Another success has just been added to the Canadian team, by presenting the AeroVelo bike that shattered human powered speed records earlier this week at the annual contest held on a stretch of highway in the aptly named Battle Mountain, Nevada.
- Canadian AeroVelo team has won numerous awards for engineering excellence
- It was founded in 2010 by Todd Reichert and Cameron Robertson
- Their AeroVelo Eta bike broke a previously set record in 2013
- It was presented on September 17th, at the annual World Human Powered Speed Challenge in Nevada
The team of engineering students from the University of Toronto have achieved excellent performances with their AeroVelo group, and have gathered quite an impressive number of prizes underneath their belt in just a few years.
In 2010, they built the first human powered ornithopter, dubbed Snowbird, that made history by being the first wing-flapping vehicle that was fully fueled by human energy, sustaining a 19 seconds long flight, gaining recognition and a name in the Guinness Book of World Record.
In 2011, the Vortex bike set another world record for the fastest college built and piloted vehicle, by reaching a stunning 72.6 mph.
In 2013, the team went even further into the world of man-powered vehicles, by claiming the highly acclaimed $250,000 Sikorsky Prize for the world’s first human powered helicopter flight that lasted one full minute with their AeroVelo Atlas.
Among many of others of their awards, the team co-founded by Todd Reichert and Cameron Robertson also claimed the Belt of Orion Award for Excellence and the Trans-Canada McKee Trophy after establishing the AeroVelo team in 2010.
Now, they have made an appearance at the yearly World Human Powered Speed Challenge with their new AeroVelo Eta bike, that further shattered records and placed them better on the map of innovative engineering and ingenuity. Driven by accomplished athlete and team captain, Reichert, Eta has managed to reach 85.71 mph (or 137.93 km/h), beating out the 2013 record set by Dutch bike enthusiast Sebastiaan Bowier at 83.13 mph (or 133.8 km/h).
The contest was done across a 5 mile long stretch of the highway, where the top speed was set along a portion of approximately 220 yards, where each contestant was required to reach full potential of their vehicle. Eta beat out all its competition in the fourth day of the six-day-long contest, and for now, their record seems surely set.
The Eta bike was designed with an excellently aerodynamic shape that boastst 100 times less drag than the average car, weighing around 55 pounds and able to reach a maximum of 87 mph speed, according to the team of Canadian engineers. However, while their vehicle did not reach its fullest alleged potential, it still passed over the previous record and the team snagged another award.
The two-wheeler was pedaled at amazing speeds that will likely be cause for a ticket among all common city streets across the United States and certainly not lag on traffic, becoming a champion of human powered bikes.
Image source: squarespace.com
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