Twister by Hankil Moon, South Korea

2015: Drive Your Passion.

 

Biography:

Hankil Moon, 26, is currently majoring in Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Design at Hong-ik University in Korea.

Moon sets his design priority on feasibility, sustainability and ergonomics. He wants to fully understand cars with regards to both mechanics and design. Moon has been attempting to achieve this by joining the Self-Buggy-Car-Making school club and contributing to several projects conducted by mechanical engineering and industrial design students. He tries to create products which are fitted to the human body that can also be used intuitively at the same time.

Description:

Yang-kak-san (Two horns mountain) is an off road and one of the most famous roads in Korea. It has several courses: Rock crawling, Stiff course, Crossing the river. One of the courses that fantasized me was a small valley which was formed by heavy rain in the monsun season.

It was 1.5m deep, 1~1.5m wide and 200m long. It looked like a half pipe on a ski course. It would be really fun, if the driver could ride the course like skiing.

Before designing the car, I set up the following three requirements:

  • Riding at minimum velocity of 20 km/h in hardcore courses.
  • Feeling openness in the nature.
  • Seat is reactive to the ground so the driver could feel the terrain.

Second and third requirements were essential factors to ride at the valley that I found in the Yang-kak-san off road course. Two factors could make the driver run down the course with adrenalin as a skier on the mogul course, or a person riding a roller-coaster. I wanted to make the driver feel as if he is running down the mountain with speed.

To meet the first requirement, the wheel had to be different. Traditional wheels couldn’t run over the big rocks. I designed the wheel to stretch over the big rocks and to climb over them.

To meet the second requirement, the lower frame was moved up and replaced with reinforced transparent plastic so the driver could see the ground.

For third requirement, I made a flexible frame so the car could twist around. Then, the driver could feel the twist of the car. So the body is acting with the terrain as skiers riding down the mogul course.