Umbrosa
Umbrosa’s shade solutions are a clear statement of both elegance and understated simplicity, all combined with unprecedented ergonomics that take ‘easy to use’ to a higher dimension. All components are made of durable anodized aluminum, UV-resistant materials, and fabrics of the very best quality. All this ensures longlasting shade, year after year.
Mission & Vision
‘The most beautiful umbrellas in the world.’ Umbrosa was created with the sole mission of emanating an icon or brand that represents the best parasols worldwide. Umbrosa aims for unique innovative parasol designs with the goal of exuding iconic image and high-end. With both their fixed series and UX series, they try to reach more and more users and clients with their designs.
Intro
Umbrosa’s goal is to produce the world’s most beautiful and best parasols. Now that they have succeeded in doing so, it is time for the next step. In a world of digitalization where ease of use is optimized, Umbrosa is now trying to take its first step towards technology. The goal in this project is to find the balance between the strong image of Umbrosa and the added value of technology. In doing so, it is important to maintain Umbrosa’s values and standards.
Focus
This project focuses on integrating technology into existing Umbrosa products. The aim is not to create a completely new parasol, but rather to add value to enhance the unique experience.
Brainstorm
During the concept generation, several ideas were generated. The term technology can be viewed very broadly, from which numerous ideas emerged. Production, feasibility, market potential, etc. are less important. After generating hundreds of concepts, the decision was made to continue working on more concrete topics.
Challenge
After explaining the potential possibilities, the focus was on automation.
Ease of use is central within Umbrosa. To compliment this value, the choice was made to develop a fully automatic parasol.
Here the focus is placed on one particular parasol, namely the Versa UX.
Since this parasol is the flagship of Umbrosa, it was decided to automate this type first.
Testing
While testing the different principles, several motor companies were contacted. Bohez, a company specializing in drive technology, provided useful feedback in order to arrive at a good solution together. This included looking at the advantages and disadvantages of each system. Force calculations are necessary to select the right components. At Umbrosa, basic measurements were made of the pulling and pushing forces acting on the parasol. Extreme situations were taken into account so that the system is designed against possible overloads.
Rotation
The operation of the rotation is as follows: An engine turns a spindle because the spindle rotates the spindle nut back and forth; It is precisely this movement that pulls a guider back and forth which results into a rotation of the head.
Lineair
The translation is a very simple concept: the motor at the top turns the spindle, causing the spindle nut to move up and down. The spindle nut is fixed in the handle of the parasol. This way, the hanging arm of the parasol can glide over it to create this sliding movement.