Tigoona – The Three Times As Much Trike
Published on : Friday 01-03-2024
How the Dassault Systèmes 3DExperience Lab helped create the Tigoona under the Open Frugal Innovation initiative.
For over 40 years Abhijit Bansod had been looking at the coconut man dragging the load on the streets – on bicycles or handcarts – and it just started as an expression, ‘let me make one prototype for him and see how his life changes with that’. It is not just the tender coconut seller quenching the thirst of people – it is the story of every vendor on the street, and not just men. Women are out there in significant numbers, and everyone faces the same problem.
A designer by profession – he is the Founder + Creative Director of Bengaluru-based Studio ABD – wanted to do something for this group where technology was in a frozen state for three generations or more. “Being designer, I wanted to see how I could change our streets. Because only when the street life becomes amazing, you believe progression of life is happening in the country. I saw an opportunity to design something that can make a difference here,” says Abhijit. Thus was born the Tigoona concept – the word derived from Teen Guna in Hindi – three times of something, three-fold opportunities in safety, comfort and business through a ride.
Industrial Automation met Abhijit at the 3DExperience Playground in Dallas, Texas where we were invited to attend the 3DExperience World 2024 – the annual event of Dassault Systèmes that celebrates imaginations, innovations and communities shaping the future of design and manufacturing, but more of that, later.
For Abhijit, it was not just about making life a bit easier for the vendors, but more importantly, giving them an identity with pride. “Otherwise they are resigned to whatever conditions that exist. And no one would really think for them because they are not your buyer. So it wasn't really an opportunity. It was just a social impact I wanted to create through this project,” he says. The early attempts by making manual trikes for them had provided valuable experience that came in handy. “We learned that they aspire for the comfort of an EV, because they have seen things around them, especially the e-bikes on rent and things like that, and why we cannot have something like that. So that's where we started working towards an EV but the cost was getting very high for that kind of thing. So we found pedal assist or E-Assist a good model where we could reduce our specs, give them a comfortable ride with half the effort with the pedal, the other half provided by the battery-operated motor. You also have the option of throttle so that if you wish to retire you can just drive around,” explains Abhijit.
That is how it was decided to have a 250W motor with 24V battery that can give a 60km ride with pedal assist and 30km without. “It's still good enough for them in their surroundings. We are not expecting them to go across town. They are just managing the last mile or a few kilometres radius. And that was when we started engaging with the 3DExperience Lab, where they incubated this project under the Open Frugal Innovation Community,” says Abhijit.
Engagement with 3DExperience Lab
So how exactly did the Dassault Systèmes 3DExperience Lab help Abhijit with the Tigoona under the Open Frugal Innovation initiative?
“Initially Dassault Systèmes leased us the software just to build 3D data. Then they supported us in the simulation. That really helped us, because it was difficult to keep making prototypes and learn. The simulation quality really propelled us. With the 3DExperience Lab, we could leverage the power of engineering and simulation. We saved almost one year in that sense, and a lot more in terms of cost. So that was something incredible for us to work with,” says Abhijit.
“We used their model to simulate Indian roads. Loads on engineering, how we can reduce the weight of the components, how we can optimise the material usage. We also worked on the mechanism so that the load of 150kg is not on the steering. Typically, such trikes have the entire load coming on the handle. That makes it impossible for women to get on to that. So we decided to design for women – in ergonomics, in comfort. And I am sure it will work for men. So we designed making sure that the rider would be comfortable with a saree or whatever local costume they wear,” Abhijit elaborates.
More important to Abhijit is the global platform provided by the 3DExperience World 2024 to showcase the Tigoona, a sustainable urban solution for last mile delivery. “We got this opportunity to showcase one of the lowest tech products – you can see things on display around here in the playground – but one with the largest impact. We got to be on the stage and show it globally where millions could see it. So it was a good opportunity for us to work with them,” says Abhijit.
The frugality in innovation
About the stripped down version and how easy it is. How many moving parts? Not the entire moving parts that make the Tigoona, but the assemblies that can be knocked down. All parts are modular.
“This is a completely flat pack knock down assembly. You can get a local assistant and assemble it within a couple of hours. This chassis comes out, the wheel comes out. This assembly comes out. These are all assembled frames inside. Same frame is used for retail, where all the panels open and become a platform, just like the typical pushcart seen on our roads,” says Abhijit.
So they can stand and display. Put everything inside; lock it up and ride back home. And it's so easy that you can replenish twice. You don't have to over carry. The vendor can carry as much as needed at a time and replenish during lunch break. The battery pack is detachable for charging. “Safety is important as the battery is exposed to up to 48 degree C, but it is all open. Also I think the cost of the battery can be brought down. By another 6 months it will be optimised further,” says Abhijit.
“For last mile delivery of logistics companies, you could use the covered version. It's completely waterproof; also you can lock it up and so now worry that the
merchandise is gone. We will be a pedal assist company, all the time, so we become sustainable. We give a better option for large corporations to use this product to reduce their carbon footprint. Move their material around – last mile delivery. A large online grocery company has already signed up for trials,” says Abhijit.
International market
Besides the large domestic market, Abhijit says there are inquiries from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and some African countries, which could be a great market. At the moment, there are no plans to get into manufacturing though the company is investing on all tooling so it gets to the production level. The assembly is being outsourced and shall happen in Pune where there is a good base of automotive suppliers. “At some stage, when we are doing vertical integration where the scale really increases, we can think about manufacturing, but our focus is user design and technology, bringing it together. We are also exploring the 3DExperience platform where we could get a global supply chain for manufacturing and locally manage that, and control it from here so that you know quality will always be maintained,” Abhijit concludes.
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