Australian Inventions in
Transportation
Australians were also leaders in Transportation and Automation and
their developments have led to the beginnings of the Airplane and
Catamarans. It was William Hargrave in the early 1890s who invented the
Box Kite during his studies into the lift properties of curved surfaces.
Hargraves flew 16 feet by linking a group of box kites
together and adding a seat and paved way into studies in aviation and
led to the start of the Airplane.
The Wave Piercing Catamaran was designed by Sydney naval architect
Phillip Hercus, his designs led to the developments of the catamarans
made by Incat in Tasmania. The Sarich orbital engine, built by Perth
engineer Ralph Sarich in 1972 is a type of internal combustion engine
that features rotary motion of its internal parts. Sarich used a
triangular shaped piston to create five combustion chambers as it
orbited inside a cylinder. Today it is used I some two-stroke engines in
cars, motors, generators and mowers.
The 'Diff' or differential gears was designed by David Shearer. It
employs gears that transmit torque and rotate through three shafts. He
incorporated into the steam car he built in South Australia in 1897.
This is used in modern automobiles today.
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