Conceptualization of an electric inner city transport aid

The E-City Buddy is a small, autonomous, battery driven transport vehicle. It is able to transport goods and make the life of city residents easier, particularly elderly people. Developing such a vehicle is a task that requires a lot of time, manpower and resources. In this paper we discuss a methodic procedure that allows us to go from a broad idea to a very detailed concept in very short time. These methods not only allow us to define specific requirements, but also help structure the product into rough assembly groups. Following that, a pool of solutions for the different assembly groups are worked out and defined. The methods discussed can be used for the development of other small electric vehicles.