Portable
Inflatable Car Cover
The goal of the inflatable car cover is to prevent a car sitting outside from environmental damage. I gained interest in this topic because my car sits outside year-round. My car has paint and body damage after cold winters and scorching summers.
Research
The goal of this project is to protect the car from environmental damage. Cars are made of steel because of its strength and integrity. However, when raw steel is exposed to the air it rusts. From my research, I learned that it only takes 4 - 5 days for steel to rust. This time can decrease more if it rains.
Market Research
The 2 biggest competitors my project has is a standalone carport, and a normal car cover. These are 2 really good options, however one is not portable and the other is usually good for dust repellent but not something like hail.
Additionally, I learned that 1 out of every 4 homeowners has at least 1 car that sits outside. I also learned that one carjacking happens every 26 seconds. That totals to roughly 2.5 million break-ins in a calendar year. Because my project is a car cover it inadvertently doubles as theft prevention because if you were to be robbed they can't see directly inside your car.
Prototype 1
Portable Car Garage
The 1st prototype was using my research and gathered information to make an outline for the project. I started to construct an exoskeleton-like tent for compact cars. The 1st image is what it should look like fully deployed. The 2nd image is a connection hub. This is where the beams would go into. The 3rd image is a revised version of the initial hub. the 4th Image shows brackets cut down for imaging purposes showing it deployed and fully extended.
Milestone #1
Learning
I would say the hardest part of this project was the learning curve. I was familiar with SOLIDWORKS which is another CAD program. I hadn't used a CAD program in a while so I had to watch Mr. Hunter's learning videos and that took me about a month to fully remember where everything was in the program and what they do.
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Presentation
Professional Review Night
After developing our 1st prototype it was time to put it out there for constructive criticism. This night was the most important night for my project. After talking to 3 reviewers, Mr. Engebretson, Mr. Kipka, and Ms. Jill. They concluded that my project should take a different approach. Instead of making a cover that pulls over a car what happens if we had a deployable tarp that covered the car. Mr. Kipka and I pondered an idea of how to deploy a tarp, keep its malleable property and have a barrier between the car and tarp. We concluded that if we had 2 tarps sewn together and inflated like a air mattress it would create the barrier needed and still fit in the deployable box.
Presentation Video From Professional Review Night
This visual was made to help explain the project to the reviewers and help me organize my thoughts and show what my Prototype 1 concept was.
Video Trailer
Prototype 2
This video illustrates a CAD design, model, and visual representation of how the final product would look like. There are screws in the bottom of the base that allow for a battery pack, 12V motor, and Arduino to control the middle screw piece. The spindle screw piece acts as a elevator. Depending which way the screw turns it will open or close the device. There is a hole in the bottom of the spindle screw that allows for a string to attach both tarps together. Because the tarp is directly connected to the spindle screw as the contraption opens the tarp will unwind from the piece and be able to cover the car then it would inflate. When the tarp needs to be put back into the container it just needs to deflate and then as the box closes the tarp will ball up and be stored away.
Final Product
Unfortunately I wasn't able to make a full scale of it or incorporate the tarp, however I was able to print the design to have on hand. I didn't follow through with the rear bumper integration because of how this project was developing.
