science

Wikispeed

Wikispeed is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Wikispeed rather than just read about it. In short: Wikispeed is an automotive startup with a modular design car. Wikispeed competed in the Progressive Automotive X Prize competition in 2010 and won the tenth place in the mainstream class, which had a hundred other cars competing, often from big companies and universities.

Key takeaways

Wikispeed belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Wikispeed to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Wikispeed from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Wikispeed is an automotive startup with a modular design car. Wikispeed competed in the Progressive Automotive X Prize competition in 2010 and won the tenth place in the mainstream class, which had a hundred other cars competing, often from big companies and universities. The car debuted at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit, Michigan in January 2011. Wikispeed was founded by Joe Justice and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington. In 2011, Justice gave a TEDx talk explaining the management style implemented by the Wikispeed team. In May 2012, Joe Justice launched an Indiegogo campaign to crowdfund further refinement of their prototype design into a market-ready kit car. Justice did not seek development funding from "traditional venture capital" in an effort to avoid forcing the Wikispeed project "into commercial short-term money-making". The campaign sought roughly $50,000 over a period of two months. The campaign failed. Wikispeed aims to apply scrum development techniques borrowed from the software development industry. They use open source tools and lean management methods to improve their productivity. On January 6, 2015, Wikispeed announced that they have been unable to create a working engine module since their second model and called on the community for help. On February 15, 2015, Wikispeed announced an update that they have produced another working engine module.

See also Open-source car Electric vehicle Open hardware

References

External links Official website

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Wikispeed

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Wikispeed claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Wikispeed before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Wikispeed ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Wikispeed

In research: Wikispeed appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Wikispeed in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Wikispeed is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Car manufacturers of the United States, Electric vehicle manufacturers of the United States, Modular design, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Wikispeed outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Wikispeed in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Wikispeed means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Wikispeed out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Wikispeed in simple terms?

Why does Wikispeed matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Wikispeed?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Wikispeed.