DESIGN NAME: Ropo
PRIMARY FUNCTION: Dustpan and Broom
INSPIRATION: My inspiration for designing Ropo was a traditional toy: weeble wobble. This famous toy is known with its agility to stand upright all the time.
UNIQUE PROPERTIES / PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Ropo is a self balancing dustpan and broom set, which never falls down on the floor. Thanks to the small weight of the water tank located in the bottom compartment of the dustpan, Ropo keeps itself balanced naturally. After easily sweeping the dust with the help of the straight lip of the dustpan, users can snap the broom and the dustpan together and put it away as a single unit without the concern of it ever falling down. The modern organic form aims to bring simplicity to the interior spaces and the rocking weeble wobble feature intends to entartain the users while cleaning the floor.
OPERATION / FLOW / INTERACTION: Filling the water tank is done by the user after the purchase. The lid is opened, and the tank is filled with water, the weeble wobble feature is activated.
PROJECT DURATION AND LOCATION: The project started in December 2010 in Ankara and finished in September 2011.
FITS BEST INTO CATEGORY: Idea and Conceptual Design
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PRODUCTION / REALIZATION TECHNOLOGY: Dustpan part could be manufactured with rotational molding and the water tank at the bottom of dustpan could be capped by ultrasonic welding. The broom could be manufactured with injection molding and the bristles of the broom may be produced with plastic extrusion. While the dustpan and broom could be made of ABS plastic, the bristles may be made of PP.
SPECIFICATIONS / TECHNICAL PROPERTIES: 400 mm X 470 mm X 1050 mm
TAGS: weeble wobble, roly poly, dustpan and broom
RESEARCH ABSTRACT: At the beginning of the process, I examined the behavioral aspects behind the dustpan and broom usage. People tend to lean them to the wall or they prefer to put them behind doors. In order to get a better insight about the storage of dustpan and broom I observed different places. Many of them were lying on the ground, or they tend to fall down with a single soft touch since they have a big height compared to the area they occupy on the floor. After these observations my focus was determined.
CHALLENGE: The biggest challenge while designing the Ropo was the weight. To provide weeble wobble effect, the bottom should be heavier than the top. Although the weight was a problem in the first mock-up trials, I reached an optimum weight to sustain the balance and mobility.
ADDED DATE: 2013-03-03 04:48:55
TEAM MEMBERS (1) :
IMAGE CREDITS: Berk Ilhan, 2012.
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