Analysis and Refinement of Snow Removal Invention

Background
The winter weather the last couple of years with lots of snow has become an increased problem for buildings in Sweden. Especially southern Sweden have been stricken hard by the amount of snow due to that the buildings are not designed for this amount of snow. But also older buildings all over the country have been affected or destroyed. The costs to rebuild buildings that have been destroyed are huge. But also, the amount of labour that goes into shovelling the rooftops to keep buildings from collapsing is adding to the overall expense.
The work environment for personnel that maintains the rooftops to keep them free from snow and ice is not only a cold, hard and tough, but also from an ergonomically perspective, unhealthy work. Safety issues are always apparent and increase with the amount of snow on the roof.
A new company NIJJ AB owns a patent regarding a novel mechanical solution that aims to remove snow from industrial and public buildings and offices. The company started recently but the potential for the product is vast.
The company is situated in Jokkmokk and the work will be carried out either at NIJJ AB’s facilities or as agreed upon.
Aim:
The master thesis aims to develop the patented mechanism into both a virtual and a working prototype.
Approach:
The Master thesis will be divided into two different parts, however they relate to each other and should be performed simultaneously:
1st Part – Engineering and Prototyping
The Master thesis will begin from a previous Master Thesis work that was conducted during 2011. In that work a product concept have been developed and now the concept needs detailed refinement and analyses. The project will start by analyzing the current product concept and after that move into an analysis phase where some critical components are chosen for analysis and physical testing. A physical prototype will be built so that total system functionality may be tested.
Commonly used Product Development and analyse methods, e.g. Computer Aided Design, Finite Element Analysis, Multi Body Dynamics, Logics and Control systems will be used in order to find and design critical components within the product and system. Electromechanical design may also be involved.
Important to consider during the development is not only the design itself but also other parts of the products life cycle i.e. production, transportation, assembly and installation at site, maintenance, recycling etc.
Making physical prototypes early in the project to investigate certain components or physical phenomenon during wintertime is important.
2nd Part – Academic Contribution
Simultaneously when conducting the development and analyses of the product the concept evaluation methods used (commonly available in literature and taught in academia) should be examined if they are suitable for use within SME’s and small start-up firms.
Goals:
Analyse and improve the product concept on a detailed level
Evaluate each design decision using common product development methods
Make a physical prototype and testing of critical subcomponents
Evaluate Concept Evaluation methods used
Master thesis report and oral presentation will be held both at the university and at the company. Thesis will be written in English or Swedish.

Time schedule
Work can start immediately or when agreed upon and involves about 20 weeks fulltime work, 30p (Swedish Master of Science in Engineering).
Competence
The project work is suitable for students taking engineering programs e.g. mechanical engineering, systems engineering, industrial design, engineering design. However creative students that have skills and competence within their specific fields are welcome to apply.
Since the work may become quite complex we are looking for 2 students (preferably one of each sex) to be involved in the work. You may apply either as a team or as an individual person.

How to apply:
Please send CV, personal letter with some information about yourself, your education background and why you are suitable for this project and a copy of your current grades to contact persons below. PDF-format is preferred. If you have any other questions please feel free to contact us.

Contact Persons
Nicklas Forsberg Lennart Forsberg
NIJJ AB NIJJ AB
[email protected] [email protected]
070-368 01 80 070-668 78 96