Pedestrians in urban New England face dangerously icy conditions which create a slipping hazard and can lead to serious injury. One way to reduce this hazard is through footwear traction systems. There are several products on the market, such as crampons and ice cleats, but they are cumbersome and inconvenient because they are removable devices that should only be worn on frozen surfaces. This forces users to attach or remove the system with every surface change. Conversely, a retractable traction system streamlines the transition between dry pavement, icy pavement, and indoor flooring. This project introduces such a system through a scale prototype of a modular half-shoe retractable spike mechanism.

• This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

Creator

• Mushrall, Karen E.
• DaSilva, Kaitlyn Marie
• Walwik, Martin Augustine

Publisher

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Identifier

• E-project-042219-092536

Advisor

• Cobb, Eben C.

Year

• 2019

Date created

• 2019-04-22

Resource type

• Major Qualifying Project

Major

• Mechanical Engineering

Rights statement

• In Copyright