If I was a test pilot/driver slated to drive a land vehicle at speeds of 1,000mph, I’d want the cockpit designed by professionals, not students. But world land speed record challenger Andy Green is confident that the product design students of University of the West of England are up to the task. Twenty of UWE’s best worked on the cockpit for the Bloodhound SSC, aformentioned land vehicle:
World land speed challenger Andy Green, OBE tried out a mock-up of the cockpit he will use in his 1000 mph record attempt in 2011 at the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) recently. Twenty product design students designed and built the cockpit test rig, taking into account the ergonomics of the driving position and relationship of steering, controls, seating and pedals.
Product Design Senior Lecturer David Henshall said, “The test rig means fine adjustments to the position of all components can be measured and fed into a computer, so that the cockpit functions as it should do as the driver travels ten miles in 85 seconds.”
Student Hywel Vaughan said, “Everything had to be spot on. Andy Green’s eye line needed to be dead on the 4 degree mark. Any lower and he wouldn’t be able to see over the front of the car, any higher and it could interfere with the aerodynamics.”
Andy Green said: “There isn’t a book to build a car like this and the students can’t just look at their dad’s car for guidance. The only requirement is to have four wheels. To be faced with a blank sheet of paper is quite frightening. The students at UWE have done incredibly well.”
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