UBC Supermileage Team – Superblog II

I’d like to congratulate Riza on his new job!   He hasn’t actually told us about it yet, so I hope this doesn’t ruin his surprise!

During my recent stay in Malaysia, I noticed a larger than life poster outside of the Petronas Twin Towers that’s obviously of our tame, yet number-challenged Supermileage Car Driver.   The only conclusion:  he must have gotten a job back in Malaysia, driving!   Let’s just hope he doesn’t drive the Argo off of a boat in order to upgrade to that white driving suit he’s wearing.

Now that I think about it, Riza kept suggesting I check out the Twin Towers so I could see quite the “engineering achievement”.  Although the towers are fantastic, I think he was actually referring to the poster of himself… What a narcissist.

EDIT:  It seems I was mistaken.  It looks like Riza isn’t the Petronas Driver, despite the striking similarity and all circumstantial evidence indicating otherwise.  Regardless, I think the whole team’ll miss his company.

others say that he just likes to finish early…

All we know is: he did 9 laps instead of 10.

some say he wears a helmet under his helmet

But at least we were able to prove (unofficially) what our car can do.  After an emotional and tiring month, and even more exhausting 5 days in Houston, I think that’s what is really important.  Besides, it was a lot of fun: we had the opportunity to meet some new teams, we drove the car for the first “real” trial, I “learned the car’s weaknesses” and was able to experience (in an unrelated incident) the US Healthcare System.

Holy Cow! That's like $1400 CDN!

To keep with the theme of the post – I’ll narrate some of the major events.  Please envision this in the best “Clarkson Voice” you can.

And he’s off!
The team arrives in Houston and finds that their car appears to have shipped in one piece! (well, actually several pieces, but no “extra” pieces and no fewer than we shipped!)

Hmm. 5 am is a little earlier than our usual meeting time...

mmm. New car smell!

Up to the first corner now:

The team tries starts to add the final parts to meet safety and technical specifications.

And through Chicago:

The wiring gets finished and implemented in the car.

It may look messy, but it does the job.

And hammerhead:

The exhaust is mounted on the engine – this was trickier than expected.   Interference with the driver seat?  Not anymore!

Jason putting the exhaust on after we shortened the studs.

Right. The follow through:

The team “relaxed” while enjoying a nice dinner and presentation.

Yea. That's right.

Woot.

nom nom

Up to Gambon:

The team passed technical inspections and received the green light to compete!

Show that fantastic smile, Jason.

And across the line:

The car is run on the track.. and is 1 lap short of finishing third!

High hopes!

The Argo on it's second lap (we think?)

Riza Seeing the "Final Lap" Sign for the First Time

And such is the conclusion to the first year building “the Argo”.   163.5 mpg and a lot of sweat and tears.  What’s in for next year?  Wait and find out!

EDIT:  Please check out our compilation video on youtube!

With the car on route to Texas and team members scrambling to purchase last minute items, we are nearing zero hour.  A few kinks need to be worked out upon arrival, so there won’t be too much time for relaxing (and searching for/attempting a TEXAS SIZED STEAK..72 oz !!)

Who/What/Where/When?

UBCST/Shell Eco-Mararthon: Urban Concept/Houston, Texas/ March 26-29

Prepping for shipping

A few of us were worried about possible flight delays so we decided to play it safe and ship our driver with the car to ensure they arrive together.

I did remember to leave some ventilation holes in the crate. yeah, I did…i think?

See you all in Houston!
Best of luck to all the participants

After many arduous nights and a ridiculous amount of milkshakes and orange juice, we are proud to introduce, Argo.

I know, I know we had a poll..but doesn’t it look more like an “Argo” than a “Fengler”??

Hi there! I’m happy to introduce UBCST’s newest member, Charlie.  As you know, we’ve been having a hard time these past few years keeping members with a certain skillset on the team.  They just go missing!  I don’t mean Electrical Engineering students.  I mean hammers.  They go missing like it’s nobody’s business.   So.. we sucked it up and got ourselves a new one (and this time it’s not a piece of steel bar stock!).

World, meet Charlie.  Charlie, this is the world.

My pal, Charlie.

Me (Kyle) Standing with My New Best Friend

I’ve already had some fun escapades with my new found friend and critical team member.  Sometimes I just hammer on stuff for the fun of it, you know?

Oh and progress.  How could I forget?  No pictures as of yet (I know.. I know..) but we are happy where things are right now.  Long hours and frantic work has gotten us pretty far in the last couple weeks.  Things are looking pretty drat fine.

We’ll update when we have something more substantial to say about our status.  Until then… *frantically works on car / homework / his job*

Looks as though some reader dubbed “The Only Fan” has hacked into our blog and edited a post.  More disturbing is the fact that this reader has been following us and taking photos of select team members (Kyle, methinks you have a stalker..).

I sit here and sift through my memories of the Engineering Open House.  Nothing unusual. *shudders*

I’ve always thought that I had a good sense of my surroundings or “Unagi” – as Ross puts it.  Let’s not get rattled now, Jason…your Unagi is superb.  This leads me to believe that we are dealing with a being that is highly skilled, a being which hides within the shadows, a being which treads as the water striders do, a being known as….. ninja.
Fortunately for us, our skill set goes beyond that of energy efficient designs and promoting sustainable methods, we are also excellent trackers.  We will get to the bottom of this! Rest assured.

In a way, I guess it is flattering to have such an enthusiastic follower.  Another “green” aficionado is a plus in my book!

-update on our progress: The body is almost there, the chassis is just about done, and the engine is on its way.  Photos will be up soon.

Happy Holidays

I’ve decided to throw together a list of skills you can obtain from being involved in Supermileage.  With interest from new members always a concern, I think it’s a good idea to let them know what skills they can gain from being involved in the project.  And of course, I feel it’s important to let you know what we can do.

The following is a list of our skill sets and capabilities:

1. Sketchy: Yes. We do that.  We know how to push the limits of both material use and design.  There is always the ideal “Plan 1″ and several less admirable backup plans.  Guess which one most often is used? Not only do we do this, but we seem to pull it off quite well.  Actually, we jokingly call it “Sketchy” but in reality it is “Calculated Risk”.  It may not seem like it, but much of what we do involves analysis and judgement.
2. Improvisation: Being poor university students working on a project supported by our own passion, money and generous sponsors means that we don’t have the most complete set of tools.  Where’s the hammer? (Answer: it went missing..) It doesn’t matter.  Just use that steel pipe.   Don’t have a clamp to hold that thing down?   We have duct tape, don’t we?
3. Safe and Injury free Workspace: I can say with confidence that injuries are few and far between.  Dropping the tap and die kit on my hand? ^[1] Nope.   Didn’t happen on Saturday.   Of course, we abide by Workplace BC regulation and wear appropriate PPE.  I actually hurt myself more reaching to get my coffee grinder in my room.  I wish I had a “grinding coffee orientation” like I’ve had machine shop and safety orientation…
4. Dance: A happy dance is required when you fit all your newly machined chassis parts together and they look like they will work.  Possible variants include:
   a) Chicken dance
   b) “mosh” influenced boogy
   c) a particularly silly walk (approved by the ministry, of course)
5. “Heavy” Lifting: How else do you think we move our lightweight mold for the car body?    Don’t worry, we know to lift with our backs.    Plus it’s more “big lifting” than “heavy lifting”….^[2]
6. Strategic Coffee Buying: In times of “composite” need, our coffee purchases and the corresponding stirring sticks increase quite significantly.   What would we do if that Starbucks closed down?
7. Use of Big Tools: (Or small tools to do big things) Sawzall?   YEA.   Cordless drill with a 1″ diameter drill to drill through.. aluminum?    YEA.
8. Reduced BOM Costs: Is that specialty part too difficult to find or expensive off the shelf in low quantities?  Design your own.  Or is it cheaper to buy on Ebay than custom make?

This list is still probably incomplete, but I am sure I will think of more in the coming weeks (after final exams, of course) since physical assembly and fabrication is starting to consume more time than part procurement and design.

[1] included for entertainment value only

[2] it’s a block of foam…

A quick update and thanks for those who came out for the UBC Engineering Open House today.   It was great to see an interest from the community as well as future engineering students.   The student teams were set up in Kaiser which allowed us to show off our new design.  Of course, since it’s Super Saturday still, Thomas was a trooper and stayed outside in the omnipresent Vancouver rain to sand the plug with the help of George.  The rest of us performed our very important duties inside the warm, dry building.   It’s fun being responsible and educating the community and potential engineering students about the project and sustainability.   I mean, we stand around and get to talk about what we are working on (who doesn’t like to talk about themselves, eh?).  Then we ninja food from key locations and furiously eat it before anyone sees us (and while our stomachs cry to the gods to fill them up).  Man, it’s hungering to stand around.

Nom nom nom

I think overall it was a pretty fun event and the people who showed up were given a good taste of UBC Engineering (as well as the famous Mondo Spider).   I am hoping we can increase our fanbase to actually be considered something more than ‘the fan”.  I would love to use plurals in that context for once.   I think it would be nice if Amanda wasn’t the only one running the fan club.  I mean, that’s just weird.

My only complaint about the day is that I had this odd feeling the entire time.  Do you ever get the feeling someone is watching you, but when you turn around nobody is there?  I know it’s just my head messing with me but it could be unsettling either way.  Oh well.

Until next time…

Documenting Supermileage at the Open House: 7 hours

Hacking into Superblog: 2 months

Being 200 pixels away from Kyle’s thoughts: priceless

8:05am Outside of Rusty Hut

It’s a rainy Saturday morning. I see a blur of a figure rushing towards CEME. He’s got a hurried pace…a flustered look that tells me he just woke up… lusciously wavy hair (gosh, he looks so rugged right now…) Why, it’s Kyle! He must be headed for the UBC Engineering Open House. Arriving two hours and ten minutes earlier than usual, the poor dear looks exhausted.

That’s the thing about this team-they are enormously dedicated to their work. On this particular Saturday they are devoting seven hours to enlightening students about fuel efficiency, mechanics and sustainability. And maybe a few tips on how to direct minions. Such incredible role models they are! I’m going to raise my future children to be just like them.

9:00am Kaiser

I’ve secured a secret perch on the second floor. Below is the bustle of engineers putting the finishing touches on their displays. Soon, the room fills with visitors eager for a taste of the engineering life. Where is Supermileage? I quickly scan the room. Nothing. Good thing I’ve got my radar. It tells me that they are in an enclosed space at two o’clock on the first floor.  For now I shall keep an eye out in case they wander out into the foyer.

11:05am Kaiser

My eyes are so tired from not blinking for two hours. But finally, success! I see Stephen, Jason and Kyle venture out of their display area. They stop to talk to a female engineer at a display, and Kyle stares intently into her eyes as he eats a cookie. I will have to chat with her later. They leave the building to check out the Mondo Spider. Its inventor is getting his own show on the Discovery Channel! Supermileage has been featured on Discovery too, you know. Just another way to promote their future-friendly project, technological savvy and nationally renowned genius.

Peek-a-boo!

12:15pm Kaiser, in the room next to Starbuck’s

It is both nerve-wracking and intimidating to be so close to the brilliant engineers of Supermileage. That is why I chose to start off by observing them through a crack in the doors. Stephen, Jason and Kyle are manning the display and it is incredible. There are artful posters detailing the history of the team, two laptops with competition photos and images of the digital model, the body of their last car, and two plaster models- one which is covered in threads. Many people are intrigued by this, and like to ask what the threads are for. To visualize the direction of airflow of course! Jason is especially skillful at explaining the wind tunnel testing. Several kids and their parents have stopped to take a look at their booth- more opportunities to inspire the little adults of the future!

3:00pm Kaiser, at the Supermileage display

Finally mustered the courage to get up close and “personal” with the Supermileage members. Words simply cannot describe the experience of finally seeing them in the flesh!

Closer...

And closer...

SO close that i could see the carbon fibre dust on Kyle's t-shirt!

Close call! My heart never raced so fast..

Well, enough excitement for today. Who knows when or where I’ll pop up next time (I like to keep you on your toes)! That said, it wouldn’t hurt to look over your shoulder once in a while…

Cheers,

The Only Fan

Patent UBCST 120412 – PressMaster 6000 (“stripped-down version of the PressMaster 9000 of course. But it’s hardware upgradeable”)

Claims:

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. An assembly to align and press a bearing into an opening of generic diameter found in wheel/rim assemblies.  Said bearing assembly is comprised of

A support column, of any material, providing a stable surface to which said rim is suspended.

At least three clamps arranged in a manner whereby the force is equally distributed among the discs.  See Fig.1. Said clamps can consist of bar clamps or C-clamps.

Two precision machined discs transmit said clamping force to the bearing; depressing said bearing into opening of generic diameter.

2. A bearing alignment and press assembly of claim 1 whereby said force is transmitted to the bearing through an intermediate member.
3. A bearing alignment and press assembly of claim 1 wherein said clamps are administered one-by-one in a clockwise direction whereby reducing the strain induced in the unconventional counter clockwise direction.
4. A bearing alignment and press assembly of claim 2 wherein said member transmits the clamping force to the outer race of the bearing.  Said member may or may not be in direct contact with said machined disc and/or bearing.
5. A bearing alignment and press assembly of claim 3 wherein said member may or may not resemble a threading die.
6. In combination, said bearing is placed in said rim with opening of generic diameter; said intermediate member is aligned such that said clamping force acts upon the outer race of said bearing.
7. In combination of claim 6, said clamps are administered in a clockwise direction; transmitting said clamping force onto said precision machined disc.  Said precision machined disc transmits said force through said intermediate member.
8. In combination of claim 7, said intermediate member depresses said bearing into an opening of generic diameter found in wheel/rim assemblies.

Figure 1: Bearing alignment and press assembly

Figure 2: Clamping mechanism

In combination of claim 8 wherein said bearing is pressed into an opening of generic diameter found in wheel/rim assemblies, an unrequited high-five is administered. 

..Topic for a future post..
Babies: The new weight measurement standard