**History of Vehicles:**
– Oldest boats found date back to 8040–7510 BC
– Evidence of camel-pulled wheeled vehicles around 4000–3000 BC
– Earliest wagonway found in Greece around 600 BC
– Ma Jun built a south-pointing chariot in 200 CE
– First self-propelled mechanical vehicle by Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot in 1769
**Types and Usage of Vehicles:**
– Over 1 billion bicycles in use worldwide
– Estimated 590 million cars and 205 million motorcycles in service in 2002
– Honda Super Cub motorcycle is the most-produced motor vehicle
– Toyota Corolla is the most-produced car model
– Boeing 737 is the top commercial jet airliner
**Energy Sources and Storage Methods:**
– Human power, fuel (gasoline, diesel, ethanol), and batteries for electric vehicles
– Advantages and drawbacks of batteries
– Battery swapping, fuel cells, electrified rails, and solar energy as storage methods
– Various alternative energy sources like nuclear power, mechanical strain, flywheels, wind energy, and compressed gas
**Vehicle Propulsion Systems and Control Mechanisms:**
– Internal combustion engines, turbine engines, pulse jet engines, rocket engines, and electric motors
– Conversion of energy to work using wheels, nozzles, propellers, and gears
– Various propulsion systems like ion thrusters, jet engines, electric propulsion, steam engines, and compressed gas motors
– Steering mechanisms, braking systems, and control mechanisms for different types of vehicles
**Regulations and Safety in Transportation:**
– Licensing requirements for drivers and pilots
– Vehicle registration procedures for legal and insurance purposes
– Mandatory safety equipment for operators
– Right-of-way rules for different types of vehicles
– Safety metrics and historical development of transportation, emphasizing the importance of safety standards and continuous improvement.
A vehicle (from Latin vehiculum) is a machine designed for self-propulsion, usually to transport people, cargo, or both. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters), railed vehicles (trains, trams), watercraft (ships, boats, underwater vehicles), amphibious vehicles (screw-propelled vehicles, hovercraft), aircraft (airplanes, helicopters, aerostats), and spacecraft.
Ground vehicles can be broadly classified by the type of contact with the ground: wheels, tracks, rails, or skis. ISO 3833-1977 is the international standard for road vehicle types, terms, and definitions.