Electric Solar Vehicle Championship - ISIE
The project was aimed at designing and prototyping a Solar Powered Electric Vehicle to race with the about 70 universities . The project was undertaken as a Voluntary work in order to gain knowledge about the . These have benefit in the defence industry because it doesn't rely on the use of high precision electronics and also penetrates the targeted tank body by creating a highly effective blast shockwave which damages the enemy armour from the inside. Additional constraint in the project was that the project was meant to be very cost efficient.
Describe what role you played on your team. Who did you have to work with to achieve your goal? What was the outcome of the project?
Role & Achievements
The Project was aimed at developing a solar vehicle to race with the universities in the Electric Solar vehicle Championship competition organized by Imperial society of innovative engineers.
In the project, I worked as a Mechanical Engineer in the following departments.
Role cage Design
Ergonomics study
Steering System Design
Some of my achievements are as follows:
The team was very efficient with resource utilization and we had built the vehicle in a budget close to about AUD 2000.
Our team Bagged "Best future design vehicle after the final race.
Had the experience of learning to build something from scratch and within the budget.
In the course of the project I co-authored in a a research paper titled" Electric differential in delta geometry vehicle: a new approach"
Roll Cage
The roll cage was designed and manufactured using the inhouse capability. I was involved in designing the roll cage and analyzing the impact from all the sides, and observing the failure modes for it. The deformation study showed that the deformation was insignificant for the front impact and the driver would be safe even in that case.
Rula analysis
The RULA analysis was performed to check the ergonomics of the vehicle for better reach and blind spots. The demonstration for that is shown in the figure below
Steering
Geometry applied
Ackerman geometry is used in our steering design. The Ackermann condition is followed such as
Cot ∂o- Cot ∂i= w/l
Ackermann steering geometry is considered for low speed vehicles whereas the anti-ackermann can be considered for the high speed vehicles such as f1 cars.
Calculation results
Inner wheel angle (∂i)=21.5 degrees
Outer wheel angle (∂o)= 16.41 degrees
Distance between rack and front axle (s)= 7.5 approx
Distance between rack end and the tyre centre =17.5 inches
The length of tie rods = 13.77
The turning radius of the vehicle is(R) = 2.13m
Centre of gravity for optimum weight distribution:
centre of gravity = .40*52
=20.8 inches from behind the axle
Manufacturing
The manufacturing of the vehicle was mostly done inhouse except for some parts which needed precision manufacturing such as the A -arm for suspension and threading for the steering rod.
Roll cage manufacturing:
The bending of the pipes was outsourced and in the university lab welding of the pipes was carried out.
The welding was carried out inhouse and grinding of the left out was carried out.
Steering manufacturing :
Threading of rods was outsourced .
Right handed steering system was modified to be central steering system.