SCOOTERS may not have engines, but that doesn鈥檛 mean they can鈥檛 burn rubber.
The next time you see someone on the Teletubbies鈥� preferred mode of transport,
don鈥檛 be surprised if they tear off from the traffic lights at 40 kilometres per
hour without so much as a push.
The key to this effortless acceleration is an ingenious flywheel in the
scooter鈥檚 foot stand that stores energy as the rider travels downhill. A new
vehicle featuring this device, the Flytech scooter, was on show at the New
Designers exhibition in London last week.
Invented by Daniel Mohacek of Loughborough University in Leicestershire, the
Flytech makes use of the energy that is normally wasted when the brakes are
applied. What makes it so effective is the flywheel鈥檚 built-in gear system,
which has no moving parts, says Lee Bazalgette, who also worked on Flytech鈥檚
design along with James Kynvin and Mark Robertson.
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The flywheel is shaped like a flying saucer and is partially filled with oil.
It takes relatively little energy to start it spinning, because the oil pools in
the centre when it is stationary. But as it picks up speed, the oil is forced up
the sides of the flywheel towards the outer edge, increasing the flywheel鈥檚
moment of inertia.
The result is that the faster the scooter鈥檚 flywheel spins, the more energy
it can store. 鈥淚f it鈥檚 fully wound up it will take you tens of metres without
pushing,鈥� he says. The team hope to commercialise their invention.