MechSE student societies showcase student-built vehicles

Student societies exhibited student-designed vehicles at EOH 2012

From a car with a braking system that prevents energy loss to hybrid-powered Formula 1 race cars, Mechanical Science and Engineering student societies exhibited several student-designed vehicles in various stages of the build process at the 2012 Engineering Open House. The vehicles illustrate the diversity of engineering challenges MechSE students address and each exhibit attracted curious and excited visitors throughout the weekend event.

Regenerative Braking – Society of Experimental Mechanics

In a normal car, the friction of braking creates heat energy. The Society of Experimental Mechanics (SEM) putting the finishing touches on a hydraulic powered go-kart that harnesses that heat energy, which would otherwise be lost.

“What we’re trying to do is conserve that heat energy that’s lost by friction when you’re stopping your car,” said Jake Gratkowsi (2015). “It’s converting the brake energy into going,” he said of the go-kart’s hydraulic system. David Drewniak (2015)

Gratkowski was explaining the regenerative braking concept for the vehicle to visitors at the SEM exhibit in front of the Mechanical Engineering Laboratory at Engineering Open House on March 9.

He said the go-kart was an ongoing project but was “pretty much finished up now,” and only needed to be filled with the hydraulic fluids used to convert braking energy into propulsion.

The SEM chapter at the University of Illinois is an organization for students interested in mechanics. It is a project-based group and is part of an international network of scientists and engineers which has a mission to promote experimental methods to improve the knowledge of physical phenomena and the way materials, structures and systems behave.

Other SEM exhibits at Engineering Open House included a concrete crusher, a fluids exhibit and a demonstration of strength and materials tests using a load cell.

Off Road Illini, Illini Motorsports, and Illini Hybrid Racing – Society of Automotive Engineers

Putting classroom training into real-world practice is something the Illinois chapter of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) does well. Students in Illini Motorsports and Off Road Illini, and Illini Hybrid Racing—three student design teams within SAE—design and build vehicles for national Baja- and Formula 1-style competitions.

“Every year, we design and build and race a new car. [The 2011 car] is an iteration after about two or three years of engineering,” said Kyle Gabry (2012), aerodynamics team lead for the Formula SAE team.

Gabry said it takes about four months for the team to build a new vehicle. He said the team usually designs the vehicle in the fall semester and builds it in the spring. Gabry said the team would like to build faster, but the lengthy design process makes that difficult.

One of Gabry’s teammates, Ryne Jones (2013), said, “We have a competition in two months and we’re still welding chassis.”

Gabry and Jones were on hand for Engineering Open House, where Illini Motorsports and Off Road Illini displayed their competition vehicles from the 2010-2011 build for two of the Illinois SAE exhibits. Illinois SAE is open to all students and aims to provide members with numerous educational, professional, and social opportunities related to vehicles of all types. Illini Hybrid Racing, a third design team affiliated with Illinois SAE, displayed the chassis for its hybrid-electric mini-Indy car.

Off Road Illini also displayed the chassis of its 2012 mini-Baja vehicle, which is still a work in progress. Chris Herrera (2013), part of the Off Road Illini team at Engineering Open House, said this year’s model would feature several improvements over previous models.

“We’re going to have an independent rear suspension, which should help us with our jump stability,” said Herrera, noting one of the major new features.

The competitions are about more than just building and racing the mini-Baja or mini-Indy cars, however. Each team competes for a fictitious manufacturing firm to accept their design.

“At competition, there’s also the whole business aspect,” Gabry said. “We have to market the car and sell it and figure out how much it would cost to make 1,000 units.”

“We also have to go through the process of getting all of our own sponsorships, too, because it takes quite a bit of money to build a car like this,” he said.

The teams are responsible for raising funds to pay for the raw materials, component parts, tools, transportation, and other expenses related to building and racing their vehicles. Formula SAE and Baja SAE teams have secured sponsorships from the University of Illinois’ Engineering Design Council and MechSE as well as such companies as Caterpillar, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Bosch, and others.

Illini Motorsports Fomula SAE will compete at Michigan International Speedway May 9-12 and in Lincoln, Nebraska June 20-23. Off Road Illini competes next in Portland, Oregon May 2-5 and in Burlington, Wisconsin June 11-14.

Herrera said of the trip to Oregon, “That’s going to be quite a drive.”