Presently the world is concerned about increasing pollution and decreasing sources of energy, which is the reason why we are facing many environment related problems. Whether it is power generation or transportation, we need to bring about various improvements in order to make a greener world. For our daily transportation we definitely need an ecological form of transport. To fulfill the need a recumbent bicycle has been designed for James Dyson Award.
The reason to make a bicycle recumbent is to minimize air resistance. The bicycle also consists of flywheel that stores energy generated by the onboard regenerative braking system. During the movement of the flywheel, when excess energy is produced, it can be stored and then released in times of need. The flywheel can also be charged using the wall socket and used as an engine capable of providing power up to 60kW. You can travel 33km at a speed of 50km/h in one charge.
The bicycle is capable of achieving speed up to 80km/h whereas the maximum achievable speed is 135km/h. Since it uses mechanical power, you don’t lose much energy while converting it from one type to another. The entire structure of the bicycle is made out of steel and weighs 35kg including the 5kg flywheel.
The inspiration behind the invention is that the existing models of bicycles use batteries which don’t perform efficiently. The maximum speed of these bikes is also not satisfactory for urban riding. Bicycles being ecologically clean, have been taken as the base for this recumbent bicycle and the two basic problems, frame and a human, the two energy sources, too have been analyzed.
Via: James Dyson Award
