Design, construction and testing of a highly efficient arm-powered recumbent trike

For a long time, mankind has heavily depended on animal labour and human-powered work. The advent of industrial machines, and motors in particular, has changed the paradigm: today in developed countries, apart from some exceptions like the Netherlands, the vast majority of people moves with motorized vehicles. This thesis is about project Cerberus, an arm-powered vehicle developed mainly for use in competitions and designed by students from Team Policumbent at Politecnico di Torino. The aim of the thesis is to lay some general basis for the design of three-wheeled human-powered vehicles, including those for everyday use on public roads. In this context, the author, in the role of both project manager and head of the mechanical design department for the prototype, decided to write a most complete document incorporating in it both his own, and his teammates work (to whom the credit is explicitly given). The paper not only tells how but also why the vehicle was designed the way it is, so the team's know-how is taken into account, models on the concept design are presented and sometimes alternative designs are discussed too. Not everything though is dealt with in detail, as some teammates have written or are about to write their own thesis with exhaustive information on certain topics concerning the prototype. Furthermore, as there are fields which the author is not too familiar with and can't therefore be discussed thoroughly, for the FEM studies, the electric and electronic parts, a general overview is given without delving too much into detail. The first part of the thesis is introductive and sets the general information on why the prototype has been developed, as well as what its goals are, and describes the first studies of a concept design. Part two is the core of the document, where the reader delves into the details of the trike's final design. Part three is about the construction and testing of the vehicle and gives some insights of the production phases. Lastly, in the appendices, it's possible to view the drawings of many of the machined parts and to inspect the prototype's detailed bill of materials.