Parker Hannifin Chainless Challenge

As an undergraduate student at the Illinois Institute of Technology I was part of our school’s team to compete in the annual Chainless Challenge competition hosted by Parker Hannifin. Efficiency is why cycling is one of the most widely used methods of human transportation. While fluid power is mankind’s way of manipulating forces to move great loads. It is combining these two design disciplines that presents one of engineering’s greatest challenges. The Parker Chainless challenge asks the question, how do we make this thing efficient? The method to our chainless bike was simple; design a bike using our knowledge gained from previous years in
order to make the most efficient fluid driven bike possible. This means we minimized the amount of hydraulic circuitry, making the bicycle pedal and feel as close to a standard bike as we can. Our team was able to produce a two-wheeled design that adapts to a standard bike frame, utilizes a standard bicycle pedal drive mode, but also features an integrated energy auxiliary system.