TEAM

Transportation Engineering Advancement and Mentoring

A program for Middle School Students

 

 

As part of the local engineers’ week activities, the Huntsville Branch of ASCE and University Transportation Center of Alabama is sponsoring a Popsicle stick bridge and Solar Car Challenge for middle school students at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

In addition to the learning experience of this event, the winning individuals and classes will be awarded ribbons,  t-shirts, and class pizza parties.  The event will be held at the UAH Technology Hall on Friday February 20 from 10 am until 1:00 pm.

It will be a wonderful opportunity for your students to learn about engineering through an active, fun experience.

 

Contact: Kathleen Leonard, Ph.D. (Leonard@eng.uah.edu)

 

 

 

 Popsicle Stick Design/Build Challenge

 Solar Car Challenge

 TEAM Summer program


 

 

 

Wheels and Bearings

Purpose

Wheels support the chassis and allow the car to roll forward. Bearings support the wheel while allowing them to rotate.

Concept: Friction

Friction keeps things from sliding against each other. When you build your cars, there are some parts that you want to slide easily, and there are other parts you don’t want to slide at all.

Tire Traction

When you have two things that must roll against each other, like a wheel rolling along the road, friction keeps them from slipping. This type of friction is also called “traction,” and  is important to remember when building your wheels.

Why do mountain bikes have big, fat knobby tires? If you have to bike up a muddy hill covered with leaves, your tires will slip if they don’t have enough traction. And the big knobs of rubber can grip onto the dirt and rocks and keep the tires from slipping on the ground.   Mountain bike tires have two main disadvantages. The first disadvantage is the thick, knobby rubber which gives them such great traction also makes them inefficient. Every time a rubber “knob” is compressed and bent by the road, energy is lost.  The other main disadvantage of mountain bike tires is their weight. Weight in tires is actually more difficult to move than weight in the chassis. Weight in the chassis has to be moved forward, but the weight in the wheels has to be moved forward and around in a circle. The heavier the wheel, the more energy it takes to get the wheel turning.  So, racing bicycles do not have mountain bike tires, because traction is not as important. But what is important is efficiency, so that the bicyclist does not need to expend a lot of energy. The bicycle designers have made a conscious decision to use different tires designed for efficiency and not traction.

 

Weight Distribution and Traction

Imagine your rear-wheel-drive solar car has trouble -- its back wheels are slipping. Weight distribution is very important, since you can increase traction just by moving existing weight from one part of the car to the other.

Have you ever heard that front wheel drive cars are better in snow and ice than rear wheel drive vehicles? Front wheel drive cars aren’t heavier. But the engine is very heavy and is located above the front wheel. This helps traction in front wheel drive cars because the weight is right above the driven wheels.

So, in summary, traction is important for transmitting the forces from the wheels to the road. If any of your wheels are spinning rather than rolling, you probably need more traction. Traction can be increased by adding a non-slip material around the wheels (like a tire) or by moving weight over the driven wheels. But, remember, it is also important to have efficient wheels, which are usually thin and lightweight.

Bearings

When you have two things rubbing against each other and you want them to move freely, friction slows things down and wastes energy.  One case where friction is very undesirable is in the wheel axle. The axle must be supported and attached to the chassis, but still must be able to turn. Components which all the relative motion of two parts are called bearings. Some ideas bearings are sketched at the right.

 

Lubrication

Lubrication helps parts slide against each other, so it is used in bearings to reduce friction. Let’s try a small experiment.  Different lubricants work better with different materials. In the case of machines, one generally uses oil or grease to help the parts slide together easily. On a water slide, the water acts as a lubricant. If you bake cookies, a little oil or butter on the cookie sheet keeps the cookies from sticking.

Some appropriate lubricants for the solar car bearings may be light oil, light grease, or graphite powder (crushed pencil lead). Try various lubricants and see which ones work best in your car.

Wheel Alignment

Another problem that wastes energy is poor wheel alignment. When the wheels on your vehicle are not lined up properly, some of the wheels must slide sideways.  When the driven wheels try to pull the car one way, but the rest of the car wants to roll the other way, the traction in the wheels (normally a good thing) wastes quite a bit of energy.

Also, make sure that the axle goes through the center of the wheel. One suggestion is to use a compass, rather than tracing a circle, it you cut a circle out of a material. The compass will show you where the center of the circle is.  Taking time to align the wheels carefully the first time will make a huge difference in how well your car runs.

Materials

For wheels: Look around for anything round, or things which can be cut into circular shapes... Some materials we found were:

thin plywood balsa wood,

foam core stiff plastic sheet

Styrofoam cardboard tubes

toy/model wheels tin can

tape spool thread spool

brass tube plastic pipe

wood dowels

 

For traction: Things that are rough or rubber-like usually add traction. A few things we found were:

rubber o-rings (hardware store)

rubber bands

rubber sheet

cloth tape

silicone or other caulking (hardware store)

For axle: The axle must be stiff, narrow and round. Some ideas:

nails

brass rod

brass tubing

coat-hanger wire

 

For bearing: Some ideas of things that would support the axle:

Screw eyes/eyebolts (hardware store)

brass tubing

hard material (wood, aluminum, etc.) with a hole drilled into it

brackets with screw holes pre-drilled

holes drilled directly into the chassis

Transmission

Purpose

A car’s transmission transfers the power from the motor to the wheels. While doing so, it may make the wheels spin at a different speed than the motor.

Ideas

There are different ways to transfer power from the motor to the wheels. Some popular  techniques are direct drive, friction drive, belt drive, chain drive, and gears.  The most simple type of transmission is direct drive, which means the motor is connected directly to the axle of the driven wheel. Direct drives are not common in vehicles; one of the few vehicles that uses direct drive is a unicycle. Every time your feet make one revolution, the front wheel makes one revolution.

 

Speed

Imagine two of your neighbors have a unicycle race. Bruce’s unicycle has a regular wheel, and Karen’s has a very large wheel. If they both pedal the same rate, which one of them will win?

As mentioned before, most vehicles are not direct drive, so let’s look at another type of vehicle: a 3-speed bicycle. A bicycle uses a chain drive. It allows you to move the pedals, and the chain transfers the energy from the pedals to the rear wheel. The chain glides over different sized sprockets, depending on the speed of the rider. Which sprocket combination will make the rider go the fastest, given the same pedaling rate, or cadence? (Hint: how many times will the back sprocket (and therefore the back wheel) turn with each rotation of the front sprocket?)

Each rotation of the front sprocket will make the back wheel rotate once in combo 1, twice in combo 2, and four times in combo 3. So, combination 3 will go the fastest. (these sprocket combinations can also be called gear ratios, because the new speed is calculated as the ratio of the driven (front) sprocket over the back sprocket.)

So how does this affect the way a biker would use the bicycle? Well, when she starts out, she starts in first gear (combo 1). As she pedals faster, the bike starts going faster. After a while, her legs are moving very fast, so she switched to second gear (combo 2). Now her legs only go half as fast as a second ago, but the bike is still going fast. She can increase her cadence again and make the bike go even faster. Once her cadence is very high again,

she can shift up to third gear (combo 3).

Selecting the Proper Gear Ratio

So, how can you choose the best gear ratio? Experimentation is probably the easiest way to find out.

The idea is that your motor, like your legs when you ride a bike, like to go a certain speed. They also have a limit as to how much force they can exert. First you must find the speed at which the motor gives the most power (this is usually half the speed the motor will rotate if there is no load, or force, exerted on the motor shaft). Try to keep the motor turning at approximately that speed as you experiment with different gear ratios.

It helps if you build your car in such a way that you can change the gear ratios easily as you experiment. Remember, the ideal gear ratio may change some if you change different characteristics of your car (size, weight, etc.). Materials

The materials you choose vary greatly depending on the type of transmission you build.  If you decide to build a belt drive, try stiff, rubbery materials for the belt - such as a slice of inner tube or an o-ring. Make sure your pulleys are pulled away from each other so that the belt is tight. One suggestion: one way to change the gear ratio on a pulley drive is to add or remove masking tape around the pulley, which changes its diameter.

If you use a friction drive, make sure you have enough traction on the friction disk, or it will slip (see the materials section for wheels and bearings). Also, make sure the friction gears are pressed against each other snugly to ensure traction.

In all cases, you will need wheel like parts to put on the motor shaft and the wheel, and you can get ideas from reading the suggestions for wheel materials.

Body/Shell

Purpose

The body or shell of a real car has several purposes. It protects the passengers from wind and rain, it provides added safety in case of a crash, and it improves how the car looks.  But it also changes how the car performs because a well-designed shell can reduce the force of air on the car as it moves.

 

Concept: Aerodynamics

To see how much force air can have, you can try some simple experiments. While driving in a car, try (carefully!) holding your hand flat, and sticking it out of the window. Feel how much force the air has on your hand. What happens to the force when you tilt your hand?

In some situations, the force of air helps you instead of hurting you. For example, what if you want to slow down very fast? How about using a parachute? Now the force of the air is helping you.

Materials

So how do you reduce the force of air on your solar car? One way might be to add a body or shell to it that deflects the air around the car. Some possible materials you might use are:

poster board

cardboard

foam core

stiff insulation foam (e.g. “Foamula” - can be bought at lumber stores)

mylar or plastic sheet

 

Race Rules and Regulations

Objective

The objective of the Junior Solar Sprint competition is to design and build a vehicle that will complete a race in the shortest possible time using the available power. The winner of the competition will be the team whose vehicle is the top finisher in a series of head to head elimination rounds.

Materials

  1. The motor and solar panel contained in the kit must be used without modification.
  2. The remainder of the vehicle must be your own design and can be made from any other materials.

Vehicle Specifications

  1. The vehicle must be safe for contestants and spectators (e.g. no sharp edges, projectiles, etc.).
  2. The vehicle must fit within the following dimensions: 30 centimeters (cm) x 60 cm x 30 cm.
  3. Decals of sponsoring organizations (provided by JSS) must be visible on the side of the car's body. A space of 3 cm x 3 cm must also be available on the side of the car where an assigned vehicle number can be placed.
  4. Sunlight will be the only power source for the vehicle. No batteries or energy storage devices are permitted.
  5. Any energy-enhancing devices, like mirrors, must be attached to the vehicle.
  6. The vehicle must be steered by the guide wire using one or more eyelets affixed to the vehicle. The vehicle must be easily removable from the guide wire without disconnecting the guide wire.
  7. The car must have a chassis that is three dimensional. Teams will NOT be allowed to bolt the axles and wheels of the car directly to the solar module. The solar module cannot be used as the chassis of the car.

 

 

Track Specifications

  1. The length of the race course is 20 meters over level terrain.
  2. Racing lanes must be at least 60 cm wide.
  3. A guide wire will be located in the center of each lane of the track and will not be more than 1.5 cm above the track surface.
  4. The track must be a hard, smooth, level surface such as a tennis court or running track. A large sheet of rolled material (e.g., plastic, heavy paper, roll roofing [half-lap], or hardwood taped or bolted together) may be used to cover an uneven surface.

Race Conduct

  1. At race time, vehicles will be placed behind the starting line with all wheels in contact with the ground.
  2. The contestants must cover the solar module with an opaque material (e.g., a file folder) without touching the module.
  3. At the start of the race, the contestants will remove the opaque covering to allow the solar module to generate electricity for powering the vehicles.
  4. An early or push start may result in disqualification or re-running the race. The race judges will determine if a contestant is disqualified or if the race must be rerun.
  5. The race will start when the official signal is given. The winner of the race will be the first vehicle to cross the finish line or the farthest car down the lane.

 

ASCE – UAH

 

 

Solar Car Challenge Entry Form

 

My class will participate in the Car Challenge

 

Teachers’ Name  _____________________________ 

 

Phone number __________

 

School name ______________________________________________

 

Grade ____________________

 

Number of teams (2-4 students pet team) ____________________

 

 

Best time for school visit from engineering professional _______________

                                                                                      Day /time

 

 

 

Return this form to Dr. Kate Leonard, Fax 824 6724 by February 1sth  or email information Leonard@eng.uah.edu