{"id":2610,"date":"2019-06-19T14:34:31","date_gmt":"2019-06-19T18:34:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/africaglobalnews.com\/?p=2610"},"modified":"2019-06-19T14:34:31","modified_gmt":"2019-06-19T18:34:31","slug":"prof-ayodele-awojobi-the-akoko-giant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/africaglobalnews.com\/website_b1ce9d46\/prof-ayodele-awojobi-the-akoko-giant\/","title":{"rendered":"Prof. Ayodele Awojobi, The Akoko Giant"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Most cars you know of, even those million dollar cars, have a steering wheel placed on what is taken to be the \u2018front\u2019 of the car, and regardless of how many horses are galloping in the engine, driving in the reverse gear is inherently less powerful than in the forward direction. Then you also have problems with handling, visibility, and turning around is not so possible in confined spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you correct this issue?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the hypothetical Boz<\/a>, the car is made bi-directional because it is electrically powered and its motors will spin either way comfortably. This is also the premise of Patent WO 2011098857 A1<\/a>, which envisions an electric vehicle capable of omnidirectional driving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
The Boz is a hypothetical concept with bidirectional driving<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

But is there a fossil-fuel powered vehicle that is capable of bi-directional driving?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As it so happens, there is one such car, under the custody of the Faculty of Engineering in the University of Lagos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Autonov 1<\/em>, as the car is known, is the legacy of one Professor Ayodele Awojobi (born 12 March 1937), a master tinkerer, a social activist, an academic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
The Autonov I, a creation of Prof. Ayodele Awojobi<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Until it became the Autonov 1<\/em>, the vehicle was just another Leyland Jeep. When it fell into the hands of Prof. Ayodele Awojobi, he fixed up another steering wheel at the \u2018back\u2019 of the vehicle, hooked it up with the \u2018back\u2019 axle, and then set up a mechanism to connect this steering wheel to the Jeep\u2019s gear system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In effect then, front or back is what you decided, as this car is bidirectional; what\u2019s more, there is a mechanism to swing your seat from one steering wheel to the other, so there is no need to lumber across the vehicle to get to the other steering wheel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n