Almost ready to drive

It seems that to be the phrase of the day. All day we had issues with the brake and throttle systems. Last night we discovered that the accelerator pedal could stick and that, as it was wired, the brake system wouldn't override it. So, we had planned to fix that and the leak in the brake lines this morning.

Well, that wasn't the case.

We spent all afternoon working on it, and for a little while we had everything working (although the brake lines still leaked).

We took the car outside, flipped on the motor and discovered that the motor would run, but the wheel wouldn't turn. So now we're working on finishing that. We had planned to go out to Mizzou Arena's parking lot to drive this afternoon (now this evening), but that's looking more and more unlikely.

Hopefully I'll have better news later this evening.

We drove... for real this time!

Just about twenty minutes ago, we drove the Tigergen I frame with a nearly complete braking and steering system. Garrett, Head Mechanical Engineer, drove around the Engineering Building West parking lot for three minutes or so-- before the light rain became a hazard to our electrical system.

But it's an exciting accomplishment- especially since we have only a week before we pack up and head to Texas.



And even greater news, guys! I finally was prepared and had the nice(r) camera to capture the exhilarating moment. So check it out!



That and Flickr, of course!

Where we're at now

Much to our dismay, we won't have the car done this evening to drive. We had hoped by this time- or at least close enough to it- to have the brakes and steering completed. But the shop ended up closing early on us today- at 3 p.m. instead of 5 p.m. like usual- and we had about another half hour on the steering knuckles until they were finished and a little longer to finish a little piece on a lathe. But we move on.

Last night was definitely an interesting one. We spent most of yesterday preparing the car for driving, which was more difficult than it sounds. We had to attach the suspension, the tires, brake discs and a lot more fun little pieces that I can't even remember. We finished most of our necessary welding, so that meant we could finally start wiring the car.

That took some time-- a lot of wire cutting, soldering, testing and twisting-- and we "purged" the hydrogen tank. Essentially, we were cleaning all the air out of the tank using Nitrogen. We filled and purged the tank twice and then took the entire frame outside to the trailer.

We filled the tank using a cascade system. It sounds complicated, but it's surprisingly simple. Inside the trailer we can carry three massive metal tanks that is filled with compressed hydrogen gas. They're all connected with a system we designed.

When the cascade system's nozzle is attached to the tank on the frame, hydrogen is drawn out of one of the tanks in the trailer. As the pressure in tank 1 decreases, hydrogen from tank 2 is moved back to tank 1 to increase the pressure again. The same repeats when the pressure in tank 2 decreases with tank 3. (That's not too complicated, huh?)

And when I say drive, I should probably elaborate a little more about what we accomplished. The frame itself had no brakes and no steering control; what we did was turn on the entire power system, then the fuel cells, then the motor on a rear tire, and let her drive! The motor made a loud whirling noise. The noise, though, should lessen some as we further refine the car. The car moved slowly, and if we wanted to turn, we had to grab onto the uprights and physically turn them ourselves.

So, while it's a little disappointing we won't be driving anymore tonight, we'll be working hard the rest of this week to get the car fully drivable this weekend.

Oh- and soon we shall have Tigergen's body back! I'll post more details on that when it gets closer to returning. It will be gold with a black chevron on the front and two black stripes following the body's lines back to the tail. It'll look pretty awesome.



And for your viewing pleasure... a visual tour of Tigergen's frame.

The refueling nozzle:


The motor power board (yes, it was set on the car upside down...):


The hydrogen tank pressure gauges:


And finally, the control panel (the gray square mounted on the left) and the driver interface board (the screen in the gold colored frame):


Awesome, no?

As always, if you're in the neighborhood of Engineering Building West, stop by the basement and say hi!

Pictures from this morning on Flickr

I just finished posting about eight photos from driving this morning on Flickr. In all, I took a little over 75 plus some video.

They won't all be posted, but some may be made into an audio slideshow this evening.

Check them out!

We did it!

At about 1:45 a.m. this morning we got Tigergen I to run off her motor and fuel cells. Here is some video from the evening:



In above, Mike drives the car around the lot. Sorry for the dark picture- our better video camera didn't have the necessary DVR tape.



In this very short clip, Andrew turns the car on and drives it a bit down the hallway. Again, it's sort of a horrible trade-off again; this time you can actually see, but it's like 2 seconds.

Oh well! These are just a couple little things to get you all started in the morning. There will be LOTS more later this afternoon- after we've all had a little sleep and a lot of coffee!

Just a little video from the lab today

I've embedded a Youtube video I just posted. In it Andrew fires up the two fuel cells and gives some readers a clue as to what it's going to sound like in the car with the cells and fans going. The quality isn't very high since I just took it off my little Cybershot, but it gives you guys a glimpse of what we're working on in the lab (and gives me a much needed chance to practice my camera-work!).

Happy viewings!



(or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubXeZaXqLik if you can't see the video here)

Just 18 days left...

It always seems like this starts the same way: In the past (insert number of days), we've made a lot of progress on the car.  Yet, it's always true.

This past week, we've come a lot closer to having a completed car. The completed body was finally sent out to CarStar in Boonville to be painted on Monday. We worked pretty much nonstop this past weekend laying up the door and cutting out the windshield, rear window and two side windows-- an exciting improvement over the SunTigers. After cutting everything out, we had to sand both the top and bottom of the body with power sanders. 

Also, we got our DC/DC board back and is in the process of being rewired. We had sent it out the first week of June so it would start at a lower level of power. Since it was starting at such a high power, it just wouldn't turn on. Now it'll (hopefully) start and put us one step closer to having a drivable frame. Other than that, most of the recent electrical work was to finish the car's circuit boards, and soon we'll have them mounted to the frame.

Much of today was dedicated to work on the steering and the braking systems. Pieces that will eventually become part of the braking system were machined today and will soon be welded onto the frame. 

The steering, however, was a bit trickier. Much to our disappointment, we realized today that the steering designs we had were designed backwards and the geometry had to be redone. But that obstacle has been overcome, and we'll be machining those pieces in the next couple days.

The outlook is good so far. We hope to have a drivable frame by the middle of next week, and there will definitely be some video from that posted on here. This weekend, though, the team members going on the race will be out practicing driving with the truck and trailer and driving in a caravan set-up (that just means three cars will be driving together. On the race it'll be the "lead" van, then Tigergen I, then the "chase" van).

Hopefully the next update will be sooner than another week!

Despite the summer, there's still work to be done

With just a little under a month until we arrive in Cresson, Texas, for scrutineering, we've made some major headway towards finishing Tigergen I. She now has a fully body, and all that is left is to cut out the window and the door before we paint it. So far the plan is to ship the body out on Monday.

And major work has been completed on the car's frame. We're in the progress of designing and creating the mounts for the car's brake system. Some work is still left to be done on the steering and brakes that will be wrapped up in the next few days. Also, our DC/DC board will soon be back after it's fine-tuning.

So soon we'll be testing the car, and there will definitely be some video of the car's first few drives. They'll be posted on Youtube and will be accessible from here.

Also, linked to this blog is a Twitter account that will be updated as we drive throughout the day on the race, and even as we do little things around the lab here in Columbia.

As always, if you're in the neighborhood, stop by Engineering Building West 1 and visit!

A Big Change

Hello everyone!

There have certainly been a lot of changes since this blog was last updated; probably most important is that we will not participate in the Great Race 2008 this summer. The race was postponed this spring due to the ongoing conflicts in China. We were devastated at the news-- over three years of hard work and dedication went into the design and creation of Tigergen I. Despite the loss, though, we decided to finish our car regardless of whether or not we would formally race it.

However we did not have to worry for long. Our search for a race to participate in brought us back to the people we worked with while racing the SunTiger cars: the North American Solar Challenge. Despite our hardships, we had found a race to compete in. Tigergen I will drive as a demonstration vehicle alongside the solar cars from other universities. We will drive Tigergen I from Austin, Texas, to Calgary, Alberta. Testing for the car will begin on July 6, and the race will begin in Plano, Texas, on July 13.

So now we have a little under six weeks to finish our car before we leave for Texas. We have the top mold made for the car, and we'll soon have that completed as well. More updates of the car's progress will come soon.

This blog will be updated throughout the race with not only text here, but also video published on Youtube and pictures posted on Flickr. We will also update a Twitter account as we pass through all the different cities on the race and as we experience anything interesting along the way. Our goal is to make it feel as though you are there with us as we complete this endeavor, just as your were when we first started and as we worked to build it.

But most importantly, thank you for your continued support as we work to complete the University of Missouri's first hydrogen fuel cell car, Tigergen I, and as we searched for a race to participate in. 

Definitely check back for more information!  Soon we'll be testing our car, and we'll be sure to post some early video of our car.