Students unveil an enclosed electric motorcycle.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
By Kristina Grifantini
Credit: Lauren RuganiAt today's second annual EurekaFest, top high-school
innovators from around the country gathered at MIT to demonstrate their inventions.
One of the most notable was a motorcycle designed to be both safer and greener
than the average 'cycle: it's electrically powered and built with an enclosure
fitted with compressible brackets--"crush zones"--in case of a collision.
The motorcycle operates on five lithium-ion batteries and
can recharge in three hours from a standard wall outlet. It weighs only about 220
pounds and is designed with a low center of gravity for stability. It can reach
about 60 miles per hour and can go 40 miles without a recharge, which
can be done onboard. The first prototype cost around $12,000 to build, but the
team that invented it, from Saint Thomas
Academy, in Minnesota, expects that subsequent models
will be about half the price, since part of the cost was designing and
developing custom molds.
This year's $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize, around
which EurekaFest is organized, will be presented tonight to Joseph DeSimone,
a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who has done
work developing polymers for medicine, particularly drug
delivery, and green
manufacturing. Martin Fisher, CEO of KickStart, won the $100,000 award for
sustainability research for his work on human-powered irrigation pumps.
Comments
ms on 06/27/2008 at 11:02 AM
65
kgrifant on 06/27/2008 at 4:38 PM
Editorial Assistant
1
gabrielg01 on 06/28/2008 at 6:03 PM
298
Perhaps they should have learned how to ride a motorbike in the first place, or at least ask a seasoned rider to consult on the project.
For motorbike riding one needs to shift his/her position in the saddle in order to lean the bike in curves, and maintain balance. This enclosed frame is sure to cause a loss of balance.
As a close analogy, imagine riding a regular bicycle in which your body movements would be confined by a rigid frame. You'd crash with that bike in no time.
mwestlake on 06/28/2008 at 7:08 PM
1
Thanks for your input on our project. As the mentor for this group of high school students, I can assure you that an experienced motorcyclist was involved! I ride around 5000 miles a year as a commuter (85' Yamaha RZ 350 or '68 BMW R 60/2 if the weather is nice) The motorcycle pictured is easy ride and has plenty of room for shifting your weight. It is never going to out run my RZ at the track, but is performs as a capable commuter. If you are ever in Minnesota stop in and take it for a spin!
gabrielg01 on 06/28/2008 at 9:19 PM
298
Happy riding!