Shopping Cart + MIT Experimentation = LOLRiokart
October 2, 2009 by Rico Mossesgeld
Filed under Transportation
The result of MIT undergrad Charles Guan’s hard work, the LOLRiokart (yes, LOL + Mario Kart) is simply a shopping cart with better wheels and jury-rigged golf cart electronics. The final product looks easy to build and drive, but finding the right way to run current through the electronics and brakes that wouldn’t burn out quickly took some time.
Courtesy Popular Science
And I bet developing that “custom-made steering system” required some work too. Early test runs saw Guan braking by digging his heels into the road “Fred Flintstone-style”, until he settled on using mountain bike brakes for safety’s sake: “Once, his quick footwork helped him avoid being hit by a train.”
The important stats? The motive assembly weighs a surprisingly hefty 160 pounds. Guan estimates a max range of 12 miles, and he even modified the transmission mechanics to keep the top speed at 30mph—the original ceiling of 45mph apparently seemed a bit too dangerous for a vehicle without any sort of crash absorption whatsoever. Mostly though, that hasn’t been a problem, according to Guan. “When you’re driving something this weird, everyone tends to stay away from you.”
No word yet on if this creation will ever see the mass market (honestly, the only market for this are golfers with a sense of humor?). You can bet though that a production line will cut down the one-year-long build-time. The same might not be true for the $300 cost of materials, given that Guan used whatever was lying around in MIT’s labs.
