DESIGN NAME: Meerkat Seat Concept
PRIMARY FUNCTION: Aircraft Passenger Seat
INSPIRATION: The inspiration came from hours of flying long haul in economy class. I know that there are many ways to improve passenger experience. Yet with an education background in engineering and experience in the airline business, I fully understand the economic and technical constraints.
UNIQUE PROPERTIES / PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The Meerkat is a concept for long haul economy class seating that introduces new ways to enhance passenger experience while minimizing fuel & maintenance cost. Passengers will benefit from the patented dual-user armrest that eliminates the battle for the armrest, as well as a backrest that helps them stretch-out. Amenities such as a tablet stand & a headphone hook brings convenience, yet does not introduce weight/complexity to the benefit of the airline. The shared literature rack reduces weight of magazines and helps minimize fuel cost.
OPERATION / FLOW / INTERACTION: -
PROJECT DURATION AND LOCATION: The project started in October 2011 and the design was completed in Mid-November.
FITS BEST INTO CATEGORY: Vehicle, Mobility and Transportation Design
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PRODUCTION / REALIZATION TECHNOLOGY: The seat frame can be made of milled aluminium alloy and aluminium tubes. Non-structural parts such as backshell and table etc can be made of injection molded plastic and vacuform plastic.
SPECIFICATIONS / TECHNICAL PROPERTIES: For a double-seat assembly
Width: 1067mm
Height: 1143mm
Depth: 737mm
Minimum pitch: 813mm between rows
TAGS: Aircraft Seats, Airline, Economy Class, Seating, iPad, Tablet, Armrest
RESEARCH ABSTRACT: -
CHALLENGE: While passengers these days demand more and more creature comfort, airlines on the other hand want to trim cost. But those two criteria are often contradictory- new features are likely to add weight and complexity, and hence increase cost of operations. Thus the challenge was to design a product that has all the features passengers desire, yet keeping the package light & simple in order to minimize fuel burn & maintenance cost, as well as the associated carbon emission.
ADDED DATE: 2012-03-07 03:55:58
TEAM MEMBERS (1) :
IMAGE CREDITS: James Lee, 2011.
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