Recent sightings: Human Powered Vehicle Challenge

Photos: Jeff Miller

UW-Madison’s human powered vehicle team competed against teams from around the country at Sauk Prairie Airport on April 26 as pat of the 25th annual American Society of Mechanical Engineers Human Powered Vehicle Challenge (HPVC).

The UW–Madison team competed in the 10-kilometer utility race, which included obstacles and a grocery delivery task. While most of the HPVC vehicle designs were
leg-powered, the Wisconsin vehicle was uniquely powered by the up- and
down-stroke of the driver’s hands and arms pumping a drive train lever.
In the end, many of the competitors struggled to overcome the force of
the day’s high winds, and the Wisconsin vehicle’s drive-train pulley
system ultimately failed.