A group of B.Tech. students of the Musaliar College of Engineering, Chirayinkeezhu, have developed an amphibious motorcycle that could operate on both land and water.
Vipin B.A., Roney Rajan, Ananthan R., Unnikrishnan K.V., Anu Sarasan, and Naufal Hussain, final-year Mechanical Engineering students of the college, came up with the vehicle as part of their project work.
The low-cost amphibious bike developed by the six persons is essentially a motorcycle to which a float and some attachments are fixed to convert it into an amphibious bike. On land, the detachable equipment could be used in any motorcycle model.
But once the float unit is fixed, it could operate on water too. For direction control, the front wheel of the motorcycle is covered to act as a rudder. The direction could be controlled by how the motorcycle is steered.
To provide a thrust for forward movement, the back wheel has been covered with synthetic flat belts with nuts and bolts. When it rotates, a back thrust is created, propelling it forward.
PVC pipes
The float itself is made of PVC pipes that have a metallic cover.
The use of PVC ensures that the vehicle remains cost-effective. “Amphibious bikes are not available in Indian markets. Abroad, their price runs into a few lakhs. We developed this prototype for just around ₹20,000. Had we used a engine seen in boats, it would have cost us a couple of lakhs. If this equipment is brought out as an attachment, it can be fixed to any bike to work as an amphibious bike.” Their prototype uses a 100 cc engine. On land, the mileage is the same as promised by any other bike, but on water it does go down, they say.
They were inspired to develop an amphibious bike when they saw a photo of a man riding a motorbike in thigh-high water during the Chennai floods.
The students said they were thinking about commercial production as well as getting a patent. There were also considering making some changes to their prototype.
The project was guided by their teacher Varun Chandran B under the supervision of the head of the department Shanavas S.
