Gyrocar
From Free net encyclopedia
A gyrocar is a two-wheeled automobile. Wheels provide static stability, propulsion, steering and dynamic stability. Two wheel vehicles get stability from gyroscopes, propulsion and steering from wheels.
The difference between a bike and a gyrocar is that in a bike, dynamic balance is provided by the rider with gyroscopic stabilization by the road wheels. In a gyrocar, balance is provided by the vehicle itself.
The concept was originally described in fiction in 1911 "Two Boys in a Gyrocar: The story of a New York to Paris Motor Race" by Kenneth Brown, [Houghton Mifflin Co.]. However the first prototype Gyrocar, The Schilovski Gyrocar, was commissioned in 1912 by the Russian Count Peter P Schilovski, a lawyer and member of the Russian royal family. It was manufactured to his design by the Wolseley Tool and Motorcar Company. The gyrocar was powered by a modified Wolseley C5 engine of 16 - 20 hp, with a bore of 90mm and a stroke of 121mm. It was mounted ahead of the radiator, driving the rear wheel through a conventional clutch and gear box. A transmission brake was fitted after the gearbox- there were no brakes on the wheels themselves. The weight of the vehicle was 2.75 tons and it had a very large turning circle.
In 1927 Louis Brennan, funded to the tune of £12,000 (plus a £2000 per year) by John Cortauld built a rather more successful gyrocar. Two contra-rotating gyros were housed under the front seats, spun in a horizontal plane at 3500rpm by 24V electric motors powered from standard car batteries. This was the greatest speed obtainable with the electric motors available, and meant that each rotor had to weigh 200lb to generate sufficient forces. Precession was in the vertical fore-aft plane. The car had a Morris Oxford engine, engine mountings, and gearbox. Two sidewheels (light aircraft tailwheels were used) were manually lowered on stopping; if the driver forgot and switched off the gyros and walked away, the car would continue to balance itself using the gyro momentum for a few minutes, and then the wheels would automatically be dropped to stop tipping.