I'm currently exploring HaverFord's agricultural bird netting as it offers hail protection to orchards due to the X-Weave mesh pattern and is a lightweight material. I will need to prototype and test if this material will be suitable for my design solution. 

Any feedback and suggestions would be appreciated. 

Great idea Toby. Can't tell you how many times I have needed one of these. Great point about how often the car is written off due to hail damage.  A huge impact of land fill and material waste.

Check out the 'Shop' button back in the main UpRising site for amazing circle economy materials. 

let's go!

Here is a link to a questionnaire that will aid in the research and development of my project. I would greatly appreciate it if you could fill it out. 

Link: https://forms.gle/Tm7cGyZ1tXTHNQW27 

NOTE* For the link you need to copy and paste the link into your search bar, as clicking the link won't take you to the form for some reason. 

Hi Toby,

(I've done the questionnare already but I thought I would submit my response here too just in case)

I don't know if you're still on this project, but here are some of my recommendations anyways.

First of all, hail falls at around 150kph on average, and so a flimsy material like any fabrics or meshes simply wouldn't be capable of holding back the sheer force these hailstones can carry. Think of it like a trampoline. The larger the surface area, the less tension there is. This causes the material to dip down further when hit with something like a hailstone and so a harder or more robust material would be required to not only withstand the hail, but also the strong winds and rainfall that typically surround this kind of event.

Secondly, predicting a hailstorm can be very difficult as they are often spontaneous, and so there is limited time or prediction to be able to set up a protector over your car. Additionally, if the hail has already started falling, it can be very dangerous to spend upwards of 2-3 minutes getting bombarded by hailstones just to put up a net.

So my advice is to either have an autonomous aspect to the project, or to have it so practical that it can be set up whenever there is a large storm, just in case hail does indeed fall. As for storage ideas, components like the poles can be split into sections (see self-assembling trekking poles) and the net / nylon / covering can be seamed. This is so that all of the parts can easily be fit together and packed away into a tight bag or casing, which can then be stored in the car boot.

Best of luck with your project ❤️

A very innovative design Toby, great work! 

One suggestion for you. I'd would consider looking into making the design more streamline and form-fitting to the car.

Hopefully this helps 

Hi Lambaster, 

Thank you for doing my survey and your suggestions.

Regarding your comment on the material, I have already prototyped with a mesh material and found that the mesh material that I bought for the prototype was too stretchy and couldn't hold tension when projectiles were thrown at it. So I have acquired another mesh material which is much more rigid and less stretchy and I plan to do another prototype utilising this new material on my design. 

As for your comment on the setup of the hail protector, Yes I do plan to make it so practical that an individual could set it up whenever there is a large storm. Since uploading the initial design sketch above I have changed from adjustable telescopic poles to tent poles as you mentioned, as I too figured that they would be much more practical, quicker and easier for users to use and to pack down into a small carry bag, by taking the netting and rolling it up similar to a tent while either putting the tent poles inside the rolled up net, or I could provide a bag for the tent poles, similar to how tent companies package their tent poles inside the tent bag.   

Hi Benjamin Davis, 

Thank you for your suggestions. The netting I plan on using is a very dense, fine netting which I have linked below which is definitely, dense enough to catch the damaging hailstones. When prototyping with my first mesh material it was very good at compacting down compared to other materials such as nylon and tarp, while also being much lighter, which is why I'm trying to utilise this mesh material compared to solid materials as mentioned before because then would additionally cause wind problems whereas mesh doesn't.   

Here is a link to the Netting I'm currently prototyping with: https://haverford.com.au/collections/hail-protection-netting/products/cross-weave-70gsm-hail-protection?variant=40197247959153 

This is a link to another netting design I prototyped with but found was way too stretchy to have enough tension to stop hail: https://haverford.com.au/products/x-weave-40gsm-bird-netting?variant=40398073593969 

Hi, QUTReview 

Thank you for your suggestion. I have thought about that after completing my first prototype, I decided that I will add side walls roughly 1 meter down all four sides to better protect the edges of the car. From my research, I haven't found many situations where cars have been damaged from hailstones rebounding off the floor and damaging the car, but I'll keep it in mind when testing my next prototype. 

Hi CoreyC, 

Thank you for your suggestion. I have thought about a more form-fitting design and I would like to have the poles as close to the car as possible but to make it completely "form-fitting" the process of utilising the netting would be very ineffective as there needs to be some space below for the net to rebound the hail stone. To make it completely form-fitting I would have to use foam which is very expensive and not very easy to compact down into a small bag, which is why I have come up with this design. 

Hi Toby Mc,

I really like your idea of a hail saving device, that could be in the boot for any occasion. I would certainly like one as it would save a lot of heartache, insurance and waste, so certainly worth sticking with it! If i saw this on the market, the one thing I would be concerned about is the suction cups on the front and back of the car, and if this would damage the paintwork or dent the car if there is a lot of weight or movement from high winds? This would likely depend on your mesh size and material of cups and weight of steel rods, and how much movement it gets in a storm from the design. I read your comments about a more form fitting model to protect the side windows, but with the need to keep enough distance from the car, and minimizing the use of foam. Have you considered a dome shape, like the dome shape tent that folds out pretty easily from those circles? And whether it can be attached the car or not? Could attaching to the ground be an option?

Anyways, I really wish you all the best in your ventures, and go for it! 

Warm regards,

Monique 

Hi Toby, a very real problem and a useful solution! I have some questions that might help guide your design process further...

I am interested in how the device is set up/down? Is it easy enough for a short person, like myself, or an elderly person to get the mesh covering over the top of the car without help from others? How heavy would this be to lift over a car?

I understand hail storms can be quiet windy at times - do you think the suction cups mounds will hold under such wind loads? Will the mesh act as a parachute? I suggest having a read of Section 3.5 AS/NZS 1170.1-2002 (for roofs) to help you out with designing for hail loading.

I can see how you have already considered the SDG no.12 (Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns) by developing a durable product. Have you considered recycled/recyclable materials?

Good luck with your progress!

Hi Toby, 

Without going into everyone's comments, I think this is a great idea. I also think is would benefit from some kind of drop sheets that can loosely fasten to the telescopic poles to protect the front, sides and Back of the vehicle. 

I wouldn't thick this would need to be as robust as the initial structure as it would mainly be ricocheting hail stones or if they were falling at an angle a lot of the energy would already have dissipated or just require slight redirecting. Having a looser sheet component would absorb and transfer the energy quite well. 

Hi Toby,

The idea of having pop-up shelter for vehicles which don't have access to immediate shelter is a great idea and could ensure that both the customers car is safe and the insurance companies aren't having to pay out large sums of money.

While digesting this possible solution and looking through other comments, I can see that there are some questions surrounding the materials & access issues. Below are some ideas which I have come up with while reading through:

- After a bit of research, I can see that hail does not always land directly vertical and can bounce off of surrounding items back into the car. The idea of an umbrella over the car to account for angled hail fall, would have to ensure the cover spans outward further. In the situation of an emergency, space for the 'wingspan' of the cover may not be available and could also make the product heavier due to the need for extra material. 

Additionally in this case, expanding the overall coverage may not eliminate the potential bouncing of hail stones coming toward the car.

- Suction cups could have negative impact on the paint and may not always be the most reliable when it comes to emergency situations. A possible design change could have the poles connect to inside the boot/bonnet when they're open and by closing the boot/bonnet, it would hold the structure into place with the additional straps outlined in your sketch. 

- Hail events may not occur as often therefor in most cases buying this product for may not be necessary. A partnership with SES (State Emergency Services) or the Fire brigade could assist in saving money for the community where the hail covers are stored and supplied at the local shelter. This could assist in the case when a hail storm is predicted and a customer can go to their local shelter and use the product and once the storm has passed, return the product. 

Additionally, the current design could be altered to accommodate for the potential hazards outlined in the comments. Although, possible ideas such as having an inflatable car cover could be an option. Where the product could still be stored concisely in the boot of the car and be taken out when needed:

- An  inflating machine/ Pump would come with the product or be integrated into the product like the newer inflatable beds. The pump would use the 12V cigarette lighter to turn on and inflate the product.

- More inflated padding could be accounted for around the windows of the car in respect to the glass's durability. 

- Different models could be purchased for different vehicles to suit their needs (SUV, Hatch back, Sudan, Ute)

- When not inflated the cover could act as a cover to protect the car from other environment elements. This would broaden the target audience, produce more sales and give more of a reason for customers to buy the product as it caters more then a rare hail event.

Overall, this is an interesting thought and could keep a lot of people out of strife! 

Good evening Toby. 

Great work on getting back to all of your comments. You are crushing it!!. Great to see you taking full advantage of being involved in being part of this years' UpRising.

Sending out a little UpRising news update. 

Hi Toby, 

I love the aesthetics of the design and how it prevents hail damage to all parts of the car while ensuring accessibility to the interior. 

Firstly, I'm curious about how your design is intended to be stored and how long it takes to be able to set up the protector over the vehicle. Additionally, can your design be used for differently-sized vehicles? 

Secondly, hail falls at a high speed, whilst varying in size. Thus, commonly used fabrics will be punctured and torn apart by the surrounding weather. I recommend a robust material to withstand these problems. However, using a stronger and higher quality material may affect the storage method used due to the textile materials being exposed to extremely harsh weather. Furthermore, the design looks stable, but the stability of the design may be affected by the combination of strong wind gusts and water affecting the suction cups.  

I'm unclear on how many improvements you have made to this project, but I recommend ensuring the design is simplistic to ensure the concept can be ensured and set up quickly and easily. I would also recommend the design covers the side of the car due to smaller hail having the capacity to travel horizontally when exposed to strong wind gusts.    

Best of luck.

Awesome idea Tobey.

This is a very innovative solution to this problem. Protecting cars from hail storms can help people avoid either paying for damages or trying to go through the processes with their insurance company to cover the damages. I have a few pieces of constructive criticism to add to your project. 

1. Ensure the implementation of the cover is easy for the user. By the looks of you sketch attached, it appears that the supporting poles are attached to the bonnet and boot of the car. I would recommend finding a way to support the cover without affecting the car's paint.

2. Ensuring the cover is universal for different types of cars/vehicles. If there is a way to add into your design a way of making the cover universal for all cars such as Utes, sedans, hatchbacks and 4WD etc. 

3. Ensuring the cover is easy to setup. It is very hard to predict if a hailstorm is actually going to occur. Most of the time people don't know until it has already starting. Ensuring the cover is easy enough for the user to setup every time there is suspicion of a hailstorm so that they can ensure their car is safe will be very beneficial. 

Hey there Toby, hope all is well. Congratulations you are nearly there.

If you could update the image on your Post to show a little collage of your projects development that would be fantastic. We will be awarding the top three UpRising design projects for 2024 and the UpRising alliance and community love to see the journey of your design.

There is a little feedback survey, if you could fill it in that would fantastic as it really helps us to understand how we can better help next years design students.

https://forms.gle/XLgNBqQepAw2Go5q7

It also has an option for you to select if you would like to continue to be involved in UpRising next year and beyond. Lots of interesting ways to continue to build connections within the design industry. Great for your resume and career paths.

Wishing you all the best with your trials and finishing touches on your MDP.

Shout out if we can help in any way.