Durban - University of KwaZulu-Natal engineering students are set to go places – overland, on water or even both, as they put the finishing touches to projects including building an amphibious vehicle, a hovercraft and an electric trike.
The fourth-year students have been been burning the midnight oil before UKZN’s mechanical engineering open day on Friday, a chance to put theory into practice for marks – and to make a whole lot of noise.
The Daily News visited the university workshop where the young engineers were putting the final touches to their machines.
Lareesan Naidoo, 22, who has been building an amphibious vehicle with three other students over two semesters, said it had been “hard work”, eased somewhat thanks to the support of his mechanic father, Jason Naidoo.
The Phoenix resident said they started with modelling of the vehicle in the first semester, using computer programs to model parts of the vehicle. The physical construction of the vehicle started in the second semester.
The vehicle, which has a total weight of 600kg including the driver, has two motors: a 900cc jetski motor for water propulsion and a 250cc motorbike engine to power the wheels.
“The front and back wheel suspensions are made of steel for strength,” he said.
The body is made of fibreglass, aluminium, and rubber, among other materials.
It has a theoretical speed of about 60km/h. It was all done on a budget of R20 000.
Duran Martin, 22, one of the brains behind the hovercraft project, said they had been set the task of coming up with a multi-purpose, off-road and flying vehicle.
The design went through various stages and once the students had ditched the suspension and gearbox, they ended up with a hovercraft.
Kai Broughton, 23, said the craft had a two-stroke Rotax 50 horsepower engine which can theoretically take the vehicle up to 100km/h.
To hover, it has a four-stroke 10 horsepower lawnmower engine.
The craft, which weighs about 200kg, can hover up to 1m above the ground with an 80kg pilot on board.
It uses the ground effect phenomenon for low-altitude flight.
This is when air creates “lift”, keeping a vehicle with wings afloat, close to the ground.
The wings took some serious thought.
They are made of aluminium tubes with plywood ribs and are covered in polyester fabric, in the style of a vintage aircraft.
It can also be controlled via remote control.
Martin said they had been determined to meet the deadline and did not want to disappoint their sponsors and professors.
He said: “We knew it was going to be a lot of work. A lot of people thought we would not be able to do it.”
The group was adamant the craft would be able to float by tomorrow and fly by next week.
Nino Wunderlin, 22, said they had little sleep over the past three days, hurrying to finish the project.
Some of the students said they planned to study for their Master’s next year and hope to eventually work in the aerospace industry.
The open day is not only about gee-whizz flying or floating vehicles; more down-to-earth exhibits will be on show too, including an electrically powered trike.
The trike, which has an aluminium frame, was designed for use on the campus.
It has a 2kW motor cleverly located in the centre of one of the wheels, with pedals providing back-up power.
Mathew Jo Mathew, 21, said pedals helped with the hills.
Clydene Reddy, 23, said vehicles like the trike reduced dependency on carbon fuel and were a good way to exercise.
Reddy said the trike would be useful to people in this country and that transport was evolving towards small electricity-powered vehicles.