Zero-Emissions LEGO Car
An
insane life-size zero-emission car made out of LEGOs recently had its official
debut. Sam Laird of Mashable calls it “the
ultimate nerd invention.”
Steve
Sammartino (front) and Raul Oaida complete the Australian test-drive of their
air-powered LEGO car.
Steve
Sammartino (@sammartino), the Australian entrepreneur, concept designer, and
marketing guy who dreamed up the LEGO car, and Raul Oaida (@oaida) — a
brilliant, self-taught, 20-year-old techie from Romania whom Steve met on the
internet — used half a million of the patented plastic toy bricks to build it.
Sammartino’s
YouTube video of this phenomenon zoomed from zero visitors to over 3 million
(and counting) in less than 10 days. Check it here
The
inventors financed their entire development effort by crowdfunding. They
announced the investment proposal for the car with a single tweet, made at
around 7 am on Leap Year Day (February 29, 2012) last year.
Following
this cryptic tweet, Sammartino shared more regarding his plans with Mashable:
In
2008 at the height of the global financial crisis the 3 CEOs of the Detroit car
companies hoped on private jets to fly to Washington and beg Congress for
money. They did this because they didn’t understand what the future looks like.
Come with me and build a full-size car that runs on air, from toy pieces, with strangers
on the Internet – and you’ll be part of the future.
Far-thinking
patrons, including two other members of the Sammartino family, reached into
their pockets. The Super Awesome Micro Project was born.
Here
are some stats about the Sammartino-Oaida LEGOmobile:
- The black and yellow car is almost entirely made from standard LEGO toy pieces. The only exceptions: wheels, tires, four load-bearing struts, and gauges. The inventors concede that LEGO wheels would have made for a pretty rocky ride. Sammartino was also honest about interior comfort: “I must point out that those [flat, hard] seats are probably the most uncomfortable seats in automotive history.”
- The car is neither electric nor hybrid. It runs 100% on compressed air stored in two small tanks. These power four linked “orbital” engines (rotary, similar to Mazda) made entirely of LEGOs. Check out the photo. Each engine has 64 cylinders, and LEGO pistons power the engines.
- The car goes about as fast as a cantering (loping) horse. Top speed runs somewhere between 12-20 mph.
“It
doesn’t go all that far, but just the mere fact that it does go is quite
something… It’s really a technical experiment to show what’s possible in a connected
world.”–Internet entrepreneur Steve Sammartino
The
inventors conducted the official road test at an undisclosed location in
suburban Melbourne, Australia. The guys took it a little slow on the first run
because they feared a colorful “giant LEGO explosion” if they put the pedal to
the… uh, plastic. Reportedly, the LEGOs are not glued together.
“It’s
a Hot Rod design,” say the inventors, who were born long after the days of hot
rods. “Mainly because hot rods are cool.”
Seats
two. Gives “Little Deuce Coupe” (a sporty 1932 Ford made famous by The
Beach Boys) a whole ‘nother meaning. As Demonizer68 commented on the LEGO car
video, “And the best part is, if you have a crash, you can always put it back
together! Providing that you have the instruction manual….”
Courtesy: cleantechnica
