MIT students want to make you a sweet new product!

[v_and]

Hi!

I'm a senior studying Mechanical Engineering at MIT and for our senior design class we have been asked to create a product that facilitates adventures in remote areas. I'm a skier myself, and had a hunch that a lot of people on here spend time exploring mountains and remote places.

Do you come across any reoccurring pinch points on your adventures that a new product could alleviate? I'd love to hear what your needs are and what things you'd like to see improved upon!

We're still in a preliminary research phase here, so any of your wildest ideas to make the mountains safer/more fun/more accessible/etc. helps us get some direction of what users want. I'd be stoked to hear what you have to say!

-Valerie

[skimaxpower]

My regular sextoys are durable, but far too heavy. It really cramps my style to leave them at home on my ultralight climbing and backpacking expeditions. Can you help? To lighten things up, I'm thinking:

• Carbon fiber butt plug
• Vibrator that self charges in my pack, kinda like the nice Seiko watches.
• Biodegradable condoms, because I sure as hell don't want to carry those out with me.
• Sex lube that deters bears. Bonus points if I can also use it for cooking.
• Rope that doesn't chafe. I prefer a 10mm dynamic rope for climbing, but it digs into my wrists after being tied up for a few hours.

Also, my feet get cold sometimes when I ski.

[bsavery]

Hi!

I'm a senior studying Mechanical Engineering at MIT and for our senior design class we have been asked to create a product that facilitates adventures in remote areas. I'm a skier myself, and had a hunch that a lot of people on here spend time exploring mountains and remote places.

Do you come across any reoccurring pinch points on your adventures that a new product could alleviate? I'd love to hear what your needs are and what things you'd like to see improved upon!

We're still in a preliminary research phase here, so any of your wildest ideas to make the mountains safer/more fun/more accessible/etc. helps us get some direction of what users want. I'd be stoked to hear what you have to say!

-Valerie

This is for 2.009?
A lot of the people here are backcountry focused. Some of the recent products that might be interesting to look at as a brainstorm and seeing people's opinions of what they want:

avalanche probe + snow analysis: http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...62-AvaTech-SP1
tech + downhill bindings: http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...inding-is-live
more bindings: http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...quot-King-quot
morer binding: http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...ighlight=beast
morerer bindings http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...ighlight=vipec
Bindings + plates: http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...ll-Time-Review
airbag backpacks: http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...its-way-to-you

Basically if you're focusing on something for making backcountry travel easier and safer that would be a good start.

[bsavery]

Oh and if you could engineer a holster for this guy, that would be great to:

http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...ams-NH)/page33

[dark_star]

I've got one for you: lightweight, secure helmet carry system that fits on top of any bag

Sent from my SM-N900V using TGR Forums

[Timberridge]

Do you come across any reoccurring pinch points on your adventures that a new product could alleviate? I'd love to hear what your needs are and what things you'd like to see improved upon!

sunglasses that stay on your head in an avalanche.

bikes with large balloon-like tires that you can ride in the snow with

proven ways to make money in real estate, so we can head up to the hills whenever we like and not have to worry about working.

a summer tire that works so well in deep snow you don't need snowtires

a way to keep moderators on adventure websites from blocking your IP address

[NoPostholio]

a way to keep moderators on adventure websites from blocking your IP address

Don't waste MIT brainpower here, just borrow the laptop from kid next door -

[Harry]

- Valerie

Well, "Valerie", you can start by showing us a photo of your tits.

Next: design an avy beacon that has a built in TGR App. While searching for my buried friends is important, I also don't want to miss out on which mattress Benny decided to buy.

Also: some sort of anti-Texan death ray.

[I've seen black diamonds!]

Lighter Airbag packs.

[looseofforangejuice]

i suspect that folks who propose actually interesting ideas would be called upon to be concept or beta testers. so that pie in the sky idea you have? get someone else to design and build it, and then test it for free. cmon TGR

i have no useful ideas aside from that last one, so don't look at me

[Buster Highmen]

I'm very sorry miss, but even the brest and the bightest will have a very difficult time making me into a sweet new product.
I, as most of the dentists here, am old, sour, prone to bitching at the drop of a cat and very ubnlikely to make a sweet product, let alone new.

[LiveLarger]

A surefire way/tool telling you what the avalanche dangers are. The probe being linked to further up is good, but not nearly enough.

Make us something that you just stick in the snow and say "ski this! It's perfectly safe and will be the ride of your lifetime!" or "Dude, ski this, and you DIE!"

That simple. If you can do it, I can guarantee you a fat bank account.

[neufox47]

Super warm yet thin gloves. Thinking argon insulation like warm. Maybe you can create an argon permeated foam that could have a goretex and fabric casing.

But i like Dark_star also have a problem carrying my helmet with some skis / backpack combos.

[grskier]

Creek crossings usually suck...

[PNWbrit]

Well, "Valerie", you can start by showing us a photo of your tits.

Next: design an avy beacon that has a built in TGR App. While searching for my buried friends is important, I also don't want to miss out on which mattress Benny decided to buy.

Also: some sort of anti-Texan death ray.

Well played.

[stuckathuntermtn]

Well, at least she started in the right subforum. MIT kids must be smart.
No joke: and AT binding like a Duke, Guardian, Adrenaline, etc with downhill binding elasticity and upward toe release. You'd probably need a lockout for that last thing so you don't just lift your foot out of the binding while skinning. AT/Alpine boot compatibility with DIN standard release without modding the boot.
That is the only thing that seems to be missing.
Also, I may very well have no idea what I'm talking about. Just a heads up.

[stuckathuntermtn]

Or an MFD plate with the same performance at half the cost. I think that may have been what really did them in. They started at about $300, didn't they?

[shirk]

The infamous Lesbostrap9000 could use a re-design. You can search for it's history on these forums. It's been highly valuable and much loved by many on here.

[Hugh Conway]

I'd like a product that'd obliterate every stupid lazy motherfucker who spams this board for their dumb engineer asses need to find a product to build. If you can't figure it out without asking a herd of rambling retards on the retard treadmill you deserve to design treadmills for enterity. Or sell shit to rich people, the same level of hell for MITards

[Gepeto]

Well, "Valerie", you can start by showing us a photo of your tits.

Next: design an avy beacon that has a built in TGR App. While searching for my buried friends is important, I also don't want to miss out on which mattress Benny decided to buy.

Also: some sort of anti-Texan death ray.

This is very funny… Benny should just sleep on a blow up doll. It will improve his posture.


On a more serious note Val, consider these two ideas:

A FLIR like device that would be inexpensive enough (under $300), less than 8oz and hand held for a BC skier to find buried avalanche victims. It would need to penetrate snow to a depth of let’s say 8 feet and a working range of 300 feet just to give you some starting parameters. Something on a larger scale and 3 to 5 times more effective that SAR units could afford ($2500?).

A collapsible 8’ probe that a user would slowly plunge into the snow pack. The probe would provide a real time display of snow density changes along with snow crystal type (crystalline structure) at each density change. Throw temperature variations in there for good measure.
Your trying to establish if a weak layer exists and at what depth. If the mechanical means could be established, snow stability formulas would be the easy part. Determining a snow crystal type at depth with a probe is the hurtle. A good understanding of snow science would be a good precursor to development.

If these don’t tickle you fancy, I hear cold fusion is popular again.

Edit: Here is your competition... http://www.avatech.com/#

[Micol]

Some ideas that interest me
cat diapers.

grasshopper humus

a machine that sends text to another machine at distant location via telephone wires and prints output on rolled thermal paper...product to be called a "tex"

recyclable oil

an electronic interface that allows a web of different users to gain and distribute text and pictures with each other and create unique electronic pages for such material that is eternally stored for other users to view on television type monitors

a system for transportation that involves a combustible engine and 4 spinning circles that can transport one or more occupants from point A to point B

I have more but this is a jumping off point for now till I can get the creative juices really flowing. Oops was this supposed to be skiing related? My bad, oh well I need the post count

[steff]

"...facilitates adventures in remote areas..."

helicopter backpack
gas powered conveyor belt climbing skins

[SgtSkidmark]

Where the MITiddays at

[Flyoverland Captive]

An airbag that, when deployed, takes the shape of a sex doll.

[Knut]

An airbag that, when deployed, takes the shape of a sex doll.

That actually has been developed already.
ABS did an Airbag like that for playing a prank on a high-ranking company member who deployed this airbag during a public demonstration. I unfortunately utterly fail to find any pictures or videos of it on the webz.