User:Jeffreycarllloyd/enes100/electric cars

Link to 550_ecars team page.

Week0 Activities
-Research how electric cars operate

-Research what the key components are of an electric/ hybrid car

-Considerations of Safety and Hazardous waste related to the use of batteries

Write problem statement
Incorporate everyday products to created a "low budget" vehicle conversion kit, that would reduce/ eliminate fossil fuel usage.

Assign Task1
-Scale of project car

-Research power supply

Compare actual work done to Task1
Narrowed down the scale of the project considerably, down to a go-cart or an RC car. Research the use of pneumatic/ mechanical engines. Complicated design. Integrating an electric drive to the compressor would require a small enough compressor that could generated enough volume of air to drive the pistons yet be light enough so as to not create additional drag.

Week1 Narrative
Researched options on power pack (engine/motor). The bigger we go the more problems develop. Go cart size would require larger axles and a larger power pack, but would better illustrate the overall goal of the project.

|Pneumatic Motor

Assign Task2
-Figure out how the transmission affects the performance at the wheels

-Determine what parts are needed to make the model car

Compare actual work done to Task2
Decided to concentrate on the power train and the work out from there, the power pack being the base from which the whole project moves forward.

Week2 Narrative
I performed an experiment comparing the output of an Power Wheel with its original battery versus that of the same car being powered by a turbine driven by pneumatics. The battery's max output was 78RPM | Original Battery Powered and the turbine's was 108RPM (after several experiments with trajectory) | From a Fixed position at 144 degrees to the turbine. During the experiment I noticed that that output with the turbine was hindered by the ratios in the transmission. An additional turbine could in theory double the output at the wheels if the transmission could/ would be altered.

| 1st Pneumatic Driven Turbine

| 1st From a fixed Position

Assign Task3
Plan to address the issue with the transmission. Possibly altering the existing or developing a more dynamic one that would better suit our needs.

Develop a tandem system consisting of two turbines and two air nozzles driving one electric motor.

Compare actual work done to Task3
Examined the transmission ran several experiments to locate the inefficiencies.

Week3 Narrative
To determine how the transmission affects the performance of the motion of the wheels I dissected the transmission. The transmission is made of four gears, the motor's drive gear and three others that act as both driven and driver gears(driven above and the driver which is below).

I performed two tests to see the ratio between the first gear and the loss of power at the third. On with the battery running the transmission at speed and the other with a manual cycle performed by turning of the first gear by hand.

The first, |the transmission at operating speed using the original battery was very inconclusive due to the high RPM which made it difficult to observe the ratio between the individual gears. What it did, though is gave a good illustration as to the power loss at the wheels (the third gear).

The second, | a manual test in which I used my hand to perform the cycle. The conclusion (which was recorded in my notebook) was that the ratio 17:1 RPM from the drive gear to the final gear.

Initial analysis is that the adapting of the first gear to a drive axle would make an tremendous improvement on the performance of our model car. The transmission could also be altered to reduce the loss of energy at the wheels.

Assign Task4
Develop a two turbine system and test for practicability.

Compare actual work done to Task4
Developed a working model of a twin turbine system

Week4 Narrative
Completed a tandem turbine system. Output actually decreased and consumed twice the amount of air. | Output of two turbines in tandem.

| Output of a single turbine.

The tandem system was a disappointment. Output was actually higher with a single turbine.

The propulsion system for the turbines was accomplished from two ⅜ vinyl hoses a series of vinyl connectors and air from an air compressor.







I have to determine the system as inefficient and no more time will be spent to further the turbine system. The reason for this is the amount of air to drive the system is massive. During my experiment, air was being feed by a twenty gallon air compressor. The duration by which peak energy was produced from the twenty gallons in less than one minute. With any scale of vehicle this by far to inefficient to consider worth further review.

Assign Task5
Project closeout; ensure "Team Page" is a valued resource that other teams, that wish pursue the electric car project, can benefit from.