Future of Engineering

Mr. Langille and his four colleagues are thrilled with their project. “It was an awesome experience, very fulfilling. We’re excited to see it work so well because there were a lot of people who were doubtful and it was exciting to get an A+.”

The Famous Five in Enid Blyton's stories were popular for their investigative skills that kept the little readers spellbound throughout the world.

Dalhousie University's Famous Five are sure to keep Racing fans and scientists spellbound with their latest invention - air powered go-kart cars.

Five Dalhousie mechanical engineering students David Alderson, Scott Allan, David Langille, Michael Roy and Dave Spencer had set upon an ambitious task for their year-long research project. They planned to develop a air powered go-kart cars. That's definitely a tall order.

To achieve it the students modified a 40-year-old snowmobile engine and ran compressed air through the engine to produce power similar to a gas engine. They attached the engine to a refurbished go-kart using two scuba tanks to house the air. The air is released through a standard scuba fitting with a high-flow regulator. The released air travels through tubing to a ball-valve connected to the foot pedal and throttle. “It operates much like a normal rotary engine,” says Mr. Langille.

The students are currently working on setting right the drawbacks. The major drawback is that it runs out of air quickly. But once the engine's capacity is refined one can look forward to a successor to conventional gas-powered engines.

The students officially unveiled their air-powered go-kart at Kartbahn Racing in Bayer’s Lake Business Park last week and invited members of the media to take it for a spin.

Source - Dalhousie University
Catch the exciting drive here.
Image credit - Nick Pearce

Labels: Energy-Environment-Engineering, Engineering-Education, Logistics-Transportation-Engineering