AHMEDABAD: What’s the biggest hurdle for two-wheeler owners when it comes to covering the vehicle? Carrying the plastic, unfolding it to cover the vehicle and again folding it for the next usage. But what if it can be attached to the vehicle itself and folded or unfolded in less than a minute?
This was the idea that struck Adarsh Maradiya, a second-year product design student at National Institute of Design, and took the shape of his final project ‘Pull It’. The concept consists of a metal box with parachute fabric and two strings. “India has a large number of two-wheelers. The owners face issues ranging from bird poop to people sitting on it when parked. But covering it all the time is cumbersome. So, no one bothers to do it as much as they do it for cars,” said Maradiya, a resident of Ahmedabad.
“I figured out that time, space and look were the main constraints.” He devised a mechanism where the user pulls the cloth out and fixes it on two wheels with two hooks. When the strings are pulled back, the cloth folds into the box in seconds. The box is compact and can be attached to or detached from the back of a bike in a jiffy.
Most importantly, said Maradiya, the cost would be very less due to the absence of moving parts and easy availability of raw material. NID faculty members that guided him have encouraged him to undergo product incubation due to its practical design and possible market.
