The Stevens Institute of Technology Formula SAE team is comprised of students interested in designing, building, and testing one-off, open-wheel racecars.
Yesterday the team mailed in the cost report completing all of the paperwork for this years competition. At 256 pages it was quite a project. Thankfully last years team set up a great system for us to use to get it done, thanks Billy. With all the paperwork done the team can focus solely on the car. With a lot of work to do the team is working fervently and everyday that passes we can see the car getting closer to completion. The goal right now is to get the car completed, take it apart, paint it, and put it back together by the end of the month to have it ready for the Stevens Car Show on May 2nd.
Stevens Formula SAE and Autism Speaks will be co-sponsoring a Car Show on May 2nd on the Stevens Campus. The team will be revealing the 2010 car at this event and would like to invite everyone to attend.
The team has been hard at work in and out of the shop. On the car front we were able to get all of the suspension members mounted this week. We also received the front uprights from George Wohlrab, the schools machinist, which came out great and mounted right up. We also settled on a plastic for the body panels, PETG. This material is lightweight and easy to form and should make an excellent body. In addition to the work in the shop we have been finalizing our cost report. The cost report is a document which calculates the cost of manufacturing 1000 cars in one year. The team did very well on this report last competition and are looking to continue the good work. All in all it has been a very productive week with more assemblies being put on its beginning to look like a car. The next steps are to get the differential mounted, the axles cut and fitted, and get the new engine running.
The car with all the suspension arms on and tires mounted to two wheels.
Rear suspension arms, upright, and toe adjust.
View from the front of the car.
Front suspension arms, upright, and hub with tire mounted.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
The team has been hard at work making progress on every sub-assembly of the car. All of the rear engine mounts have been fabricated and fitted. We are working on designing and installing the front mounts, which will utilize the stock R6 mounting plates for easy installation and removal of the engine. The team also fabricated the mounts for the pedals and designed an adjustable seat for this years car. We also finalized the design for the body which will consist of three plastic body panel and a fiberglass nose. The plastic panels will be along the sides of the car and one over the front to act as a hood. The fiberglass nose will cover the impact attenuator. The picture below will give you an idea of where the plastic panels will be. With tons of work still to do on the car we are planning on working over spring break, next week, to get the car done in time. The goal for the coming week is to have all of the mounts for the different components installed and hopefully have a rolling chassis. We are also hard at work on the Cost Report another critical piece of the competition. The cost report is based on a production run of 1000 cars in one year. The team must cost all aspects of the car down to the installation of the nuts and blots. Last years team was able to place 15th in this event and with their help we hope to do just as well. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but are confident that this years car will be the most competitive in school history.
Pedals mounted in the car
Pedal mounting plates Finished rear engine mounts Body panel mock-up The big board with all of the tasks
The team has made lots of progress since the last post. We have completed all of the suspension arms and are working on the frame mounts. Fabrication of the rear knuckles has also begun. They have been jigged and are in the process of finish welding. After the engine failure last week the team scrambled to find a new engine and in the process made contact with Bay Cycles in Bayonne. With help from them we have found a new R6 engine to put in our car. With this great news we are working on mocking up the engine mounts with our old engine, while awaiting the new one. We are at the point where all of the components we have designed are coming together and we are starting to see the fruits of our labor.
The team has successfully submitted the first round of Action Deadline material to the Formula SAE judges. This includes the Impact Attenuator Data, the Design Report, and the Design Spec Sheet. The major piece of this was the Impact Attenuator Report. For this the team had to design and build a device to limit the forces on the driver in the event of a front end collision. Our design was a box filled with aluminum honeycomb sheets. To test our design the team dropped a 417 kg weight from about 6 feet on the the attenuator. Data was collected and our design passed with flying colors, to see a video of the test click here.
The team suffered a major setback last week with the failure of our Yamaha R6 engine. During a test run last Wednesday white smoke began pouring out of the exhaust and we knew something was wrong. Upon further inspection we found that one of the connecting rods had broken and seriously damaged a cylinder ans one of the valves. Unfortunately we will not be able to salvage this engine and are looking for another. The team will continue to build the car while we hunt down another engine. We are confident that we can still make it to competition and be competitive.
The engine team has been working hard to get the engine up an running. They have been searching through the wiring harness finding all the connections that are no longer needed and making alterations so the engine will work outside the bike it came from. The engine has been hooked up to the radiator and the fuel lines. The team hopes to have the engine running by early next week.
The team got the chassis back from finish welding on Monday night. Thanks again to Majka Railing in Paterson, NJ for the awesome work and great turn around. Below are a few pictures of the finished chassis. The team is continuing work on the suspension members and the mounting points for the engine.
With the chassis out for welding the team has begun working on the suspension components. Jigs for the upper and lower control arms for the front and rear have been built. The team is in the process of fitting all of the members together. Once the members are fit the team will send some of the components to George Wohlrab who runs the machine shop on campus to be drilled and tapped. The goal is to have the suspension components together by early next week.
A part of the control arm which will be tapped to accept a heim joint.
The 2010 chassis is fully tacked together and is ready for finish welding. The chassis will be sent to Majka Railing in Paterson, NJ for this final process. Hopefully we will have it back in about two weeks and can start assembling the rest of the components. With the chassis out for welding we will be working on the suspension components and the engine. The plan is to have these finished and ready to install when the chassis returns.
After a successful competition appearance in 2009, the Stevens Formula SAE Team is working on a completely new car for the 2010 Michigan competition. With the experience gained from last year, the team is eager to build a better, more competitive car for this year. With the departure of the 2009 senior design team, a new group has taken on the project and is making great progress. The new senior design team is comprised of six seniors: Brandon Murphy, Chad Edwards, Fidelio Sime Segura, John Cheney, Matt Gordon, and Tom Paddack. Their hard work in the fall semester has gotten the team into a great position to be very competitive in Michigan this year.
At this time, most of the chassis has been tacked together and will soon be taken to Majka Railing, a sponsor based in Paterson, NJ, for help with finishing the welds. The team has also been working on the engine for this year’s car, which is a Yamaha R-6. They are beginning to modify the motorcycle’s original engine harness for use in the car. The team’s next goal is to machine the hubs and fabricate the other suspension components.
With a lot of work ahead of them, the team is confident that this car will be one of the most competitive in school history.
