University of Toronto Human Powered Vehicle
The University of Toronto Human Powered Vehicle Design Team (HPVDT) is a design team focused around designing and building vehicles solely using human power. The projects include the Human Powered Ornithropter (HPO) project and the Human Powered Vehicle (HPV) project.
Human Powered Ornithropter
During the summer of 2008 a group of graduate students founded the club to design and build an ornithopter (wing-flapping aircraft) that used human power alone. The project was headed by Todd Reichert (NΨ 0T4 + Film) and Cameron Robertson (NΨ 0T8). The ornithopter was successfully completed and made a record setting flight as the first human powered ornithopter.
Human Powered Vehicle
After completing the ornithropter the team moved onto their the next project, the Human Powered Vehicle (HPV). The goal was to design an aerodynamically faired bicycle capable of reaching speeds in excess of 100 km/h.
2008 - 2009
No vehicle was successfully built except for a carbon fibre frame which went on to become a training vehicle.
2009 - 2010
The team built and competed with ACE. The team competed at the ASME Human Powered Vehicle Challenge and at Battle Mountain Human Powered Speed Challenge but did not place. ACE's top speed was approximately 100 km/h. This was the first year undergraduate students were a part of the team. ACE used an aluminum frame supported in a fairing constructed from Kevlar and carbon fibre. It's total length was approximately 9 ft.
2010 - 2011
Taking what they learned in previous years, Vortex was built. Vortex was superior to ACE in many ways: it boasted superior aerodynamics, simpler front wheel fairing, a removable drive-train mechanism and used a door rather than a split dividing the top from the bottom. It was also much smaller with a length of approximately 7 ft.
The team took Vortex to compete in the ASME HPVC again, this year on the Indianapolis speedway. The team placed 1st in women's sprint, 2nd in men's sprint, 1st in endurance, 6th in utility and 3rd in design. The team was awarded 1st overall in the competition.
In September of 2011 the team competed in the Battle Mountain HPSC again, this time in hopes of setting a world speed record. After a week of racing the team marked a top speed of 116.7 km/h by Todd Reichert.