Since the Middle Ages, human-powered tools and machines have played an important role in societies. Prominent among these are pedal-powered machines, which harness the overall power from the strongest muscles in the human body. The article identifies a historical taxonomy of pedal-powered machines to provide designers with an orientation map for devising new solutions, suggesting some contexts in which today’s pedal-powered machines can re-purpose ancient mechanisms to perform an innovative function. The reduction in energy consumption, the low environmental impact, and the autonomy of the process, in fact, can represent not only a technical rediscovery of engineering, but also a new way of supporting human subsistence.

Foot-Powered Machines, a Functional Taxonomy in the Age of Sustainability / Franco, Walter; Marchis, Vittorio; Pozzi, Marco. - In: MACHINES. - ISSN 2075-1702. - ELETTRONICO. - 11:9(2023). [10.3390/machines11090855]

Foot-Powered Machines, a Functional Taxonomy in the Age of Sustainability

franco walter;marchis vittorio;pozzi marco
2023

Abstract

Since the Middle Ages, human-powered tools and machines have played an important role in societies. Prominent among these are pedal-powered machines, which harness the overall power from the strongest muscles in the human body. The article identifies a historical taxonomy of pedal-powered machines to provide designers with an orientation map for devising new solutions, suggesting some contexts in which today’s pedal-powered machines can re-purpose ancient mechanisms to perform an innovative function. The reduction in energy consumption, the low environmental impact, and the autonomy of the process, in fact, can represent not only a technical rediscovery of engineering, but also a new way of supporting human subsistence.
2023
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11583/2981545