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How Durable are the BUV Brakes?

I’m not an engineer but my thought is that truck brakes on a Basic Utility Vehicle (BUV) will last a really long time. After all, the BUV is 1/3 the weight of a truck and goes about 1⁄4 of the average speed, at 20 mph. It would seem that the BUV’s truck brakes would last ten times as long as a BUV in Africa than they do on a pickup truck in the USA. 
 
Here’s my rough math:
BUV brake load = 1/3 pickup weight x 1/4 average speed of pickup x applied 1/2 as often = 1/12 the load of the brakes on a first world pick up.
Or in plain English: a BUV is one-third the weight of a pickup truck, and goes one-fourth the average speed. If you apply the brakes half as often, you’ll put one-twelfth the load on those brakes as you would a pickup truck here in the United States. To me, that means the brakes will last a really, really long time.
 
I asked Will Austin how often he has to send out brake drums or brake hardware kits to our BUV owners around the world.
“Never,” he said. “Our oldest units now have 9 years of service in the field, and we’ve never had to replace the brakes.”

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The BUV’s Design Simplicity

One thing we worked hard to create on the Basic Utility Vehicle (BUV) is its simple structure. With three wheels, a truck bed, and a steel frame, the BUV can conquer many rural roads across Africa.
 
But why three wheels? Why not four like on an ATV or a truck?
 
It also allows for constant contact with the ground with virtually no frame twisting. By having one fork on the front end, the drivers can easily change any tire.
 
The three wheels also creates a more stable base. When an ATV gets into an accident, there is a tendency for the ATV to follow you. That is, if you flip the back-end of the ATV will follow. This is why there are many ATV injuries – the ATV often lands on top of the driver.
 
A motorcycle, on the other hand, will shoot away from you in the event of an accident, such as a slide. You can still be injured in the accident but it’s not usually caused by the bike itself.
 
The BUV has significant mass to help protect the driver in slow speed accidents. However, the driver also has the option to jump clear of the vehicle if he or she decides to, making the simple design helpful in the rural areas of Africa.

 

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IAT Student Competition Seeks to Create Perfect BUV Design

Every year the Institute for Affordable Transportation (IAT) hosts a Basic Utility Vehicle (BUV) competition amongst Midwestern colleges and universities. We started the competition back in 2000, when the IAT was founded, as a way to perfect the BUV design. We were crowdsourcing before there was even a word for “crowdsourcing.”

Student teams design and build different BUVs to compete in a series of tests and events to determine the best design for the year. Many of the student builders are engineering students completing their capstone projects at the end of their college careers.

This is a way for them to apply everything they’ve learned into improving on an already improved design. Because the BUV is used in a variety of locales without any infrastructure, the test vehicles must navigate a variety of different terrains, including an obstacle course, mud pit, mogul field, and an endurance track. (Check our video from 2008.)

The race track the competitors race on is 2.1 miles (mi) and each design has to carry three 55 gallon water jugs across the course. Every third lap the water jugs must be emptied in a nearby pond and loaded up with water again so a pumping mechanism is also involved in the competition.

Our most recent competition winner for 2014 was the University of Cincinnati Bearcats club team with Alfred State College (a.k.a. State University of New York) in second and Purdue University’s Cameroon Pup team finishing in third.

We would like to thank all of the teams who participated in the event and would like to invite all schools interested to come to the 15th Annual BUV Competition April 17-18, 2015 in Batavia, Ohio.

Click here for more information on the BUV Design and Drive competition.

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2014 IAT BUV Student Competition Results

120x90-vehicle2.jpgThank you for a safe and exciting BUV Competition. Thanks also to Tuff Torq Corporation and Yanmar Corporation for sponsoring the event!

Scoring: There were a few slight score corrections from the point totals announced. The only change that affected team rankings Trine’s score on Spec Check which caused Trine and UC Club to switched positions. Trine received a “0” for Spec Check by mistake. The scorekeeper did not see or possibly receive the sheet and gave Trine a 0.  In reality, they received a 3.3 for the event which put their total score at 72.95. My apologies for not catching this error ahead of time.

Special congratulations to the winners:

  • 1st Place: Calera
  • 2nd Place: Purdue University
  • 3rd Place: Trine University
  • Customer Choice Award: Alfred State College (selected by JAARS – a leader in mission logistics and technology)
  • Most Innovative Feature: Purdue University for their belt transmission
  • Best Free Style Design University of Cincinnati – Club 1
  • Enduro Event Winner: Calera

Thank you to the teams donating their vehicles:

  • Northern Illinois University: Kenya
  • Union University: Kenya or Haiti
  • Purdue University: Cameroon, Africa

PR: Teams are encouraged to notify their university Public Relations department ASAP. They will assist you in submitting an article to your local newspaper. Please email me your favorite 3 photos and favorite video clip from the competition.

 

Employment: If you are interested in an internship, please send us your resume.

Thank you also for keeping safety a priority.

 

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