Innovation Marketplace 3 Up & Running

The third instalment of the Innovation Marketplace kicked off with a two-day visit to the Magura headquarters situated in Bad Urach, Germany. Magura is a world leading company in the design and production of braking systems for bicycles and motorbikes.

A4SEE Innovation Marketplace 3 staff & student visit to Magura

The use of the bicycle has changed and increased significantly in the last few years. Rather than the bike being viewed by many as just a recreational piece of equipment, growing numbers now view it as an essential everyday item for transporting children, shopping, cargo. As a result, cargo bikes are becoming increasingly popular due to their ability to shift heavy loads, in particular the “Long John” front cargo style.

Tesing a “Long John” cargo bike at Magura

Although this style of bicycle is nothing new, it is being discovered by a whole new user base, along with some of its peculiarities in steering and braking. These are known to alter relative to the load carried on the bike, and this is where the challenge being set by Magura originates. A heavily loaded bike requires powerful brakes to come to a stop quickly and safely. However, an unloaded cargo bike with the same powerful brakes are susceptible to a locking of the front wheel under hard braking, resulting in a loss of grip that could result in a crash. The morning was spent presenting the challenge, develop a solution to ensure braking can be accomplished safely under all conditions without loss of grip on the front wheel.

The students took to a very wet Magura carpark to experience this first hand. Two “Long John” cargo bikes were ridden with and without load for the students to test. After perhaps an understandably tentative start, the riders quickly got to understanding the task and attempting different braking combinations and speeds. Everyone survived, nobody fell off, and the experience was invaluable for the students understanding of the problem.

Students testing a cargo bike brakig system in the wet

In the afternoon, Magura organised a trip to their assembly and injection moulding facilities, a short drive from their headquarters. Here it was possible to see the creation of the braking systems from the injection moulding of complex threaded parts for their hydraulic brake systems, through to the final assembly, charging with mineral oil, and packaging of the completed components for shipping.

Understanding the braking system component functionality

The second day saw the challenge start in earnest, with a daylong design workshop led by Arjen Jansen from TU Delft. Arjen guided the students through a practical session looking at using a double diamond framework to guide their thinking and development of a solution to the challenge.

A4SEE student design workshop at Magura

Students then have until December to crack this challenge, being supported on their design journey by weekly online support sessions as they return to their home universities. Results will be presented at the official A4SEE closing event 11th December 2023 in Delft, Netherlands.