DESIGN NAME: Air Deck
PRIMARY FUNCTION: Longboard
INSPIRATION: We love long-boarding. When we were thirteen we bought our first longboards and we had always been using it and changing the long board parts such as taking the wheels off, adding lights to them, and painting them. Soon enough we had a desire to create a product that we hope will change the longboard industry forever. We wanted an ultra light weight product, that was visually appealing, and extremely durable. So over the last year we created the Air Deck.
UNIQUE PROPERTIES / PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The Air Deck is an innovative longboard design that offers several new features to boarding. The Air Deck is composed of rectangular shaped bars of carbon fiber. These bars are extremely lightweight and incredibly strong. They provide enough strength to hold a two hundred and fifty pound rider while the board weighs only about two pounds. Since the Air Deck is made out of carbon fiber it is extremely light weight yet very durable. This gives it advantages in speed and maneuverability over any other board.
OPERATION / FLOW / INTERACTION: When the rider gets onto the board he must first push off against the ground with his foot. The light weight board allows for better acceleration. The right body makes the riding smoother and easier because the board will not flex and buck the rider off. In the event of a crash the durable carbon fiber will maintain its structure and the light weight will cause less damage to the rider and its self. When the board must be carried the openings provide easy handholds.
PROJECT DURATION AND LOCATION: The project was started March 2015 and finished September 2015 in West Lafayette, Indiana.
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PRODUCTION / REALIZATION TECHNOLOGY: At the core of the bars there is hard polyethylene foam. Epoxy resin impregnated carbon fiber is the main material along with standard long board trucks.
We brainstormed how to improve traditional longboards, and concluded that the weight, maneuverability, durability, and ability to be carried could be improved. Then we developed our idea to improve all these factors. This was accomplished through material research, CADing, and our own knowledge.
SPECIFICATIONS / TECHNICAL PROPERTIES: Width 1.016 m x Depth .2773 m x Height .1052 m (Full board with trucks)
Just Deck (without trucks)
Width 1.016 m x Depth 0.2259 m x Height 0.01778 m
Board can hold a 250 pound person
Contains of: polyethylene foam core, carbon fiber epoxy resin shell, standard trucks, bearings, bolts, and wheels.
TAGS: longboard, carbon fiber, deck, air deck, board
RESEARCH ABSTRACT: Considering there are multiple areas of research in this project, the main type of research was done in the materials area. We wanted a material that was very strong, lightweight, and long lasting. We would compare how easy the material would be to work with and how strong the material was. Then we would record and repeat until we found carbon fiber. Carbon fiber is super easy to work with and can mold to anything we need.
CHALLENGE: Skateboards and longboards are a commonly used product. Since they have been available for such a long time it was very difficult to be able to create a new design. Also, being able to find the material that would work for this project was also very difficult to find, the multiple choices of materials available to us.
ADDED DATE: 2015-09-19 21:42:58
TEAM MEMBERS (2) : Charles Randall and Parker Krueger
IMAGE CREDITS: Charlie Randall, no other photographer or creator
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