Amphibious vehicle


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Creator/Artist: Kamlesh Sawant

Category: Product Design

Document: P3 Project

Batch: 2008-2010

Source: India,   IDC

Period:  2009-2018

Medium: Report pdf

Supervisor: Prof. Vijay P. Bapat


Detailed Description

As the roads are getting flooded with automobiles, the supporting infrastructure is under constant pressure. Other modes of transportation, such as water and air, will soon gain importance for daily travel. With the ability to travel in more than one medium, an amphibious vehicle would be an ideal solution. An amphibious vehicle with land and water surface as modes of travel is considered within the scope of this project. The aim of this project is to design a motorised amphibious two-wheeler for youth. The evolution of technology and formal treatment were also noted while studying developments in amphibious vehicles over the years. Initial ideation was focused towards making a 2 wheeler afloat on water & results were grouped into categories. The group of inflatable pontoons was chosen on the basis of its feasibility. A configuration with pivoted flaps for housing inflatable pontoons on either side of a two-wheeler was chosen after evaluating other possible configurations. The dimensions of pontoons in inflated mode and in deflated storage mode were calculated before finalising the layout. The contemporary motorised two-wheeler was taken as reference for structural and ergonomic issues for deciding the layout. The targeted segment of user youth was expressed with lifestyle boards and mind maps. An expression of fearlessness was chosen for the formal treatment of the proposed vehicle, which was decoded by analysing visuals with that expression. Scaled mock-ups and sketches were used to get the concepts evaluated by potential users. Aside from youth, the proposed amphibious vehicle can also be used as a police patrol vehicle, a flood relief vehicle, and a personal mode of transportation in inland water bodies.