Wireless-Charged Tram-Car Invented by High School Students

Here in Japan robotics is booming with a variety of field contests for youngsters to challenge and most vocational high schools take part in creating ingenious machines based on high-level skills. Today's episode, however, is the story of a technical high school in Kawagoe, Saitama, where a team of electrical engineering majors in the third grade came up with a wireless-charged tram-car.

Kawagoe Technical High School has a years-long tradition of building tram-cars at the annual school festival. This year's team developed a unique wireless charger named "Capacitor" to run a one-coach tram-car with 7 passengers on the 50-meter tracks. The coach slowly traveled for 50 meters, returned to the starting point for recharging.

According to NHK, A 40-year-old male commented after a trial ride:

"Well, I sure felt the level of technology and much impressed by the way those students had challenged to build such a wireless-charged vehicle. My hat off to them."
The team members expressed excitement over the feat, commenting:

"We want as many  people as possible to come and ride the tram-car and appreciate that we high school students can build such a tram-car."

The Cultural Festival opens also on October 30 and the tram car is ready for you to ride on a first-come-first-served basis.

The Kawagoe Technical High School is, in fact, the oldest high school in Saitama, founded in 1908 as, mark you, a school for dyeing and weaving! What a history - from textile to tram car. Its alumni include ShizuoTakashino of Sony, the "Father of the Walkman". The school marked in 2015 a Guinness World Record for the longest distance traveled by a vehicle on a railway track on dry cell batteries. (Nathan Shiga)