THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A vehicle that can smoothly travel along mountainous, marshy and sandy terrains has been a long dream for automotive enthusiasts. So far, they were finding happiness in reading reports about such vehicles in magazines and internet.
‘Alien’, an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) developed by a group of Mechanical Engineering students of Mohandas Engineering College, is all set to be the first ATV designed and developed in India. The two- seater motorcycle, similar to a two-wheeler in looks, can be driven anywhere without fear.
The curious vehicle is the creation of Abhi Krishnan R., Arjun Pradeep S, Manoj Balu, Sarin R. and Subin B. Mechanical Engineering lecturer Sooraj V.S. was the internal guide.
``Our ATV is very much useful for gardening and farming. Tools like sprayer, tiller and bed-leveller can be attached to the vehicle and used,’’ said Abhi Krishnan and Arjun Pradeep. The ATV can be used for transportation in rocky areas, forest areas and wetlands. It is ideal for rescue operations in disaster areas and can be used for carrying raw materials to road construction sites.
Another highlight of the ATV is its payload capacity. It can carry upto 400 kg of load. Materials weighing 150 kg can be carried on the side-racks. The vehicle is equipped with a tunable two-stroke engine and reverse gear.
The engine of a Bajaj auto was used by the students for developing the demo vehicles. ``It cost us less than Rs 65,000. We had to work hard for two months to complete the project,’’ said Abhi and Arjun.
The dream of the students is to kickstart a facility that can produce ATVs on a commercial basis. They are confident that there will be thousands of takers for this product in a country like India.
trivandrum@epmltd.com