University of Toronto Human Powered Vehicle: Difference between revisions

The team was founded in 2008 by [https://www.linkedin.com/in/todd-reichert-722b956b/ Todd Reichert] and [https://www.linkedin.com/in/camerondrobertson/ Cameron Robertson], both University of Toronto alumni, who later went to found [http://www.aerovelo.com/ Aerovelo.]

=Projects History=

==Human Powered Ornithopter (2008)==

<span></span><span>During the summer of 2008 a group of graduate students founded the club to design and buildan</span>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ornithopter 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.[[File:131216175956-areovelo-ornithopter-story-top.jpg|400px|center|middle|thumb|Morning flight of the first-ever human-powered ornithopter.]]

==2008 - 2009==

After completing the ornithopter, the team moved onto their next project, breaking the world speed record for land single-rider cycling. During the first year, no vehicle was successfully built, except for a carbon fibre frame which went on to become a training vehicle.

==Ace (2009 - 2010)==

The team built and competed with ACE. The team competed at the ASME Human Powered Vehicle Challenge and at Battle Mountain's Human Powered Speed Challenge. ACE's top speed was approximately 100 km/h. The team scored second in both men and women sprint events, as well as third place overall in the Speed Class at the ASME event, a great performance for a new team. Furthermore, the team scored the collegiate speed record at the Battle Mountain event, with a 103km/h run. 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.

==Vortex (2010 - 2011)==

In September of 2011 the team competed in the Battle Mountain WHPSC again, this time in hopes of setting a world speed record. After a week of racing the team marked a top speed of 116.9 km/h by Todd Reichert, still well short of the world record.

[[File:Vortex.jpg|500px|The Vortex speedbike]]

==Bluenose (2011 - 2012)==

During the summer of 2012, the core membership of HPVDT was recruited to the newly-formed AeroVelo Inc. design team. The group relocated to Tottenham, ON, where they designed and manufactured the Atlas human-powered helicopter until September.

WHPSC 2012 was disappointing. A variety of handling and visibility problems prevented Bluenose from reaching its potential, and the team failed to improve upon Vortex's top speed.

==Celero (2012 - 2013)==

Despite mediocre performance in the Design and Innovation categories, Celero placed well in both the Sprint and Endurance races. In fact, the Endurance race was won by an unusually-large margin; Celero finished the 2.5 hour event having covered nearly 20% more distance than the next-fastest vehicle. Overall, HPVDT finished 3rd in this competition. Shortly after this event, Calvin Moes (NΨ 1T3+PEY) was elected as the new Team Captain. Long may he rule!

In order to better support the Eta project, HPVDT did not field any of its own vehicles at WHPSC 2014. Along with AeroVelo's top athlete Todd Reichert, HPVDT/AeroVelo riders Trefor Evans and Calvin Moes competed in the week of racing. Todd managed to set a personal best speed, but did not achieve the goal of a new world speed record. Following the competition, strategic differences between AeroVelo and HPVDT resulted in the two organizations ceasing large-scale collaboration. As part of this agreement, HPVDT retained the right to build a "clone" of the Eta speedbike.

==Viteza (2014 - 2015)==

Again working towards a more practical vehicle design, the team came up with a partially-faired lowracer - a recumbent bike with very little frontal area. The design included several novel features, including an ill-fated carbon leaf spring suspension system.

The 2015 ASME competition was a mixed experience. The new Viteza design proved less versatile than expected, and the suspension system introduced unanticipated instabilities. Regardless, the team scored well in Innovation and won 1st place in the Design event.

  [[File:CM4_2.JPG|500px| Axios submarine rendering during the early design phase]]<a class="image" title="Axios submarine rendering during the early design phase"><img alt="Axios submarine rendering during the early design phase" src="/w/images/thumb/4/4c/CM4_2.JPG/500px-CM4_2.JPG" decoding="async" width="500" height="337" srcset="/w/images/thumb/4/4c/CM4_2.JPG/750px-CM4_2.JPG 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/4/4c/CM4_2.JPG/1000px-CM4_2.JPG 2x"></a>

* [http://hpo.ornithopter.net Human Powered Ornithopter Project]