Mechanical and aerospace engineering graduate students Nick Badger and Andrew Smith competed in the Parker Hannifin Corporation’s 2012 “Chainless Challenge,” in which students designed and built a human-hydraulic hybrid bicycle. The competition was held April 12-13 in Irvine, Calif.
Instead of a direct chain link from the pedals to the wheel, the rider pumps and pressurizes hydraulic fluid to power the bike. Badger and Smith’s recumbent design, complete with a hydraulic infinitely variable transmission, won the Ingenuity and Novelty award at the competition.