The Next Generation Snow Groomer for Single Track Cycling
Why This Project Is Important
Current snow groomers are not versatile for the varying snow conditions throughout the winter biking season. The snow groomer that will be designed by the Velovations Enterprise will allow trail organizations to groom trails in any snow condition. With a modular design a part needing improvement can be designed, fabricated, and then quickly swapped in the field while keeping the groomer functional in the mean time. This allows for rapid development of implements which translates to better trails for the user. By donating you get better trails, the trail organization gets a new groomer, and we get continuing engineering projects.
Project Description
The Velovations Enterprise team is working with a local trails club to design and build a multi-purpose trail groomer for single track trails. The goal of this project is to create a groomer that uses interchangeable implements to groom varying winter conditions throughout the season. The implements are swapped using a saddle and pin system as seen in the photos above. The pins have the red handles which slide through the saddle on the implement. The groomer will be used on the Churning Rapids Trails in Hancock, MI for winter fat bike cycling.
For more information about the trails or to see what the club is currently using, please see their Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/ChurningRapidsSnowBike
Meet the Researchers
Rachel Kolb
Rachel is a 4th year undergraduate student at Michigan Technological University studying Mechanical Engineering. She is currently working on the Snow Groomer sub-team on the Velovations Bike Design Enterprise.
Eric DeJong
Third year mechanical engineer at Michigan Tech. From Ada, MI. Love gravity biking and all types of skiing. Member of velovations enterprise. Developing fat tire snow bike trail groomer.
Steve Lehmann
Steve is currently a Research Associate at Michigan Tech. He is also the advisor for Velovations. Past industry experience includes Test Engineering roles at Engineered Machined Products, Johnson Controls and Prince Corp.
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What Your Donation Can Help Us Do:
- Your donation will help us cover the material costs of new implements, groomer testing expenses, and a teardown of a snow tiller.
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