iPedia Free Information Center

Information about Human Powered Transport

Human-powered transport is any vehicle for transport of person(s) and/or goods, powered by human muscle.
Enlarge picture
The bicycle is the most popular human-powered vehicle
Like animal-powered transport, human-powered transport has existed since time immemorial in the form of walking, running and swimming. Modern technology has allowed machines to enhance human-power. Although motorization has reduced the effort in transport, many human-powered machines remain popular for leisure or exercise and for short distance travel. Human-powered transport is often the only kind available in underdeveloped or inaccessible regions, and is considered an ideal form of sustainable transportation.

Available muscle power

Enlarge picture
The Trikke works simply by shifting your body weight.
The average "in-shape" cyclist can produce about 3 watts/kg for more than an hour (e.g., around 200 watts for a 70 kg rider), with top amateurs producing 5 watts/kg and elite athletes achieving 6 watts/kg for similar lengths of time. Elite track sprint cyclists are able to attain an instantaneous maximum output of around 2,000 watts, or in excess of 25 watts/kg; elite road cyclists may produce 1,600 to 1,700 watts as an instantaneous maximum in their burst to the finish line at the end of a five-hour long road race.

Modes of transporting self

Using only one's own muscles

Using object(s) & sheer muscle power

Enlarge picture
Three human powered vehicles: the Gossamer Albatross II and two bicycles.
A human-powered vehicle (HPV) is a vehicle powered solely by human muscle.

Using a natural force, object(s) & muscles

Here the human effort is not used in the actual locomotion, but human intelligence is needed to exploit natural forces.

Modes for transporting others

Some of the vehicles mentioned under Modes of self transport also exist(ed) in a version with cargo and/or passengers, such as the galley. Various of the above examples have also been models for a motorized variation.

Human-powered surface vehicles

Enlarge picture
Recumbent Cycles racing in Wonthaggi, Victoria
The most common and most efficient human-powered vehicle is the bicycle. Variations on the bicycle, the recumbent bicycles, are the fastest human-powered vehicles because they are more aerodynamic than upright bicycles, while having a similar energy transfer efficiency. In 2002, Sam Whittingham pedaled a streamliner (a fully-faired recumbent) for 200 m at 130.36 km/h (81.00 mph) in the Varna Diablo II [1] As of 2005, that run still holds the International Human Powered Vehicle Association's speed record[2]

Olympic Cyclist and IRONMAN triathlon winner, John Howard set a 244.9 km/h (152.2 mph) speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats near Wendover, Utah on July 20, 1985 while cycling in the wake of a motorized Vesco Streamliner pace-car.[3] The wake of pace-car reduced the aerodynamic drag against which Howard pedalled to almost zero.[4]

Greg Kolodziejzyk set two world records recognized by both the International Human Powered Vehicle Association and Guinness (TM) World Records on July 17, 2006 on a race track in Eureka, CA. The first record is for the most distance traveled in 24 hours by human power (647 miles, 1041 km), and the second for the worlds fastest 1000 km time trial (23 hours, 2 minutes). [5]

In 1969, artists in a small Northern California town began the Kinetic sculpture race which has grown to a 42 mile (67.2 km), three-day all terrain, human-powered sculpture race and county wide event. It is held every year in the last weekend in May.

Enlarge picture
MIT Daedalus human powered aircraft

Airplanes

Main article: Human-powered_flight
The first officially authenticated take-off and landing of a human-powered aircraft (one capable of powered takeoffs, unlike a glider) was made on 9 November 1961 by Derek Piggott in Southampton University's Man Powered Aircraft (SUMPA). (A claim for a flight by the Pedaliante in March 1937 is disputed because a catapult was used for take-off.) [6] [7].

Perhaps the best-known human-powered plane is the Gossamer Albatross, which flew across the English Channel in 1979.

The current distance and duration record recognised by the FAI was achieved on 23 April 1988 from Iraklion on Crete to Santorini in a MIT Daedalus 88 piloted by Kanellos Kanellopoulos: a straight distance of 115.11 km (74 miles) in 3 hours, 54 minutes.

The current speed record is held by the Monarch B, built by a team at MIT in 1983, which won a Kremer Prize of £20,000 for sustaining a speed of over 30 km/h over a 1.5 km triangular course.

Helicopters

Main article: Human-powered_helicopter
The first officially observed human-powered helicopter to have left the ground was the Da Vinci III in 1989. It was designed and built by students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in California, USA. It flew for 7.1 seconds and reached a height of 8 inches (20 cm). The second was the Yuri I in 1994, designed and built by students at Nihon University in Japan. It flew for 19.46 seconds and reached an altitude of 20 cm. Both were attempts to win the Sikorsky Prize.

Human-powered watercraft

Hydrofoil

The world speed record on water was set 27 October 1991 by MIT Professor Mark Drela who pedalled a human-powered hydrofoil, "Decavitator", to 18.5 knots (9.53 meters/second) over a 100 meter race course in Boston, Massachusetts.

Submarines

In 1989 the first human-powered International Submarine Race (ISR) was held in Florida with 17 craft. Since then nine more races have been held. The races themselves have been moved from the waters of Florida to the United States Naval Surface Warfare Center's Carderock Division David Taylor Model Basin in Bethesda, Maryland, and are held biennially.[1]

At the 9th ISR in 2007 (in which 23 submarines participated) several new records where set: A single-person craft, Omer5 achieved a record speed of 8.035 knots breaking the Omer team's previous record of 7.19 knots set by Omer 4 in 2004. Also Omer 6 snatched up a record for non -propeller driven craft with a speed of 4.642 knots.[2]

See also

This article is part
of the Transport series
Modes...
Animal-powered
Aviation
Human-powered
Ship
Rail
Road
See also...
Topics |
This box:  •  • [ edit]

References

External links

Air

Water

Land

  • Trikke Trikke Human Powered Vehicles
Transport or transportation is the movement of people and goods from one place to another. The term is derived from the Latin trans ("across") and portare ("to carry").
..... Click the link for more information.
Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism.
If you are prevented from editing this page, and you wish to make a change, please discuss changes on the talk page, request unprotection, log in, or .
..... Click the link for more information.
MUSCLE (multiple sequence comparison by log-expectation) is public domain, multiple sequence alignment software for protein and nucleotide sequences.
..... Click the link for more information.
animal-powered transport is a broad category of the human use of non-human working animals (also known as "beasts of burden") for the movement of people and goods. Humans may ride some of the larger of these animals directly, use them as pack animals for carrying goods, or harness
..... Click the link for more information.
Time immemorial is time extending beyond the reach of memory, record, or tradition. The implication is that the subject referred to is, or can be regarded as, indefinitely ancient.

The term has been formally defined for some purposes.
..... Click the link for more information.
machine (derived from the latin machina) is any device that transmits or modifies . In common usage, the meaning is restricted to devices having rigid moving parts that perform or assist in performing some work.
..... Click the link for more information.
Sustainable transport, also commonly referred to as Sustainable Transportation or Sustainable Mobility, has no widely accepted definition. Since it is a sector-specific sub-set to the post-1988 sustainable development movement, it is often defined in words such as
..... Click the link for more information.
Crawling is a form of animal locomotion generally involving slow movement along the ground, such as that seen in snakes, snails and earthworms. Various mechanisms are involved, for example earthworms move by peristalsis, while snakes undulate their body from side to side.
..... Click the link for more information.
Walking is the main form of animal locomotion on land, distinguished from running and crawling. When carried out in shallow waters, it is usually described as wading and when performed over a steeply rising object or an obstacle it becomes scrambling
..... Click the link for more information.
Running is defined as the fastest means for an animal to move on foot. It is defined in sporting terms as a gait in which at some point all feet are off the ground at the same time. It can be a form of both aerobic and anaerobic exercise.
..... Click the link for more information.
Swimming is the movement used in water without artificial assistance.

History

Drawings from the Stone Age were found in "the cave of swimmers" near Sura, dating back to 2000 B.C. In 1538 Nicolas Wynman, German professor of languages, wrote the first swimming book.
..... Click the link for more information.
Diving refers to the sport of performing acrobatics whilst jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard of a certain height. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games.
..... Click the link for more information.
Climbing is the activity of using one's hands or feet to ascend a steep object. It is done both for recreation (to reach an inaccessible place, or for its own enjoyment) and professionally, as part of activities such as maintenance of a structure, or military operations.
..... Click the link for more information.
Mountaineering is the sport, hobby or profession of walking, hiking, trekking and climbing up mountains. It is also sometimes known as alpinism, particularly in Europe.
..... Click the link for more information.
Rock climbing
  • Climbing
  • History
  • Climbing system
  • Climbing techniques
  • Abseiling
  • Grade


Abseiling (from the German: abseilen, "to rope down") is the process of descending on a fixed rope.
..... Click the link for more information.
Vehicles are non-living means of transport. They are most often man-made (e.g. bicycles, cars, motorcycles, trains, ships, and aircraft), although some other means of transport which are not made by man can also be called vehicles; examples include icebergs and floating tree trunks.
..... Click the link for more information.
Canoeing is the activity of paddling a canoe for the purpose of recreation (also called a float trip), sport, or transportation. It usually refers exclusively to using a paddle to propel a canoe with only human muscle power.
..... Click the link for more information.
Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving across water. Kayaking is differentiated from canoeing by the fact that a kayak has a closed cockpit and a canoe has an open cockpit. They also use a two bladed paddle. Another major difference is in the way the paddler sits in the boat.
..... Click the link for more information.
Cross-country skiing (also known as XC skiing) is a winter sport popular in many countries with large snowfields, primarily Northern Europe and Canada. The popularity of the sport has been quickly growing in the United States.
..... Click the link for more information.
Cycling is a means of transport, a form of recreation, and a sport. The bicycle carries riders across land, through tunnels, over bridges, snow, or, less frequently, over ice (icebiking).
..... Click the link for more information.
racing bicycle is built using lightweight, shaped aluminium tubing and carbon fiber stays and forks. It sports a drop handlebar and thin tires and wheels for efficiency and aerodynamics.
..... Click the link for more information.
A unicycle is a one-wheeled human-powered vehicle. Unicycles are similar to, but less complex than, bicycles.

Construction

Unicycles are composed of a few key parts: the wheel (which includes the tire, tube, rim, spokes, hub and axle), the cranks, pedals,
..... Click the link for more information.
tricycle (often abbreviated to trike) is a three-wheeled vehicle.

Tricycles generally follow one of three layouts:
  • delta, with two wheels at the back and one at the front (the usual layout).

..... Click the link for more information.
Quadricycle is a four-wheeled human-powered vehicle. It is also referred to as a quadracycle, quadcycle, quadrocycle or as a four-wheel bicycle.
..... Click the link for more information.
A velomobile or bicycle car is a human-powered vehicle, enclosed for protection from weather and collisions. They are virtually always single-passenger vehicles. They are derived from recumbent bicycles and tricycles, with the addition of a full fairing (aerodynamic shell).
..... Click the link for more information.
The tandem bicycle or twin is a form of bicycle (occasionally, a tricycle) designed to be ridden by more than one person. The term tandem refers to the seating arrangement (fore to aft, not side-by-side) instead of the number of riders.
..... Click the link for more information.
sidecar as an attachment to a motocycle. For the alcoholic drink, see Sidecar (cocktail). For the type of insurance, see Reinsurance Sidecar.


A sidecar
..... Click the link for more information.
Ice skating is traveling on ice with skates, narrow (and sometimes parabolic) blade-like devices moulded into special boots (or, more primitively, without the boots, tied to regular footwear). People usually skate on frozen rivers and lakes and at skating rinks.
..... Click the link for more information.
A kick scooter or push scooter is a small, 2 or more-wheeled platform that is propelled by a rider pushing off the ground. The most common scooters have two hard small wheels, are made primarily of aluminum and for children, and fold for convenience.
..... Click the link for more information.
Man-powered flight is aerial travel in an aircraft powered exclusively by direct human energy.

Early attempts at man-powered flight were unsuccessful because of the difficulty of achieving the high power-to-weight ratio.
..... Click the link for more information.


This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.
Herod_Archelaus


page counter