The design of "MOOBUS", a modular, coach design for future

Zhu, Hanyu

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/116268 Copy

Description

Title

The design of "MOOBUS", a modular, coach design for future

Author(s)

Zhu, Hanyu

Issue Date

2022-07-20

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Weightman, David Ian

Department of Study

Art & Design

Discipline

Art and Design

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

M.F.A.

Degree Level

Thesis

Keyword(s)

• Industrial design
• Coach
• Modularity
• Vehicle design
• Seating arrangement

Abstract

The bus and coach industry has been experiencing vigorous development for more than a century. The industry has diverged into various sectors for different scenarios or business models. Among the various businesses, the coach business is the significant one. The coach is the tourists’ favorite transportation for traveling by road. The coach has several distinct advantages distinguishing it from other transportation modes. The coach is flexible in picking the routes to the destination and the expense of coach travel is lower than other transportation modes such as flights, private vehicles, trains, etc. However, as the coach industry is becoming more mature, a series of new problems have been revealed related to users’ experience of riding the coach. The seating arrangement and coach riding services are not flexible. The problems compromise the passengers’ riding experience. In this paper, a new coach design is introduced to improve the flexibility of seating arrangement and riding services offered by coach operators. The new approach to coach design embodied in this project will be explained in the paper which can improve passengers’ riding experience on the coaches as well as giving more flexibility for coach operators to provide different types of service The outcome of the project is called Moobus, a modular coach design. Instead of installing rows of seats like regular coaches, the space on Moobus is filled with modules. The modules are designed with various features to satisfy passengers with different needs. For passengers, with the more plentiful choice, they can pick up one which matches their needs. For coach operators, they can customize the coach to offer passengers unique riding services or change the modules on Moobus for new services. Designing a coach in all details is a complex task, way beyond the scope of an MFA project. This project focusses on the application of modularity and customization in a conceptual design, with many details of the engineering still to be resolved. We do believe there is value in such blue-sky projects at this level.

Graduation Semester

2022-08

Type of Resource

Thesis

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2022 Hanyu Zhu

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