reloading via the ejection port.
Rifle Rear Sight
Currently the market lacks an adjustable
open rear sight for rifles which is
reasonably adjustable. If "Iron Sights" are
supplied at all they are normally "open"
sights, these are the fastest to use. Most
of these have a crude incremental
adjustment for range and depend on a
tight fitting block to be precision
hammered sideways for windage. Some
now have screws which loosen and clamp
the adjustment but these provide no
support for moving the sight a precise
amount. "Peep" sights have long been
supplied with "micrometer" adjustments
but these fit on the rear of the gun, are
rarely compatible with scope sights and
are slower to use. Design an open rear
sight which can remain mounted along
with a scope sight, is compact and smooth
so as not to provide "brush hook"
projections, is precisely adjustable, and is
comparably rugged to existing open
sights.
Rifle Trigger Mechanism
It has long been held that the best rifle
trigger for accuracy is a light trigger pull
that "breaks like glass" with no
perceptible movement of the trigger. In
today's litigious society where the
manufacture is blamed for any
incompetence or ignorance of the user,
such triggers have come under some
attack as being unsafe because some
incompetent might misuse them. An
alternate approach to the light, crisp, creep
free, trigger could be found in a long,
smooth, light pull which has no
"giveaway" of firing. Such a mechanism
can allow for a substantial sear
engagement to enhance safety while still
providing for accurate shooting. An
absolute safety requirement for such a
trigger is that it must automatically, fully
re-engage if the trigger is released before
firing.
Rigid Forend for a Pump Action Rifle
Increasing negative publicity over semiautomatic rifles may soon bring
restrictions on hunting rifles of this sort.
Page 17 of 24

The most satisfactory alternative in some

hunting situations could be the "pump"
action mechanism. Such pump rifles suffer
from the fact that the "pump grip" on such
guns forms the forend of the stock. The
resulting looseness of the pump grip to
facilitate its necessary motion is a
determent to accurate shooting. Design a
pump action rifle which affords a rigid grip
with both hands while retaining the
characteristic of not having to relocate the
grip of the hands for the reloading
operation. The design should not
otherwise impair inherent accuracy or
accurate use by the shooter.
*********** A related project which
might be carried out concurrently is to
redesign the classic straight back slide of
the pump grip on the rifle so that it swings
downward at its rear end, thereby
accomplishing a more natural motion of
the hands and providing a source of
camming rotation which would provide for
a good "slow extraction" phase of the
reloading cycle, a shortcoming of most
pump action rifles.
Roof Workers Crane
Workers applying sealing materials to
roofs need to lift considerable quantities
of material to the roof of a building.
Material may include panels, buckets or
barrels of sealant, membrane covers for
the roof, etc.. First the crane must be
placed where it can reach the roof.
Usually the crane is a small frame placed
on one edge of the roof. This could be
done with a self climbing arrangement or
assemblable pieces which can be
deployed easily. After erection of the
crane it must be anchored. The crane
must lift materials with reasonable
clearance from the building and move
them onto the roof for handling. Design
an appropriate low cost crane which meets
these needs. The design should allow for
powered and manual operation or both.
Safety when operated by unskilled
personnel will be a high priority.
Rotating Seal for Space Station.
The lack of gravity while in space is a
problem which interferes with working for
extended periods in space. The concept
of a spinning wheel space station and
other centrifugally induced artificial
gravity schemes have been considered.
Structural strength and keeping the

balance of such a station are major

problems, but assuming that those
problems could be effectively solved there
remains the problem that one of the great
advantages of a space station is a lack of
gravity. In order to use the centrifugal
effect and retain the "zero g" capability it
would be desirable to have both rotating
and non rotating portions of the station.
This would require a rotary seal, but
preventing transmission of torque
becomes a major problem. Design a seal
for this situation, consider using a
"driven" seal with a drive motor which
cancels the drag torque of the seal. The
seal would have to join a rotating to a
non-rotating portion of a passageway, and
might also have to accommodate the
presence of power transmission lines, etc.

opening door positions the user in an

awkward position causing risk of back
injury when lifting a heavy load (e.g. 20 lb.
turkey) and presenting a hot surface to fall
on if balance is lost. A side-swing door
presents a hot surface burn hazard in the
immediate location of the arms or legs and
will frequently block access to the
unloading destination for counter level
ovens. Design a door which does not
have these problems. A linkage type
hinge which moves the door out of the
way should be given consideration. An
upward moving door should address the
problems of heat escape from the oven so
as to n ot cause a burn hazard. The
appropriateness of "disappearing doors"
should address their applicability to gas
electric and microwave ovens. Etc.

Runaway Wind Turbine Emergency

Stopping System

Safety Trailer Hitch

Wind turbines have various braking

systems, sometimes more than one.
Nevertheless sometimes all braking
systems have failed, the generator is off
line and the turbine goes into runaway.
Design some system of bringing a halt to a
runaway wind turbine, either horizontal or
vertical shaft or preferably both. The
system should be designed to minimize
damage to the wind turbine. It must be
applicable to a wide variety of systems. It
must account for possible non-standard
configurations resulting from partial
disintegration of the rotor. It must be
quick to deploy in field situations. It must
present a minimum hazard to surrounding
structures, environment and above all
human life.
Safe Tent Heater
Tents are great for camping but any
attempt to heat them, especially at remote
locations, presents a problem with their
combustibility. Design a lightweight,
adequate heating system which provides
adequate protection from fire. Consider
both carefully shielding the heat source in
the tent or placing the heat source outside
the tent. Combustion within the tent to
generate heat must be exhausted to the
outside to prevent the build up of fumes
or water vapor.
Safer Oven Door
Current kitchen range oven doors pose
several hazards. The classic downward

Current ball hitch designs for trailers

require that safety chains be used in case
there is a failure of the ball or hitch latch.
After such a failure there is a significant
reduction in controllability, and the car or
trailer may be damaged. This is especially
true if the chains are not properly
fastened, (and they often aren't). Design a
safer replacement for the ball hitch and / or
safety chain system.
Scooter Luggage
Air travel requires getting from one part of
a large air terminal to another and for the
traveler who must arrive ready to function
it requires carrying essential items in carry
- on luggage. Some luggage with wheels
already exists but this only provides for
the luggage itself. Combine the concepts
of a two wheeled scooter and a suitcase in
such a fashion that, when needed, the
wheels and handle on the luggage can be
used as a scooter in which the user's body
weight and luggage are balanced. The
mechanism should fold into the shape of
the luggage to allow for normal baggage
handling. Provisions for braking may
need to be considered. Wheel size must
be appropriate for the surfaces to be
encountered.
Sealed Breech Revolver
Revolvers have a considerable
disadvantage relative to semi-automatic
pistols due to the cylinder-barrel gap
which allows inefficient escape of gas and
noise generation. A closed gap would
Page 18 of 24

result in higher velocity and less noise.

Design a mechanism which closes this gap
during the critical firing stage. Consider
the possibility of a "gas-actuated" closure
mechanism as well as other mechanisms.
Also consider whether the mechanism can
replace the usual cylinder bolt and timing
notches.
Seat Belt Snugger
Many individuals will not adequately
tighten seat belts due to a lack of
understanding about the functional
characteristics of a seat belt during an
accident. Current seat belt systems often
use a belt retractor which allows the belt
to be move freely out and then hold
whatever position the user has pulled it to.
Devise a seat belt lock device which will
pull in any available slack in a seat belt
and hold it whenever the vehicle is
subjected to a significant G loading such
as would occur in an accident.
Second Chance Fastener
For people with mobility handicaps,
various handrails can be crucial, however,
the failure of such hand rails can be
disastrous for such persons. A primary
point of failure which is difficult to control
in design is the attachment of the rails to
existing walls. Inspection of the wall
attachment is not subject to the same type
of quality control as the rest of the
product. The fasteners are also a weak
link. Design a fastener which will improve
the safety of hand rails by having a two
stage failure mode. The first stage should
still hold the rated load of the handrail
rigidly but failure of the first stage should
show danger and need of repair by being
obviously loose, or in some other manner
indicating its status. "
Safe" Firing Pin Retro-Fit
Several sorts of firearms are subject to
rapid closure of their breech, (Marlin and
other lever actions, Simonov,
Kalashnikov, and other semi-automatic
actions). During the rapid closing action
of the breech on the guns mentioned, the
firing pin may develop sufficient kinetic
energy to indent the primer of the
cartridge in the chamber. If an excessively
sensitive primer should be encountered
the gun could discharge. The resulting
accidental discharge, called a "slam-fire",
is a malfunction which can be dangerous.

Design a retrofit firing pin for any

particular model of a gun which has this
possibility. Impairment of normal function
or features of the gun is utterly
unacceptable, since a bad retrofit will not
be installed by owners and is therefore
inherently a failure. Consider both
mechanical and spring loaded retraction
and retention of the firing pin.
Self-Parking Shower Head
Rare is the person who has taken showers
and not been treated to the unpleasant
experience of an unexpected blast of cold
or scalding water when the shower is first
turned on. To prevent this, design a
shower head which automatically aims
itself in a safe direction when it is turned
off (or on).
Sewage Check Valve
Because of the damage which can be
caused by sewage back up, it is desirable
to have a check valve which will prevent
the problem. The problem is complicated
by the infrequent exercise of such a valve
and the variety of material which can be
found in sewage, which might foul the
mechanism and prevent proper operation.
Design either a single valve which can be
used in either "vertical" and "horizontal"
pipes or design 2 valves, one for each
situation. The valve must not foul and
must operate satisfactorily even if the first
cycle occurs 15 to 20 years after
installation. A desireable feature is the
ability to determine the closed status of
the valve and lock it in the closed position
for added security.
Shock Absorbing Bicycle Hub
Bicycle wheels are the component most
likely to be structurally damaged in normal
use. To avoid damage to the rims and
allow even lighter weight rims, design a
bicycle hub which can absorb shock.
Such a design should consider various
preloading schemes which allow the hub
to remain as energy efficient as rigid hubs
at normal loadings, yet able to absorb
shock when loads approach levels capable
of damaging the rim or other parts.
Shoe and Boot Dryer
Shoes last longer and feet are healthier if
the footwear is dried out frequently.
Human feet can easily release a cup of
water a day as perspiration. The amount

of this left in the shoe overnight greatly

promotes fungal and bacterial growth.
Shoes rarely dry completely overnight.
Design a shoe rack that will provide a
drying air flow into the shoes to dry them.
The system should provide air flow only
when shoes are on the dryer/rack.
Provision for automatic shutoff once the
shoes are dried should be considered as
an energy saving measure. Power
consumption and noise should be
minimized.
Shopping Cart That Carries Shopper
With the ever increasing of size of stores,
one of the problems is "shopper fatigue".
To alleviate this, design a shopping cart
which carries the shopper as well as the
shoppers selections. Although powered
designs are possible, human power should
receive primary attention. Low cost,
safety, and practicality will be the key
features.
Shuttered Muzzle Brake
Considerable interest has developed lately
in "Magnum" performance in firearms.
One of the results has been severe recoil.
One method of dealing with severe recoil
is to utilize a muzzle brake which diverts
powder gasses after the bullet has left the
gun. Such a device may keep the gasses
from contributing to the recoil or may
actually direct them rearward to counteract
the recoil. No matter how alternate paths
for the gasses are provided, a substantial
amount of gas is directed forward out the
muzzle and contributes to the recoil.
Design a shutter system which will close
off this channel after passage of the bullet
and allow gasses to be more effectively
directed rearward to reduce recoil.
Operation of the shutter by gas pressure
and inertial recoil forces should be
considered. Safety hazards due to a stuck
shutter should also be addressed.
Slat Retractor
Secondary surfaces called slats can be
added to the tail rotor blades of
helicopters to increase rotor force while
turning the helicopter, but during normal
flight these provide too much rotor thrust
unless they are "pulled back" to the main
rotor surface. Devise a mechanism which
can deploy and retract a slat on the
surface of the rotor airfoils.
Page 19 of 24

Small Engine Reduced Speed Output

Small internal combustion engines, (2 to 20
hp) are often designed to run at about
3600 rpm. They have been optimized for
this speed and are not as efficient at
slower speeds. Unfortunately, for many
applications (e.g. rotary garden tillers) this
is altogether too fast. resulting in poor
transmissions when the designer tries to
get the speed down with a cheap
mechanism. 4-stroke engines with a cam
shaft already have a low speed shaft
which could be used to simplify the
transmissions which they are attached to.
This sort of feature has been used to
provide a lower speed and or reverse
rotation output on some models of motors.
Unfortunately it appears to have been
done as an afterthought without proper
redesign of the gear set, bearings, and
bearing supports. Using a common
existing small engine as a reference,
design appropriate parts for using cam
shaft as the/an output. Consider the
possibility of using a cam shaft which
runs at 1/4 the speed of the crank shaft by
using double cams so as to achieve an
even more substantial speed reduction.
Snagless Duct Joint
A much neglected point of design in
heating and air conditioning duct work
has been "cleanability" of the ducts. As
the public becomes more aware of indoor
air pollution, more demand will arise for
cleanable ductwork, (mold, dust, cooking
grease, and other residues being major
ductwork contaminants). Design a duct
joint which can be rigidly fastened without
having inconvenient external or internal
projections. The external projection
problem is a problem of clearance during
installation, and the internal projection
greatly interferes with cleaning methods.
Consideration should be given to water
resistant joints so that duct work can be
cleaned without leaking and staining
surrounding building materials. Special
attention must be given to cost of
manufacturing the joint to achieve a
practical solution.
Soft Surface Fastener System
Difficulty exists in fasting various devices
to soft wall materials, (e.g. downspouts to
"Masonite" siding, shelves to a plaster
board wall). Devise a system of general or
specific application to solve this problem.

Since such systems already exist, provide

a comparison to show why the new design
is superior or solves a particular problem.
Solid Fuel Motor
There are often needs for mechanical
power in emergency situations after long
periods of storage of a system. Solid fuel
presents one way to achieve this with
high reliability, due to the long shelf-life of
nitrocellulose and other solid fuel
materials. Design a motor to provide 1 to 3
horsepower in a rotating shaft while
utilizing solid fuel. Consideration should
be given to producing such power in
adverse environments, (e.g. under water,
in space, on the moon, etc.) Various
running times must be accommodated.
Five minutes is the least usable amount of
time, additional increments may be smaller.
Solid Fuel Starter
Large engines are sometimes used for
emergency power, but need to be started.
Design a starting system which utilizes
solid fuel to provide the power in order to
avoid the problems associated with
storage of compressed gas, maintaining
batteries, etc.. Consider the possibility of
discharging the solid fuel system directly
to the engine itself to drive the engine.
Consider such systems which have been
used historically to start large military
aircraft radial engines. The system should
be able to crank the engine chosen for at
least 2 minutes.
Spill-proof Cup
Design a cup which cannot be spilled. It
would be desirable to have a cup which
does not have a straw system since
drinking hot beverages through a straw is
more likely to produce a burned mouth.
Some sort of reliable valving system
should be considered. Special attention
should be given to use of the device by
children and the infirm as well as just the
ordinarily clumsy user.
Stand-up Wheel Chair
Mobility handicapped persons who must
use a wheel chair find themselves in a
physically and socially awkward situation
because of being positioned lower than
standing people. This inhibits
conversation and places many items out
of reach. There are also consequences for
the internal organs when the body is

never erect. Devise a wheeled

replacement for a wheel chair that allows a
standing posture. If possible, include the
ability to transition between sitting and
standing postures.

Table Leg Bracing System

On/Off Road vehicles suffer from a

problem that when the vehicle is stuck in
snow mud etc. The operator frequently
looses track of where the front wheels are
pointed. Devise an indicator which will
provide a visual display of the steering
angle.

Many simple 4 legged tables suffer from

loosening of the legs. This makes the
table wobbly and the looseness in the
joints frequently results in further
degradation of the joints. Devise a system
for joining wooden legs to a table so that
they will not loosen and will form rigid
supports for the table top. Special
consideration should be given to
"compliance" in the members which hold
the leg tightly to the top and keep the joint
tight. Analysis should reflect the elastic
nature of the joint components.

Steering Angle Limiter

Tail Gate Lift

On/Off Road Vehicles Auto and light

truck class 4 wheel drive vehicles suffer
from a design conflict. The ability to turn
the front wheels to a sharp angle is
desirable off road for maneuverability, but
a very sharp angle may be so sharp that at
highway speeds, in an emergency, the
driver may turn the wheels so far that he
rolls the vehicle over. Design a fail safe
mechanism to limit the turning angle at
highway speeds.

Many suitable powered lift devices exist

which replace the tailgate of a truck in
order to ease the loading of heavy objects.
These lifts tend to be heavy costly
devices which can only be justified for
commercial use where they will see many
cycles per working day. Devise a low cost
human powered lift, suitable for a pickup
truck, which will perform this task and can
be upgraded to a powered lift model for
minimum cost. The device must be able to
lift 50% of the truck's rated load in a single
lift.

Steering Angle Indicator

Streamlined Truck Cab Door

Large over the road trucks are being
streamlined more and more in order to
improve looks and fuel economy.
However the necessary ladder steps up to
the cab door are difficult to streamline and
keep clean of road debris. Design a door
which covers the access steps and / or
deploys a ladder to allow easy access. If
the door uses a simple lower extension,
the extension must be configured to clear
a wide variety of fender and fuel tank
shapes and be drawn sufficiently tight
against the gasket to avoid rattling and
leakage. An existing modern cab design
can be used for a reference.
Swords to Plowshares Firearm
Conversions
Some military surplus rifles have value as
sporting arms but lack the ability to
accommodate the usual scope mounts
magazine size or adequately precise trigger
pulls. Design an easy to apply set of
modifications and attachments to make
some particular military rifle into an
appropriate sporting rifle. The
modifications should require only trivial or
no metal cutting on the original firearm.
Page 20 of 24

Tandem Bicycle in "Tail Gunner"

Configuration
Most tandem bicycles offer the second
rider a view of the back of the first rider. If
the second rider were to be facing
backwards, the rider's view would be
wider, the problem of adequate rear
viewing of the traffic would be relieved,
and a certain amount of novelty would be
achieved. Facing the second rider aft
imposes a few problems of its own, e.g.
pedaling direction and drive line
configuration, and sizing the frame,
(careful positioning of the riders might
actually allow a shorter lighter frame.).
Design such a bicycle.
Temperature Moderating Coffee Cup
Drinkers of hot beverages desire their
favorite brew to be at the correct
temperature, and excessively hot
beverages can cause injury. A massive
cup with an insulated exterior can
moderate the temperature of excessively
hot beverage while still retaining the
energy so that excessive cooling does not
rapidly occur. Design a cup which
optimizes this or goes beyond this simple

approach. The cup should have target

temperature which it tends to achieve. A
heating coil might be considered to restore
temperature in an over-cooled beverage.
A phase transition temperature
maintenance such as Glauber's salts or low
melting alloys might be considered.
Terrorist Resistant Lighting
The works of evil are best carried out in
the dark, so one of the first targets of a
terrorist assault team will be to knock out
lighting at night or within a building.
Bullet proof light fixtures are hard to build,
but a light fixture that simply lets the
bullets pass through would not have this
problem. To carry out this concept the
light fixture could be relocated so that it is
safe and the light would then be beamed
to the distribution point and distributed
by a mirror. The entire mirror would have
to be obliterated before the lighting was
suppressed. Such a system would also be
useful for parking lots. The lights could
be located for ease of maintenance and the
light pole would only have to support
some light weight low maintenance
mirrors, and no electrical wiring.
Theatrical Special Effects and Comedy
Devices
Some very challenging mechanisms are
developed for use in special effects and
comic devices in the entertainment
business. For example on a "Candid
Camera" type show it might be desirable
to have a catsup bottle which when turned
upside down does not dispense any
ketchup until thumped on the bottom,
then it discharges the entire contents of
the bottle. For special chase scenes a car
might actually divide into two pieces, both
of which keep moving. Sophisticated
special devices are used in Disney's
"audio animatronics" machines which
simulate living entities with machines.
Design a theatrical device which
accomplishes an unusual action. Special
considerations as to safety must be made.
Thermal Activated Clothing
Vents Cold weather clothing, which is
made warm enough for low to moderate
activity levels, rapidly becomes too warm
for use if the wearer becomes active
temporarily. When the wearer begins to
exert him/her self, perspiration is often the
first noticed sign that the clothing is too

warm, and by that time the wearer is

uncomfortable and thermal insulation
value has been reduced. Design a thermal
activated, mechanism which will open and
close effective vents in the clothing to
allow additional temporary cooling when
necessary. Consider the use of small,
large displacement, thermostat devices
and shape memory metals such as nitinol
alloy as activator.
Time Capsule and Storage Vault
For various reasons people wish to store
items secretly for long periods of time,
family records, weapons, cultural artifacts,
items of wealth etc.. Design a low cost
vault appropriate for such purposes,
which will allow direct burial of the vault.
Environmental loads which the vault will
need to resist will need to be established,
but the vault may depend on secrecy for
security against unauthorized entry. The
vault should easily and quickly open and
seal repeatedly, (e.g. sealing screw threads
with grease might attract dirt
contamination of the seal). The sealing
system should give attention to verifying
that a positive seal has been
accomplished. Consideration should be
given to possible means of internal
environmental control, (e.g. desiccant, gas
purging, etc.). Consideration should be
given to reducing the system's
detectability, (e.g. remote location of
metallic parts). One possible low cost
configuration might be to use common
PVC pipe with a closure enhanced with orings for sealing.
Tire Tread Wear Rate Indicator
When automobile front wheels are
aligned, the success of the job can often
not be determined until significant wear
has taken place and it is uncertain whether
there is a fundamental problem or the car
might have lost its alignment due to a
driving mishap. Devise a system of
cutting a small, precision, depression in /
across the face of the tire tread so that
uneven wear rate can be identified in the
first few hundred miles of operation. For
the initial design, assume that a tire which
is not "mis -worn", but which is not
necessarily new, is installed at the same
time as the alignment is done.

Page 21 of 24

Toilet Paper Roll Launcher

Toys and novelties offer challenging
opportunities for mechanism design and
product safety considerations. A popular
method of expressing teen enthusiasm is
the prank / honor of "T-P-ing" someone's
residence. Design a hand held device for
launching a roll of toilet paper. The device
should impart a spin to the roll to assure
deployment of the paper. The design
should be able to deploy a full roll of
paper in a roughly parabolic arch in the air.
Attention should be paid to optimizing the
spin rate of the roll to accommodate
varying diameter and velocity of the roll at
various points along the trajectory.
Toilet Seat With Height Adjustment
Toilet seats need to be higher from the
floor to accommodate handicapped and
elderly users who have more difficulty
getting on and off them. Toilet seats
which are higher than standard can be
uncomfortable and inconvenient for
unimpaired users. Semipermanent
adapters used to raise standard toilet
seats utilize an un-rinsed "drop tube"
which becomes soiled and offensive.
Design a toilet seat which can be raised or
lowered so as to accommodate various
users, and provide adequate sanitary
rinsing from the normal flushing water
supply.
Trailer Brakes
Design a braking system to be retrofitted
to existing automobiles which will provide
"vacuum driven" brakes on a trailer to be
towed behind the auto. The actual brakes
on the trailer may be hydraulic,
mechanical, etc.; but the system on the
trailer must be driven by vacuum provided
from the tow vehicle's engine.
Trailer Towing System
"Fifth wheel" campers have become
extremely popular because of the excellent
handling properties which result when the
trailer is pivoted at the center of a driving
rear axle on the tow vehicle. Devise a
hitch system which can be adapted to
most conventional automobiles which
places the point of connection at the rear
bumper and the point of pivoting at the
center of the rear axle. Consider linkages
which are kinematic approximations to a
simple pivot centered at the axle.

Transmission Jack Adapter

Many automotive hobbyists have
occasion to remove a transmission from a
car with a transmission jack.
Unfortunately such a jack is generally
expensive to buy or expensive and a
nuisance to rent. Such jacks generally
consist of a hydraulic jack much like a
floor jack and an appropriate linkage.
Hydraulic floor jacks are quite cheap, they
merely lack the linkage necessary to guide
a transmission in and out of the car.
Design a linkage which will perform the
functions of a transmission jack and which
is actuated by a conventional jack.
Factors which should be considered are
that such a jack may have to handle some
combination of transmission, 4wd transfer
case, transaxle, or engine transaxle of
common non-commercial vehicles. The
system must be able to control for height
pitch, yaw, sideways and fore & aft
motion. It should also be designed with
affordability in mind.
Trunk Rack
In the days before automobiles had built
in trunk compartments, they were
equipped with "trunk racks". These were
racks on the back of the vehicle which
could hold a trunk or chest or any other
similar load. Since vehicles are being
made smaller to achieve lighter more fuel
efficient designs, the trunk compartment
has shrunk radically. Since many loads do
not need the complete weather protection
of a trunk compartment a trunk rack would
suffice as a useful augmentation. Design
a rack which can be attached to current
design automobiles, or a specific
automobile, which will fold away out of
sight under the vehicle or in the trunk
compartment. When needed the rack
should be deployable by simply pulling it
into place and securing it. When not
needed it must be essentially invisible.
Major modification of the auto body or
chassis is not permitted. The load
capacity of the rack should be 300 lbs.
The effect on the handling and
suspension characteristics must be
addressed.
Tube Squeezer
Material such as silicon gasket compound
is often obtained in large "tooth paste"
style tubes. Easy application of these
materials is often achieved only when the

material is in "caulking gun" tubes, but

such quantities may be inconvenient.
Design a low cost device for expelling the
contents of "tooth paste" style tubes
while maintaining good control. The
design effort should consider squeezing
and suctioning of the contents, effort
required to switch tubes of different
materials without waste, "drooling" of the
dispenser after enough has been
dispensed, ease of accurate one-handed
operation, etc.

shovel handle which can assume both

configurations quickly and easily.
Typist's Self Advancing Paper Support
For typist/word processing personnel, a
common task is to read a piece of paper
and type it at a keyboard. The time spent
positioning repositioning papers causes a
significant delay as repeated pages are
handled. Design a automatic feeding page
support which can be activated from the
key board. Such a unit should be able to
be retrofitted to existing typewriter and
computer keyboards.

Tumble Abrasive Cleaner-Polisher

Many hobbyists have use for a tumble
type abrasive cleaner or polisher. The
lapidary hobby uses these for polishing
semiprecious stones, many gun hobbyis ts
reload cartridge cases and need to clean
the cartridge cases. Design a simple
mechanism for a tumble type cleanerpolisher that can be built with simple hand
tools, does not require drilling, taping,
close alignment, etc. An inexpensive
electric gear motor should be considered
as one possible power source. The
capacity should be at least 40 magnum
rifle cartridges or 1 pound of small stones.
The design should include a container
resistant to abrasion. Crude bearings
should be assumed. Round containers
may not provide adequate tumbling if
rotated. Consider carrying the container
on a linkage.
Twistable 4-Wheel Drive Frame
For best traction, all-wheel drive vehicles
must keep all wheels on the ground. If
this is accomplished with "soft" compliant
springing, the vehicle tends to lack
adequate support for heavy loads. One
trick is to allow the frame to be rigid in
bending while it is flexible in torsion. Use
this design approach to design and
analyze an appropriate frame. Jeep
vehicles used this sort of approach prior
to the 1970's but suffered from excessive
fatigue cracking at key points such as
spring attachments.
Two Length, Quick Change, Snow Shovel
Handle
Snow shovels need to have long handles
for pushing off light amounts of snow
from sidewalks and driveways, but need a
shorter D-handle for shoveling in deep
snow if the human back is to be utilized in
an efficient safe manner. Design a snow
Page 22 of 24

Un-interruptible Power Supply

Some critical operations can suffer if there
is even momentary interruption of the
cycle of electrical power. One solution is
to utilize an electric motor driving a
generator with a very large flywheel(s)
which can keep the generator turning until
an engine can be started to operate the
generator. The flywheel(s) may even be
used to start the engine. Design such a
system consisting of a motor, generator,
flywheel(s), and engine, for a 60 Hz power
supply. The cyclic rate must not fall
below 50 Hz when outside electrical power
is lost and the engine starts to keep the
system going. Electrical power output of
the system is to be at least 3000 watts,
continuous duty.
V-belt Tightener
V-belts are cheap, reliable, effective drive
mechanisms commonly used on cars and
other machines. Unfortunately, they can
be very difficult to tighten in the
inaccessible recesses in which they are
frequently found. Design a "pulley jack"
which can be placed between pulleys to
force them apart and hold them apart while
the clamps are being tightened during vbelt adjustment. To be successful the
device must accommodate a wide range of
pulley separation, (e.g. 25 to 400 mm)
Vacuum Chamber for Manufactured
Housing
Factory manufactured housing tends to
suffer especially strongly from off-gassing
of chemicals used in various glues and
finishes. One procedure sometimes used
on regular as well as manufactured homes
is called "baking out" in which the heating
system is rigged to reach and maintain
abnormally high temperatures to get the
off-gassing over with and down to

tolerable levels. An alternative which is

particularly applicable to manufactured
housing would be to make a vacuum
chamber large enough to accommodate
the modules of the house and remove the
offending substances by evaporation at
low pressures. Design a vacuum chamber
which could be used for such a purpose.
Consider building the chamber of the same
materials as used in the housing modules
as a cost saving measure. Pay particular
attention to sizing of the vacuum system
components, sealing of the entrance to the
chamber, and consider building tandem
vacuum chambers which would allow
venting a freshly loaded chamber to one
that is finishing it's cycle in order to
"conserve vacuum". Cycle time for the
pumping system will be an important
parameter, "Air driven, vortex pumps"
should be considered.
Vacuum Degassing System for DryCleaned Clothes
Many people are annoyed at the
"chemical" smell of dry cleaned clothes,
some are severely allergic to the residual
cleaning solvents. Days are sometimes
required to adequately air out the odor as
the residual solvent slowly evaporates.
Working on the theory that solvents
evaporate better at low pressure, design a
vacuum degassing system for clothing. A
small purchased vacuum pump should be
considered and special attention must be
given to designing a vacuum chamber for
the clothes which will not severely wrinkle
the clothing. The target market should be
the individual consumer who has a
problem with the residual odor/solvent as
opposed to designing a commercial sized
unit.
Vacuum Drying System
A familiar high-school experiment involves
observing the lowered boiling point of
liquids exposed to a vacuum. For
accidentally water soaked items, the ability
to dry them before decomposition can set
in can be crucial while in other cases
drying without requiring much heat is
needed. Design a system to dry materials
rapidly by placing them in a vacuum.
Suggested materials for consideration
might include food, books or documents
soaked in a flood or by fire hose, freshly
sawn green lumber, etc. In the case of
lumber, for instance, the lumber could be

stacked in a pile on a plastic sheet which

can be wrapped around as an air tight bag.
The lumber itself provides the support for
the "vacuum vessel". Appropriate sizing
of the vacuum pump, degree of vacuum
required, and a pump design which will
tolerate very wet air will be among the key
considerations.

supply tank reaches the outlet. The object

is to eliminate the wastage of water that is
run to get warm water coming from the tap.
While electricity is probably the energy
source of choice, other energy sources
should be considered. The unit should
automatically shut off when the inlet water
to the unit reaches a pre set temperature.

Variable Ground Clearance Suspension

Wet Toilet Paper Dispenser

On/Off Road Vehicles suffer from having

either too little ground clearance off the
road or too high a center of gravity on the
road. Devise a variable ground clearance
suspension actuator which could be
controlled by vehicle speed and gear
range selection.

Ordinary toilet paper can be harsh and

injurious to the tender skin of infants,
mothers who have recently given birth
and sufferers of various anorectal
disorders. Pre-moistened baby wipes and
various other moist substitutes are
available but are not as cost effective as
might be wished. Design a dispenser for a
toilet paper substitute which will moisten
the wipe and will accommodate various
mild medicinal additives to the water.
Many brands of paper towels have
sufficient wet strength to serve if they can
be stored dry, moistened when needed,
not over moistened and successfully
separated from the roll after moistening.
Achieving correct moisture level is a
difficulty. Reduction of the standard
towel roll width should be done before
loading the dispenser, but providing for
this might also be included in the design.

Walker with Adjustable Legs

Walkers used by those who have leg and
arm strength so limited that a cane or
crutch will not suffice, are especially
challenged by even easy stairs because
their assist device will not accommodate
stairs. Devise a light weight walker which
can be adjusted to accommodate stairs.
The adjustment must be able to be made in
a way that the user will not have to
depend on other support while making the
adjustment. This may limit control entirely
to the grip region of the walker. Weight
and reliability will be very high priorities.

Window Grating Latch

Wall Walker
Many work situations require that people,
equipment or supplies be moved up and
down past a wall. E.g. access to the
outside of windows is needed for
cleaning, roofing materials need to be
moved to the top of a building. Design a
wall walker which might be used on a
useful class of walls to carry loads
vertically, (e.g. platform which moves
along the walls of a ships hull to perform
inspection, roofing transport which will
work on brick walls, etc) . Safety
requirements may be rigorous for such a
design, especially if the load includes
people. Various modes of attachment to
the wall should be considered, e.g.
magnetism, vacuum, adhesive, horizontal
thrust, etc.

Window gratings for decoration and

security which are used on bedroom
windows are required to be openable from
the inside in the case of an emergency
such as fire so that the window can be
used as a method of emergency exit.
However, this presents the problem that
an intruder can reach through the grating
and obtain access by releasing the catch.
Instead of having a decorative grating
which admits most of the light, an
unsatisfactory solution of using a close
spaced mesh which blocks too much light
and adds to the prison like appearance is
used so that the hand of an intruder can
not reach the latch. Design a latch which
allows the use of a decorative, open
grating yet still allows emergency egress
that cannot be used for illegal entrance by
an intruder.

Water Heater Auxiliary Unit

Design a miniature water heater that can
be retrofitted to the end of long nonrecirculating hot water lines to provide
warm water until hot water from the main
Page 23 of 24

Winds hield Wiper Mechanism

One of the most elusive goals of auto
designers has been to design a suitable
windshield wiper which will wipe the entire

windshield. Some important region is

almost always left un-cleared. Design a
wiper mechanism which will improve the
wiped area pattern. Consider using an
existing auto windshield as a reference for
this design and consider such ideas as
wipers which have a considerable overlap
in the center when parked, etc.. A great
part of the challenge is to make a reliable
design which is simple enough to be built
on a production basis.

Zero External Power, Remote Thermostat

System for Heating Systems
Wood stoves, gas & oil space heaters,
recreational vehicle heaters, and back-up
heating systems all tend to be made simple
and tend to work without electrical input.
One shortcoming common in such
systems is achieving thermostatic control
of the combustion process. If any such
control is achieved the thermostat is

Page 24 of 24

usually mounted directly on the heating

unit and lacks any ability to sense
temperature at any distance from the
heater itself. Design a thermostatic
control for such systems which can be
located remotely from the heat source.
Consider selecting a specific reference
installation for the design problem.