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Human-powered transport is any vehicle for transport of person(s) and/or goods, powered by human muscle.

Like animal-powered transport, human-powered transport has existed since time immemorial in the form of walking, running and swimming. Modern technology has allowed machines to enhance human-power. Although motorization has reduced the effort in transport, many human-powered machines remain popular for leisure or exercise and for short distance travel. Human-powered transport is often the only kind available in underdeveloped or inaccessible regions, and is considered an ideal form of sustainable transportation.

Contents 1 Available muscle power 2 Modes of transporting self 2.1 Using only one's own muscles 2.2 Using object(s) & sheer muscle power 2.3 Using a natural force, object(s) & muscles 3 Modes for transporting others 4 Human-powered surface vehicles 5 Human-powered aircraft 5.1 Airplanes 5.2 Helicopters 6 Human-powered watercraft 6.1 Hydrofoil 6.2 Submarines 7 See also 8 References 9 External links 9.1 Air 9.2 Water 9.3 Land

The average "in-shape" cyclist can produce about 3 watts/kg for more than an hour (e.g., around 200 watts for a 70 kg rider), with top amateurs producing 5 watts/kg and elite athletes achieving 6 watts/kg for similar lengths of time. Elite track sprint cyclists are able to attain an instantaneous maximum output of around 2,000 watts, or in excess of 25 watts/kg; elite road cyclists may produce 1,600 to 1,700 watts as an instantaneous maximum in their burst to the finish line at the end of a five-hour long road race.

• Crawling
• Walking and running
• Swimming and diving
• Climbing as in alpinism and abseiling

A human-powered vehicle (HPV) is a vehicle powered solely by human muscle.

• Canoeing and kayaking
• Cross-country skiing
• Cycling uses a bicycle, unicycle, tricycle, quadricycle, velomobile or similar wheeled vehicle, including collective variations such as tandem bicycle and side-car
• Ice skating
• Kick scooter
• Kicksled
• Man-powered aircraft
• Roller skating
• Skateboarding
• Trikke
• Rowing

Here the human effort is not used in the actual locomotion, but human intelligence is needed to exploit natural forces.

• Glider (non-motorized if bungee launch or foot-launch is used)
• Kitesurfing
• Sailing
• Streetluge Boards
• Surfing
• Wind surfing

• Stretcher
• Travois
• Litters, e.g. Sedan chair
• Rickshaw
• Cycle rickshaw
• Handcar

Some of the vehicles mentioned under Modes of self transport also exist(ed) in a version with cargo and/or passengers, such as the galley. Various of the above examples have also been models for a motorized variation.

The most common and most efficient human-powered vehicle is the bicycle. Variations on the bicycle, the recumbent bicycles, are the fastest human-powered vehicles because they are more aerodynamic than upright bicycles, while having a similar energy transfer efficiency. In 2002, Sam Whittingham pedaled a streamliner (a fully-faired recumbent) for 200 m at 130.36 km/h (81.00 mph) in the Varna Diablo II ^[1]

Canadian William Waldick holds the current unsupported speed record of 151.83 km/h (93.34 mph) with the Ultra-Lightweight Supercycle Hooligan. This record was set in 2007.^{[citation needed]}

Olympic Cyclist and IRONMAN triathlon winner, John Howard set a 244.9 km/h (152.2 mph) speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats near Wendover, Utah on July 20, 1985 while cycling in the wake of a motorized Vesco Streamliner pace-car.^[2] The wake of pace-car reduced the aerodynamic drag against which Howard pedalled to almost zero.^[3]

Greg Kolodziejzyk set two world records recognized by both the International Human Powered Vehicle Association and Guinness (TM) World Records on July 17, 2006 on a race track in Eureka, CA. The first record is for the most distance traveled in 24 hours by human power (647 miles, 1041 km), and the second for the worlds fastest 1000 km time trial (23 hours, 2 minutes). ^[4]

In 1969, artists in a small Northern California town began the Kinetic sculpture race which has grown to a 42 mile (67.2 km), three-day all terrain, human-powered sculpture race and county wide event. It is held every year in the last weekend in May.

Main article: Human-powered_flight

The first officially authenticated take-off and landing of a human-powered aircraft (one capable of powered takeoffs, unlike a glider) was made on 9 November 1961 by Derek Piggott in Southampton University's Man Powered Aircraft (SUMPA). (A claim for a flight by the Pedaliante in March 1937 is disputed because a catapult was used for take-off.) ^{[5] [6]}.

Perhaps the best-known human-powered plane is the Gossamer Albatross, which flew across the English Channel in 1979.

The current distance and duration record recognised by the FAI was achieved on 23 April 1988 from Iraklion on Crete to Santorini in a MIT Daedalus 88 piloted by Kanellos Kanellopoulos: a straight distance of 115.11 km (74 miles) in 3 hours, 54 minutes.

The current speed record is held by the Monarch B, built by a team at MIT in 1983, which won a Kremer Prize of £20,000 for sustaining a speed of over 30 km/h over a 1.5 km triangular course.

Main article: Human-powered_helicopter

The first officially observed human-powered helicopter to have left the ground was the Da Vinci III in 1989. It was designed and built by students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in California, USA. It flew for 7.1 seconds and reached a height of 8 inches (20 cm). The second was the Yuri I in 1994, designed and built by students at Nihon University in Japan. It flew for 19.46 seconds and reached an altitude of 20 cm. Both were attempts to win the Sikorsky Prize.

The world speed record on water was set 27 October 1991 by MIT Professor Mark Drela who pedalled a human-powered hydrofoil, "Decavitator", to 18.5 knots (9.53 meters/second) over a 100 meter race course in Boston, Massachusetts.

In 1989 the first human-powered International Submarine Race (ISR) was held in Florida with 17 craft. Since then nine more races have been held. The races themselves have been moved from the waters of Florida to the United States Naval Surface Warfare Center's Carderock Division David Taylor Model Basin in Bethesda, Maryland, and are held biennially.[1]

At the 9th ISR in 2007 (in which 23 submarines participated) several new records where set: A single-person craft, Omer5 achieved a record speed of 8.035 knots breaking the Omer team's previous record of 7.19 knots set by Omer 4 in 2004. Also Omer 6 snatched up a record for non -propeller driven craft with a speed of 4.642 knots.[2]

• Animal-powered transport
• Locomotion
• Sidewalk
• International Human Powered Vehicle Association
• Fuel efficiency in transportation
• Bicycle
• Cycle rickshaw
• Freight bicycle
• Quadricycle
• Tricycle
• Unicycle
• Utility cycling
• Velomobile

This article is part of the Transport series

Modes...

Animal-powered Aviation Human-powered Ship Rail Road

See also...

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• Human Powered Vehicle Records
• Human Powered Vehicle Challenge - American Society Of Mechanical Engineers

• Human Powered Aircraft Group - Virginia Tech
• Human Powered Helicopters - History, technology, people

• Human Powered Boats - Events, photos, links
• Human Powered Hydrofoils from 1953 to 2005
• Decavitator Human-Powered Hydrofoil - videos, documentation
• International Submarine Races
• Human Powered Submarine of Virginia Tech
• Human Powered River Gym Green Transport in NYC

• Trikke Trikke Human Powered Vehicles