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04

Industrial Design

RFS

Promote a healthier lifestyle for hamsters

A running wheel that rewards exercise with food, encouraging golden hamsters to stay active and healthy.

Project type
Personal project
Duration
8 weeks

Project Brief

RFS is a personal, eight-week project with a simple goal: promote a healthier lifestyle for hamsters. It starts from the most-used facility in a hamster's cage — the running wheel — and asks what the wheel can do beyond simple exercise.

RFS project brief board with the goal to promote a healthier lifestyle for hamsters and the project details "Personal work · 8 weeks".

Design Background

Depression, obesity, and anorexia are rising problems for pet hamsters — hard to detect and without a definitive treatment. Research shows free running reduces anxiety, and since hamsters already use the wheel four to eight hours a day, improving it is the most direct solution.

Design background board with the illustrated hamsters George and Joey, pet-welfare statistics, and research notes on the anxiety-reducing effects of free running on a wheel.

Concept

Willingness to run fades over time, so — like Pavlov's experiment — the wheel releases a treat after a set amount of exercise. Power conversion, food dispensing, and the wheel body integrate into the framework without affecting movement.

Concept board showing a hamster in a running wheel with an annotated reward dispenser and the three integrated systems: power conversion, food dispensing, and the running wheel body.

Running Wheel Body

The running wheel body integrates the power conversion system and the food dispensing mechanism into the wheel's framework. The running surface stays open and unobstructed so the hamster's movement is not affected.

Running Wheel Body board with the wheel structure and the integrated power conversion and food dispensing systems.

Power Conversion System

Power conversion board with the three-stage planetary gear reduction, bracket design, and quiet-operation testing notes.
Reduction
Three-stage planetary gear set
Final ratio
≈ 600:1
Stage spacing
Fixed by brackets for smooth gear meshing
Operation
Quiet and compact (tested)

Food Dispensing Mechanism

Treats range from about 7 mm to 25 mm, so freeze-dried food was chosen for easy storage and consistent release. The mechanism counts wheel rotations and releases one treat from a transparent compartment.

Food dispensing mechanism board with treat-size comparisons, the freeze-dried food choice, and the transparent storage compartment.

Component Assembly

Every component of the wheel and its mechanism is documented on the assembly board, followed by an assembly demonstration and a demonstration video showing the complete assembly.

Component assembly board with the part list, the assembly sequence, and the demonstration video frames.

Design Specification

Design specification board with dimensioned drawings of the acrylic parts, the 0.2 mm interference-fit holes, and the mortise-and-tenon joint details.
Material
3 mm acrylic sheet
Standard unit
3 mm grid — most dimensions are multiples of 3 mm
Hole fit
0.2 mm narrower than 3 mm for an interference fit
Joints
Mortise-and-tenon with chamfered arcs

Product Demonstration

The finished wheel is demonstrated as a complete product: the assembled wheel, the mechanism, and the reward it releases.

Product demonstration board showing the finished Hamster Wheel.
Product demonstration board showing the wheel in use.