What does an Atomic Duck look like? | Deferred Procrastination

If you’ve been following along with the Design Influences posts, you might like to know what all that influencing has led to. Well here it is.

If you haven’t been following along, this is the result of a fairly radical rethinking of the how to aproach velomobile design.

This includes:

Sacrificing a little aerodynamic efficiency means it’s possible to use a lot less expensive construction method
The lower manufacturing cost means we can make a velomobile that costs less than a car–pre-made and as a kit
This simplified manufacturing method means Atomic Duck can be built at home, using only basic workshop tools
We’ve got a set of features that makes velomobiling easier than driving a car
Open Source Engineering

And this is what the Atomic Duck velomobile will look like:

Atomic Duck Design, front ¾ view (click to embiggen)

More on those extra special features starting next week…

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James Murphy wrote, “That looks like fun... seems very long though (really *very* long)?”

Patrick Fenner wrote, “Longer than current velo, yes. But having the wheels at the front and away from the body means the turning circle should be the same or better. And long is the same as sleek right?! :D”

Opus the Poet wrote, “You forgot to mention pre-war Bugattis as design influences, and immediate post-war dry lakes racers in the US, along with some of the Morgan 3 wheelers.”

Patrick Fenner wrote, “When I initially started describing it to people, I did start describing the ideas as being like an early Bugatti, or Bentley Brooklands. I'd love to do something similar to the early Bugatti alloy wheels, but i think I'll have to leave that for after I've made one though! I have looked at the Morgan 3 wheelers (and things like the 2CV and Moto Guzzi engined kits and replicas), but I couldn't figure out how to make the curved topped, front grills using a method that didn't require special tools or skills and would work for kits.”

James Murphy wrote, “Erm, I have a tandem (a triplet even) long is, erm, interesting. Heck my SpeedMachine is not *that much* longer than my Kingcycle but it makes a difference (though from your pictures you'll be able to turn the wheels more which is not the case with the SM). The very premise of a velomobile is "not small" and I honestly can't tell you - parking aside - if its going to be an issue. It just is long...”

Opus the Poet wrote, “Yes I immediately thought Type 35 Bugatti when I saw the picture. And I make curved top pieces with heated CoroPlast with the flutes running lengthwise for more bend around the formers and a gentler bend fore and aft. For front pieces have the flutes vertical, and the only place you need a molded chunk would be the 1/4 sphere transitioning between the front and top. hard to do DIY but easy to do with a small mold for a kit. Or for a larger nose you can use faceted pieces of CoroPlast that are heated and bent to make compound curves like the TriSled velo in Oz. You can make the grill functional by putting in some shutters behind it for cooling of the engine/pilot”

zixvelo wrote, “Hey, looking promising! Did you see this? Pedalwiki open source velomobile project. Not much happening there right now, I am afraid, but perhaps these people could contribute also? Missing from that wiki's link list is Harald Winklers MEUFL 12 kg velomobile.”

Patrick Fenner wrote, “I really want to make sure that the kit is as simple as possible, so I've stayed away from any compound curvature. I'd like to have a kit that can be made in almost any workshop. But equally I do intend to investigate some different constructions after the initial version— there's some really nice shapes in boat building to try out. But because it's open source, I'm actively encouraging you to experiment and try things with it if you have your own ideas. Like I said, I'm releasing details of the features over the next few weeks, but you might be on to something there with the cooling…!”

Patrick Fenner wrote, “I'd hadn't found that one before, but it looks like a similar goal. I'd be really happy if that group would like to use any of my designs, or if they have any input for this project, I'll be releasing under a similar CC licence, so they should interchange freely. I'll have a wiki and forums up in the future, so I can host associated material too if they'd like.”

Jason Gardner wrote, “Great to see a design :) I am curious about the steering mechanism.... not pictured? cable steer? Will it have Ackerman compensation?”

Patrick Fenner wrote, “Yes on the Ackermann steering; good geometry is crucial for low speed handing, and the long wheelbase means it will need large steering angles to get an acceptable turning circle. I'm intending to use cable steering, or that's the concept. It should work fine, but I haven't done the engineering design for it yet. If it doesn't work, I'll have run a steering arm behind the front axle beam, but I'm intending to run the steering cables and brakes inside it so there's less hanging in the airflow. And cable steering opens up some great possibilities to be able to get through doorways…”

J.R wrote, “As to the compound-curved frontal piece, my thought was to use a common carbon steel wok. Remove the handles and relieve the stringers slightly to fit inside, and Robert is your mother's brother.”

Patrick Fenner wrote, “Woks are normally made through pressings, which is the ideal way to do compound curves, and they are widely available and cheap. Accurate cutting might be tricky, thought it could be used whole and other parts attached to it directly, and it means all the parts can't be flat packed. But the bodywork is all up in the air at the minute, nothing is decided yet, but I know one of the use cases is for the chassis to be fitted with a custom body by a home builder.”

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