Welcome to USC RVDT!

The recumbent vehicle design team of the University of Southern California

USC Recumbent Vehicle Design Team

The USC Recumbent Vehicle Design Team consists of a diverse group of students, ranging from freshman to seniors, who are passionate about engineering and design. Each year, the team creates a cost-effective human-powered vehicle which can be used for everyday purposes - whether that be commuting to work or carrying groceries from the market - as well as for racing purposes. When built, this vehicle is entered into the annual ASME Human Powered Vehicle Challenge (HPVC). Coming off a 6th place finish at the HPVC West Competition, the team is looking to build off one of its most successful years and achieve a podium finish at the 2022 competition. The team has developed a design environment which is grounded in effective design and fabrication procedures but still allows for team members to display their creativity and pursue their own innovative design concepts.

ASME Human Powered Vehicle Competition

HPVC is an intercollegiate engineering design competition hosted by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Each year, ASME challenges engineering students to design and build a human powered vehicle for sustainable and practical transportation. The objective of the competition has two built-in parts: it not only aims to provide an opportunity for engineering students to demonstrate application of sound engineering principles, it also seeks for those applications to be used in sustainable, environmentally responsible transportation solutions for underdeveloped or inaccessible parts of the world. The competition has a broad range of events seeking to evaluate not only the vehicle’s performance on the track, but as well as in its design, business feasibility, and performance safety testing.

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