Purpose - In this thesis a further development of Urban Mobility Tech’s (UMT) existing product, “Muv NEX1” has been processed. The product is described as a three-wheel vehicle that comes in assorted designs and has the main function to transport customers between distinct locations. Some problem areas were identified after first prototype was completed. One of the problems was the attachment of the seat belts. The attachment was not validated during collision but UMT assumed it to be weak. Second problem was the attachment of the seats, it required a redesign to withstand a powerful crash. Moreover, a facelift of the frame was requested with the aim of strengthening the construction.

Method – The work has been performed by completing a concept study. First a requirement specification [appendix 1] and a Gantt chart [appendix 3] was developed to provide a benchmark for what should be done and when. The work that followed thereafter was a competitive analysis supplemented by a pre-study. The purpose of these studies was to observe how the competitors and related industries had solved these and related problems. Results from the studies showed that some of the competitors had comparable products with a design that largely differs from UMT’s vehicles. Brainstorming was thereafter performed to develop innovative ideas as a help to solve the problems and to generate new concepts. Furthermore, the most appropriate concepts were selected through direct feedback from UMT and a method called "Concept Scoring Matrix". The construction of these concepts was simulated and redesigned in iterations to obtain a strong solution. Hypermesh and Abaqus were used as pre-simulation and simulation tools. Finally, one concept remained and was further developed in a CAD environment, specifically in SolidWorks.

Results - The result was a concept that had been divided into different sub-components. These were seatbelt attachment, seat attachment and B-pillar. Different simulations resulted in a concept for the seatbelt attachment that were both easy to install, cheap to manufacture and strong enough to withstand a collision at a traveling velocity of 25km/h. Furthermore, the seat attachment has been constructed to withstand the high forces that arises during a crash. It’s a welded construction which is extremely light and strong. The B-pillar was in turn kept as close to the original one as possible and only acquired minor adjustments at the weak points. More specifically the B pillar was redesigned with a larger diameter which makes it more stable. In doing so Urban Mobility Tech’s manufacturing process could remain similar as it has been.

Restrictions - This project has developed a virtual prototype that has been computed and simulated. No physical prototype was developed. The reason for this is the brief time frame that was allocated for the thesis. No customer study was conducted, the work has instead been based on the information received from Urban Mobility Tech.