Regardless if it's called a Human Assisted Green Energy Vehicle or the BroncoBike, judges in a recent competition call it a winner.
The competition asks teams to design a hydraulic bicycle that transfers the rider's manual power to the driving wheel through the use of a hydraulic fluid rather than a chain or other direct-drive mechanism. Parker Hannifin, a manufacturer that specializes in motion and control technologies and has three locations in the Kalamazoo area, sponsored the event.
A team of four
Western Michigan University seniors designed one that took not only the design competition based on its ingenuity and novelty, reliability and safety but that also won three races -- a 200-meter sprint race, an efficiency race and a 10.8 mile endurance race. Judges also liked the way the bike could be marketed and manufactured and its affordability. The team’s workmanship and design report also impressed judges.
The BroncoBike bested 11 other teams from schools.
The winning team is made up of WMU engineering design technology major Jian He from Battle Creek, and manufacturing engineering technology majors Brian De Young from Decatur, Saleem Hinton from Saginaw, and Ryan Kamm from Ada.
Writer: Kathy Jennings, Second Wave
Source: Jeanne Baron, Western Michigan University
Photo:
The four team members, pictured with their winning human-assisted green-energy vehicle called the BroncoBike, are, from left, Jian He, Ryan Kamm, Brandon De Young and Saleem Hinton.
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