The Clean Seat Initiative: Bus Seat Cover
2020 University of Michigan COVID-19 Campus Challenge
Team Size: 5 people
Goal
- To reduce the spread of COVID-19 due to use of University of Michigan transportation services.
Design Process
1. Problem Definition
Analysis of Available Transportation:
- Current seats on University of Michigan buses are insufficient at preventing the spread of COVID-19 as they are covered in a fabric that is both difficult and time-consuming to clean.
Scale of Problem:
- 54 buses containing approximately 2268 non-modular seats.
- UM Campus Bus Ridership last year was 7.48 million.
Current Solution:
- Additional custodial staff hired to sanitize all high touch surfaces
in all buses 1x/day.
- A few electrostatic sprayers were purchased.
2. Design Selection
Budget Estimate:
- Estimated overall cost of materials to cover all seats: $39,306.33.
- approximately 4.6% of the cost of a new bus.
- Additional custodial staff have already been hired.
- Bus operations are funded by the provost.
Material Analysis:
- Current bus seat fabric: Moquette
- Requires continuous deep cleaning of wool nylon fibers.
- Requires specialized cleaning equipment.
- Retains dirt, dust, bacteria, and pathogens.
- Proposed bus seat fabric: Vinyl
- Resistant to corrosion, chemicals, and light.
- Expedites and simplifies cleaning process.
- Most versatile plastic; easily recyclable after a lifespan of decades.
Proposed Solution:
- Vinyl seat covers which can be added to existing seat and removed post-pandemic:
- Easy to wipe down, recyclable, durable, and lightweight.
- Rapid cleaning and drying.
- No damage or replacement of existing seats.
- Sustainable, recyclable materials.
3. Detailed Design
Moquette fabric Vinyl Fabric
Final Concept:
- An individual seat cover which attaches via Velcro the the current bus seats.
- Enables rapid, thorough cleaning of the bus seats between riders.
Manufacturing Process:
- CNC cutting machine cuts vinyl and Velcro to size before adhesive side of Velcro is attached to the vinyl.
- Design optimizes material with dimensions similar to the size of the standard vinyl sheets.
- Large flaps reduce required Velcro attachment precision.
User Interaction:
- The frequency of this cycle depends on time of day, availability of custodial staff, and thoroughness of cleaning.
Challenges
- Unable to physically access buses at time of project (remote semester).
- Lack of knowledge about simultaneous efforts to reduce the impact of COVID in transportation at Michigan.
Results
- Awarded distinction of Top 5 in Transportation for the 2020 University of Michigan COVID-19 Campus Challenge.
- Solution was not adopted in future semesters.
Conclusion
The project highlighted the importance of validation in addition to verification. Although the solution was well-designed to meet all internal criteria, it failed to solve the most critical problem. This is because it solved for a niche need of rapid transportation surface cleaning, which was not the main contributor to the spread of a virus on campus transportation. It provided a pivotal learning moment in my product design experience and taught the importance of constantly engaging with stakeholders to ensure the team is not designing in isolation and emphasized broadening the problem exploration stage.