Bike races are one of Wisconsin’s many staple summer activities. Tour of America’s Dairyland (ToAD) is an entity which hosts 11 competitive cycling events in the state of Wisconsin each summer. For each race they host, ToAD puts up several hundred metal barriers which separate pedestrians from riders. Often times the barriers become misaligned, and they turn into dangerous, blunt objects pose a risk of injury for cyclists traveling near them at high speeds. ToAD approached MSOE and asked for a senior design team to help solve this issue. Mechanical engineering seniors Hoyt Leitzke, Collin Bergerud and Jason Graham were up for the challenge.

Pictured left: misaligned barriers can be harmful to racers.  

The team set out to find a barrier solution that was cost effective, simplistic and prioritized rider safety. After researching different avenues and consulting MSOE faculty on different design iterations, they came up with a plastic connector that keeps the race barriers connected, reducing the risk of exposed, sharp edges. 

“Early prototypes were made via additive manufacturing by 3D printing with TPU,” the team explained. “We moved on to 3D printing molds of the part to pour silicone of different ‘Shore A hardness levels,’ which is how squishy it is, to find the right balance of rigidity and cushion.”

The team created a test method to gauge the safety of the different solutions they developed to enable them to have quantitative results to show which design was the best overall. 

“My favorite part of this project was testing the prototypes. It was so assuring to be able to see that the engineering time we put into developing the product was paying off in a meaningful way,” said Bergerud.

The project was well received by ToAD and USA Cycling, who are interested in testing the prototype in actual races this summer. The group is hoping to get their design patented. “Our next steps are to follow through with filing a patent so our intellectual property is protected and can be shared to get more traction and business moving forward.”