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The BLOODHOUND Super Sonic Car (SSC): is this UK open innovation at its best?

10/11/2013

The Cambridge Network Team again excelled in delivering a network evening based on the more ‘unusual’, in this case the BLOODHOUND Project.  It was great to meet such a variety of people from completely different sectors of the Cambridge Scene but all with a common interest: a fascination of the technology and engineering behind the development of a land vehicle which will exceed 1000mph.  Yes, that’s right, “exceed 1000mph”!

 

This was an occasion to celebrate the fact that we are British and that actually, we’re quite good at doing this kind of thing.  All too often British reserve means that we quietly go about our business even when we’re working on something which is a fantastic feat of engineering and could be life-changing.  Well, listening to the presenters last Thursday night was like a ‘breath of fresh air’: their enthusiasm and passion was inspiring and definitely got the heart pumping!

So a few interesting facts:

  • The BLOODHOUND goes from 0-60 in 10 seconds.  Okay so not as fast as a supercar but remember it weighs 7.5 tonnes!  The impressive bit is that when it does reach 1000mph at 54 seconds (at which point it will be pulling circa 3Gs), it will cover 4.5 football pitches per second. 
  • It is faster than a bullet fired from a Magnum 357 (we saw the video to prove it) and, yes, you could quite literally ‘blink and miss it’!
  • At this phenomenal speed the driver’s brain believes that, on acceleration, the BLOODHOUND is taking off into the air and on deceleration that the nose is ploughing into the ground.  But the brain is wrong!  He has to train himself to ignore the instincts of his brain because the reality is that he is actually perfectly horizontal (assuming everything goes according to plan).  By the way, the driver is Andy Green who is the current land speed record holder.
  • At an educational event, children asked how far the car would go if it did ‘take off’.  Because they didn’t know, the children used maths to work out what would happen.  It transpires that BLOODHOUND would travel vertically for 25,000 feet at which point it would run out of fuel.  The children then wanted to know what would happen on the way down.  We were told that this was worked out mathematically too but they decided to avoid sharing the details!
  • The desert, Hakskeen Pan in South Africa, has to be cleared of all rocks measuring 10mm or more.  They have around 350 people clearing the equivalent of a dual carriage from Bristol to Moscow!  All the rocks have to be taken to the edge of the desert.  They cannot be removed from the desert because it would then be classed as mining!
  • The Project has brought employment and therefore, money to this part of South Africa and 4G is to be installed soon.  This is just a tiny part of the legacy of this project.

 

Greer Deal, Director of GRS, asked if the technology being developed has been, or will be translated into everyday life.  John Frankham, Technical Lead at Cosworth (providing the engine) responded that some of their technology is already in high end road cars and it is likely that this will continue.  Tony Parraman, Head of Sponsor Liaison of BLOODHOUND, confirmed that this project is an Open Data project and therefore, any company or individual can view and use the data and information created to develop new or existing technologies. The example he provided was the onboard engine health monitoring system which could be used to monitor anything, for example, blood flow.  So could this technology translate into a future diagnostic device?

 

Okay, so some of you may be saying “What’s the point of building the fastest land car?  Why bother?”  Well, if you look at their key objectives, perhaps you’ll understand.  These are listed in order below:

  1. Inspire a new generation of engineers.
  2. Provide an iconic research and development programme with student access i.e. open data.
  3. Exceed 1000mph (1609kmh) on land.
  4. Generate substantial publicity and brand awareness for the sponsors or, in other words, promote UK plc.

The emphasis is on education and open data first and foremost.  This is why the project is worth bothering about and if any of this can translate into providing quality healthcare, well that will be a bonus.

 

Author: Greer Deal, Director of Global Regulatory Services

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