I created a survey for financially conscious college students, asking about their flying experiences and what is lacking in current seating. Results indicated students want comfort on a budget, featuring more legroom and reclinability.

Three conceptional designs were iterated on, each placing different weights on our user group’s wants: legroom, reclinability, and seat comfort. We down-selected to a design inspired by collapsible chairs already on the market such as lounge chairs. Our design is easy to collapse, transport, encourages legroom, and provides 3 degrees of reclinability.

We built a 1/4 scale model to test the manufacturability of our design and note any complications or areas of high stress. We created a CAD model of the chair, performed FEA to validate hand calculations that would allow for reclining up to 45°. The simulations showed the chair can withstand up to 350 N at the most concentrated area and had a factor of safety (FOS) of 2.4, which is reasonable for our circumstances.

The full-size prototype was made of plywood, velcro, string, and towels for cushion. Able to fold into a small carry-on suitcase with ease, consuming 2.5 inches in thickness, our prototype weighs less than 7 lbs. and cost less than $25 in raw materials to build.