Project Brief
This waste material-centred design project utilizes the abundant amount of corrugated plastic waste that has and countries built up in New Zealand and transforms it into a renewable, reusable, resourceful product.
The Piper Glider is the revolutionary idea that transforms the waste material yellow layer board(corrugated plastic) into an innovative new product and how it can benefit you!
Piper Glider
"How you can HELP us, HELP you"
Team
Lawrence Zhou
Alex Cameron
Cameron Bartley
Project duration
3 months
March 2020 - June 2020
Tools
Adobe Photoshop
Fusion 360
KeyShot
Role
Ideation
Market analysts
Concept Development(CAD)
CAD Rendering
Presentation
Background
As corrugated plastic is made up of polypropylene, it is temperature resistant and tough due to its elasticity. These positive qualities are useful for harsh environments, such as being exposed to varying weather conditions for long periods. The elasticity of polypropylene also means it can withstand significant stress and not break, and when deformed, it tends to return to its original shape. These useful qualities heavily influence the design possibilities that are possible with polypropylene.
Recycling Design
Enhances its rigidity in a single direction
lightweight, high density polypropylene, built to last
100% recyclable under Resin code 5
Polypropylene
Double-layered
lightweight
Concept DEVELOPMENT
Our idea has been thoroughly explored and developed so that we could find the best solution possible. We began with our initial concept to recreate the corrugated plastic as the Piper J-3 Cub aircraft model. The design was made up of nine pieces that would be slotted together to create the piper cub aircraft.
However, several issues arose due to the limitations of the layer board being inflexible, which led to a less round shaping and large gaps between pieces that would have been curved slopes.
We developed the design further to improve the issues of the bulkiness of the design and allow for more curved shapes as the fuselage would be thinned down to make the design more aerodynamic.
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Final Design
With our design developments, market considerations, and manufacturing knowledge, we arrived at our finished product, the piper glider. With a wing span of 0.5m, the piper glider is at a 1:22 scale to its inspiration, the piper J-3 cub.
We decreased the number of parts which would make the design construction more superficial and more easily mass-produced, which would offset the increase in cost.
The final design remains influenced by the Piper J-3 Cub however it has been streamlined for improved flying ability as the fuselage has been developed into a single piece.
How it work
Once the manufacturing process is complete, the product is ready to be shipped out to the sellers, which can be easily done in large batches due to the extremely lightweight corrugated plastic.
The packaging sheets are designed in 520x 250mm. After the customer has purchased the product, they can pop out each model piece and assemble it by clipping the pieces together, allowing it to be thrown and glide.
