Cal Poly Supermileage

Competition Results

2010-03-28T21:49:00.001-07:00

Well it's been a long 4 days, but we've made it through!

There was a lot of trouble with getting the engine running properly but we did manage to get in one successful run. We consumed 17.8 ml of fuel and received a score of 1324 miles per gallon. We almost didn't make our second run, but Northern Arizona University offered us their spot in line! The officials had the line closed off because of time, but because of NAU's generousity, we were able to make another attempt. All was looking good until the last lap, when a gust of wind blew our fairing off. We told Tim to keep going, but he couldn't because when the fairing blew off, it also hit the external kill switch. It took us a while to figure out that the kill switch was hit, but once Tim was able to switch it back, he floored it around the rest of the track at wide open throttle. When he came in, we were 8 seconds over the time limit. We ended up using only 0.02 ml more fuel than our first run, so we wonder how much we could have saved if Tim didn't have to floor it around half of the track. The top fairing is pretty beat up from flying around and the bottom fairing cracked earlier in the competition, so this might be the Black Widow's last leg....

Well, it was a great learning experience for our young team. We look forward to coming back the the 2011 Shell Eco marathon. Congratulations to Laval University for another win and an impressive 2488 miles per gallon!

Eco-marathon 2010: Tech Inspection and Practice Runs

2010-03-26T19:45:00.000-07:00

Thursday (tech inspections) and Friday (practice runs) have pretty much come to a close, and here's where we stand.

We spent all of Thursday and most of Friday getting the engine started. It turned out there were several problems with it that we weren't aware of (most of us had been focusing on the Urban Concept vehicle). You'll have to forgive me (Bob) if these technical details aren't 100% correct, I'm a computer engineer, not a mechanical engineer.

From what I understand, our first problem was that when the engine was reassembled (we took it apart to clean it after competition last year) the camshaft gear was put in backwards, causing gas to spray out the intake manifold. Once the engine was rebuilt correctly (with the help of our spare engine for reference), we still had problems. It turned out to be a slightly bent push rod, and the fact that the push rods were completely tightened to the rocker arms. You need about 10-20 thousandths of an inch gap between the push rods and rocker arms so that the valves can close completely.

After a day and a half of engine debugging, it finally started:

Once the engine started, we got it idling decently and rushed to tech inspection to try to get the car passed Friday night. We successfully passed tech on the first try, although we still need to get our second driver to clear the cone slalom so that he can drive. We'll try to get that done right when tech opens tomorrow morning at 9:30am.

Our goals for the rest of Friday night include tightening up the spark timing at higher RPMs, repairing some small cracks in the monocoque body, and adjusting our steering to un-Zoolander our car (it doesn't turn left very well). We're hoping to hit the track for the first competitive run of the day tomorrow morning at 10am.

Houston in 1 week!!!

2010-03-15T17:56:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

Sorry for the lack of posting! It's been a mad house over here with finals happening THIS week. Some exciting things happened the last couple of weeks that are worth noting:

Gabe and Verent got invited to bring the Prototype vehicle down to the ECO:nomics conference in SB. Here are some pictures from the event. (Sorry, resolutions are off. Please click pictures to view the full image)

It's funny though...I'm not sure anyone at the conference was supporting cap and trade.

Don't be too disappointed, our car was there also.

Also, we've been hard at work at getting the prototype in top shape. It's been rather neglected the last few months, but we're kicking it into gear now! Or should I say kicking it into sprocket? (haha, don't mind me, I'm an engineer)

Week 9 Updates

2010-03-02T21:38:00.000-08:00

For those of you who missed the Wired.com article, here is the link to that:

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/02/take-that-chevy-volt-cal-poly-car-gets-27523-mpg/

KSBY, a local news station also featured us on the evening news last week. Seems we've been getting a lot of media attention recently!

The aluminum wheel centers mentioned a couple posts ago have been thinned down a bit. We're done manufacturing all 4 of them as well.

The new material came in to re-do the front axles, and the design for the rear axles is done, so that will be started this Saturday.

Tomorrow, Gabe and Verent are headed down to Santa Barbara for the ECO:nomics conference put on by Wall Street Journal and sponsored by Shell. They'll be showcasing the prototype car down there. It should be exciting! The President of Shell, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy, and President of Walt Disney will be there, just to name a few! Check out more on the conference here.

Pictures to come soon! We're all working hard and with finals coming up in a couple of weeks, there isn't much time to get on here and update.

Week 7 Victories and defeats

2010-02-21T01:29:00.000-08:00

Much more progress has been made on the foam. We're close to ready for creating the fiberglass mold off of the foam part.

We also machined the triangular spline pattern into the front spindles today. Perfect fit!....

except our fatal flaw: the bolt holes are the wrong spacing. The brake disks can't mount to these properly. This might set us back a couple of weeks.

-Verent

Urban Concept becoming a reality!

2010-02-16T00:15:00.000-08:00

So we got some major work done on the foam plug, wheel centers and front axles this past weekend. Take a look at some images of what we did on Saturday.

Meeting Times for Winter Quarter

2010-01-08T23:33:00.000-08:00

Meetings for winter quarter are on Thursdays from 12pm - 1pm in 13-109. Work days are on Saturdays at 10am in the hangar. We'll need all hands on deck as we shape foam, lay up carbon fiber and fiberglass, and complete construction of the Urban Concept vehicle.

The design portion is relatively finished at this point. The chassis is built, the engine is running, and the seat layup has been done. Time to focus on the fairing, wheels, steering, and electronics! In addition, will be making some minor tweaks to the prototype to fix some problems from last year.

Meeting Times for Fall Quarter

2009-11-18T22:55:00.000-08:00

Meetings for fall quarter are on Thursdays from 11am - 12pm in 13-109. Work days are on Saturdays at 10am in the hangar.

Design reviews for the Urban Concept car will most likely take place on December 3rd. Stay tuned for a time and location.

CP Supermileage Sweeps Egg Drop Competition

2009-04-30T19:47:00.001-07:00

One of our members decided to make some impromptu egg drop protectors for an egg drop competition on campus. A few hours of work ended up securing us 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place with prize money totally $1,000.

There appears to be a future for this team in egg drop competitions. Keep checking back for an official announcement of our national egg drop tour!

CENG Press Release/Cal Poly News Center Post

2009-04-23T00:14:00.001-07:00

A couple more on campus publicity postings are up.

The College of Engineering has a press release up at http://ceng.calpoly.edu/articles/cal-polys-supermileage-vehicle-clocks-2358-miles-g/. There is a small error on there because I made earlier on the blog that they copied. Obviously, we won 3rd place in the Advanced Technology Award not the Advantage Technology Award.

The calpoly.edu news center has an aggregation of links at http://calpolynews.calpoly.edu/

Supermileage in the Mustang Daily

2009-04-21T09:41:00.000-07:00

The Cal Poly Supermileage team made the front page of the Mustang Daily today in an article about our recent 2nd place finish at the Shell Eco-Marathon Americas. Unfortunately the print copy of the paper used a picture that is 3 years old (all of members in the picture have since graduated), but the picture on their website is one from this year. Nevertheless, we appreciate the PR opportunity. Thanks Mustang Daily!

Mustang Daily Article: Supermileage Team Takes Second in Eco-Marathon

One of our sponsors, Front Panel Express, has also updated their website with some info about our finish. Check it out!

Front Panel Express: Congratulations Cal Poly.

Live Blogging The 2009 EcoMarathon - Race Day 2 (Saturday)

2009-04-18T13:15:00.000-07:00

1:10pm - We did some dyno testing in the morning, delaying our first run of the day. It paid off as we moved into 2nd place with 2160 mpg.

Universite Laval is still in first, up to 2757 mpg, besting our 2008 mark by 5 mpg.

Mater Dei is in 3rd place just over 2000 mpg, and hard charging Rose Hulman, who briefly held 3rd place, is in 4th at just over 1800 mpg.

2:20pm - After a quick ECU adjustment, we made our second run of the second day of competition. We were close, but did not best our previous mark, with 2147 mpg.
3:20pm - After pumping up our tires to 80 psi (25% above rated, and first time up that high in our new tubeless setup we unveiled today), Tim lengthened our 2nd place lead up to 2358.7 mpg in a near perfectly timed run 15 seconds short of the maximum time.

We also did another ECU update prior to this run. To save time, Verent set up the tuning computer right outside the door to the fueling garage.

4:30pm - On one final run, 400 mpg behind 1st place Laval we went for broke, pumping up our tires to 95 psi (60% higher than the rated pressure).

We ultimately did not get any higher than our 2nd to last run, breaking the pawl on the rear wheel and nearly exploding a tire, but we finished all 7 laps at 1993 mpg. Narrowly, Kevin's 5 year driving career ends with no rides in the breakdown truck.

6:00pm - While we did not have enough to overtake 1st place Laval (who apparently was very concerned about us on the last run), we were able to hold on to 2nd place. Actually as it turned out, each drivers best run was enough for 2nd (Michelle at 2147, Kevin at 2160, and Tim at 2358.7) as we barely held down Mater Dei and Rose-Hulman. The three of us were very close, with Rose-Hulman falling just outside the prize money. By pulling back into 2nd, we have finished as the Top US College for all 3 years of the competition.

The Combustion Prototype Division Final Rundown:
1. Universite Laval (Quebec) - 2757.1
2. Cal Poly - 2358.7
3. Mater Dei HS (IN) - 2083.6
4. Rose-Hulman Inst of Tech (IN) - 1800.4
5. Cedarville Univ (OH) - 1257.5
6. UCLA - 1239.5
7. Grand Rapids Technical HS (MN) - 1058.9
8. Colorado School of Mines - 951.5
9. Loyola Marymount Univ #1 (CA) - 858.4
10. Dalhousie University (Nova Scotia) - 782.8
11. Louisiana Tech - 696.3
12. Colorado - 657.8
13. Northern Arizona - 651.5
14. College of the Redwoods (CA) - 563.3
15. Loyola Marymount Univ #2 - 531.1
16. LSU - 459.4
17. Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico - 254.1
18. Monrovia HS (CA) - 235.6
19. State University of Minas Gerais (Brazil) - 231.7
20. Wright State University (OH) - 176.7
*Teams listed above are all Prototype-division combustion vehicles that completed a run

6:45pm - We also won one of the secondary awards at the competition this year, as we took 3rd place in the Use of Advanced Technology Award. This one is pretty much all thanks to Bob and our awe-inspiring, if not functional, DAQ system.

12:35am Sunday - Since we probably all got a total of 14 hours of sleep the last three days combined, we decided to stay in Southern California an extra day instead of driving, probably dangerously, 5 hours back to SLO with only 2 certified trailer drivers. Back in the hotel, everyone had a chance to unwind, including the newest member of the family...

LiveBlogging The 2009 EcoMarathon, Race Day 1 (Friday)

2009-04-17T10:08:00.000-07:00

5:50am - The sun is not yet up in Ontario, but we are already in the lobby of the Ontario Airport Holiday Inn. We have an interview scheduled bright and early at 6:45am.

6:45am - Joint interview with Central Coast TV stations with the UCSB team. It would've been live had it not been for a mass power outage in Santa Barbara County. Did we really call another team's car "A sweet ride" on TV...

9:45am - Putting the last things together before our first run of the competition. The first segment of Prototype Division runs goes through 2:00.

11:30pm - Some odd engine issues have delayed getting our first run of the day in. Engine was starting fine in the garage, not at all at the starting line, fine in the garage, and then not at all at the starting line. We ended up having to disable the DAQ to get the engine to operate properly.

12:30pm - We have completed our first run... No mileage posted yet, but we did use about 25 mL of fuel, which is about twice what we used last year. Keep in mind though, the track has changed considerably. There are more turns, sharper turns, and shorter straightaways.

1:35pm - After the morning prototype division runs:
1. Universite Laval - 2540
2. Mater Dei HS - 1738
3. Cal Poly - 1602

2:15pm - Some bad news regarding our DAQ electronics. Last night an unexpected power surge from the battery during DAQ testing blew out a bunch of the electronics (not the ECU, just the DAQ) and it's looking grim. The prognosis at this point in time is that the GPS unit is fried, possibly the wireless and accelerometer modules (not sure yet) and one of our two logic boards from Xilinx. Thankfully we have a second logic board, which we can at least use to capture engine data such as RPM, spark advance, O2, etc. We're making some tweaks based on our first run of the day to hopefully post up better numbers in this afternoon's runs. Tonight we'll pull out all the stops to hopefully post our best runs of the competition tomorrow.

4:00pm - In the greatest crisis of Cal Poly's EcoMarathon history, we blew our starter prior to attempting our first afternoon run. As it turned out, we broke some teeth off of a starter gear, and shattered another one in half. It was an unforced error, as we probably did not do our due diligence maintaing the starter. After franctically trying to figure out where to get a new one, and explored places to possibly go buy one, we were bailed out thanks to the University of Colorado having a backup gear that was the same model as ours.

6:30pm - After finally getting going in the afternoon session, we attempted two runs, one of which qualified. Tim, in his first time on the course (we didn't get enough time to practice him yesterday) he was able to extend our 3rd place position to 1672.3 mpg.

There was a lot going on the track, as track officials had to frantically chase after someone driving the Shell demonstration vehicle backwards up towards the 'death turn' of the front straightaway, and several near misses between vehicles attempting ridiculous passes at high speeds on the track. This prompted a talking to of the whole competition to drive with more track etiquette.

12:30am Saturday - On Wednesday night, we held a meeting at our Holiday Inn Command Center to plot out our strategy for the competition. We decided to run a conservative base setup for Day 1, and experiment more on Day 2. As a result, between Days 1 and 2, we have to do a bit of work to change the setup. We split into two shifts, with Denny, Verent, Bob, and Tony cutting out earlier, and Kevin F, Kevin W, Gabe, Kyle, Tim, and Michelle staying late into the night. In the morning, one shift will come out early to get some dyno testing in, with the second shift finishing the reset later in the morning. Since we had to get to the track at 6:30am, the late night, has caused the need for many a nap in the garage...

LiveBlogging the 2009 EcoMarathon - Tech Day

2009-04-16T10:35:00.000-07:00

Bob and I will be attempting to LiveBlog the 2009 EcoMarathon Americas... we'll see how long this lasts. It'll be text only for now, but as I get some time, I'll try and upload some photos...

7:30am - Departing our command center at the Holiday Inn - Ontario Airport. Nice rooms, affordable rates.

8:15 am - We have arrived at the 2009 EcoMarathon Americas at the California Speedway in Fontana, CA. It took us a little longer to get here than we thought since we hit just about every red light. But we got Bob to sing us stirring renditions of Cal Poly alum Weird Al Yankovic to pass the time.

The competition is much bigger this year, with over 50 teams spread over two garages. We are here in the main garage between Monrovia High School (CA) and Northern Arizona University.

10:00am - Everything is unpacked and the engine is running. Time to get the chain on and head out to tech.
12:30 pm - So I lied last time, we didn't quite head out to tech. There was some problems getting the chain guard back on the car, and we decided to do a little tuning. Then we ended up talking to a couple guys from an Italian team hear to observe for a while. If you want to check out their car, you can go to http://www.politio.it/h2polito. Now we're off to tech... for real.

2:40 pm - OK, so now we have passed tech. It was pretty straightforward. If tech was relaxed before it was even more so this year. There were a couple bumps in the road though, we blew the starter fuse after not having the engine ground secured, and the front end steering rod broke like last year. No problem, though. We've got plenty of 20 Amp fuses and extra steering rods.

3:46pm - We did some preliminary tests with the DAQ and it is recording all our engine data along with GPS data. Once we get back from a run we can download the data to a laptop for later processing and analysis. We're also replacing our motorcycle-style throttle with a lever style throttle with the hopes that it will be easier for the drivers to start the car and run it at wide-open throttle. Hopefully we'll get in a few practice runs shortly.

6:15pm - It took us a little longer to get on the track for practice runs as the changing of the throttle lever and DAQ work took a little longer than anticipated. On the track, Kevin took 3 laps trailed on the bike by Tim, and Michelle took 2 laps trailed by Tony. The universal consensus is that the track is much, much tougher this year, as there are more turns, those turns are sharp, and some of the existing turns are even sharper. Add traffic to the equation, and it should be pretty interesting tomorrow. One point of concern after the practice runs, we ended up having to cut practice short because we blew another 20 volt fuse.

6:30pm - Gabe is happy. He is extremely happy. He found the food. I don't think I've seen him happier...

9;00pm - After a nice dinner break and some shopping it was back to work for a little bit. Bob solved the minor wiring error that was causing the fuses to short, and we decided to help tune, to impromptu work on mounting a throttle position center. Bob continues programming for the DAQ as the rest of the team does a few minor things to convert from our practice setup to our good setup. This will be repeated tomorrow night as we go from our good setup to our 'go for broke' setup.

Prelude to the 2009 EcoMarathon - Drive Testing

2009-04-15T16:58:00.000-07:00

First runnings with the new internal setup...

Green day in the shadow of the Poly Canyon Parking Garage...

Tim gets his first go round in the car.

Denny gets Tim ready to go around with the fairing on... before it started blowing off anyway...

Kyle driving. Did anyone think this was a good idea?

Prelude to the 2009 EcoMarathon - Local Wildlife

2009-04-15T16:52:00.001-07:00

This should be pretty self-explanatory...

Prelude to the 2009 EcoMarathon - Electronics

2009-04-15T16:29:00.001-07:00

Part of the revised setup of the car this year is the new electronics setup.

The new MegaSquirt ECU.

The new Data Acquisition Board -- with the custom parts thanks to Front Panel Express.

MegaTune program for the MegaSquirt. If you want to know what the stuff means, consult the MegaManual.

Some Easter shenanigans with the MegaSquirt.

Good thing we caught this one first...

Prelude To the 2009 EcoMarathon - Dyno Testing

2009-04-14T00:56:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Tom and Company's senior project last year, we have a dyno available to help us tune the engine.
Verent gets the engine set up on the dyno.

Bob checks something on the new MegaSquirt ECU.

The PVC pipe clutch adapter Denny put together.

Gabe runs the engine. Kevin W stands ready with a screwdriver to adjust the fuel mixture.

Cal Poly in the News Again

2009-04-10T13:45:00.000-07:00

A video from the local KSBY news channel.
A Link to the article.

Cal Poly in the Local News

2009-04-10T13:15:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of San Luis Obispo Tribune

Supermileage has made it into the local news again!

Check it out the article

The video

Mustang Daily Article

2008-05-03T10:40:00.000-07:00

More local coverage this week with Wednesday's Mustang Daily article

http://media.www.mustangdaily.net/media/storage/paper860/news/2008/04/30/News/Supermileage.Car.Gets.2752.Mpg-3357520.shtml

Mater Dei High School in the News WTVW

2008-04-21T12:06:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Mater Dei High School Evansville for making it in the news. They were interviewed by WTVW Fox News Channel 7.

Cal Poly Supermileage on KSBY News

2008-04-18T21:49:00.000-07:00

KSBY Channel 6 had a news brief on Thursday 4/17 on Cal Poly's second-place finish in the EcoMarathon Americas. The voice over of the segment was over stock footage of last year however.

http://www.ksby.com/Global/story.asp?S=8183554

This news brief follows up an earlier appearance on KSBY news on Thursday 3/27 featuring an interview with David.

http://www.ksby.com/Global/story.asp?s=8085335

2008 Shell Eco-Marathon Americas Results

2008-04-17T00:00:00.000-07:00

It was another great competition this year at the 2008 Shell Eco-Marathon Americas. Cal Poly could not hold onto the top spot this year, but they did get second! Congratulations Mater Dei for taking first place with 2843.4 mpg. That's absolutely amazing. Cal Poly took second with 2752.3 mpg which is about 800 mpg better than last year. Hopefully next year teams will be breaking the 3k mpg mark! Congratulations to all teams that participated in this year's event.

More 2008 Shell Eco-Marathon Photos

2008-04-16T23:31:00.001-07:00

Thanks Amanda for posting these photos as well

Supermileage 2008

2008 Shell Eco-Marathon Americas Photos

2008-04-16T11:57:00.000-07:00

Thanks Verent for taking the excellent photos with your awesome camera

Shell Eco-Marathon - 2008

Penn State on CNN

2008-04-15T17:09:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Penn State for making it onto CNN with your Eco Marathon Car.

Shell Eco Marathon Americas - 2008

2008-04-15T16:54:00.000-07:00

Here is a little intro video to the 2008 Shell Eco Marathon Americas. More pictures and videos will be posted soon along with the results!

SAE Automotive Engineering International Article Update

2008-02-28T16:54:00.000-08:00

Earlier we had posted an article that was published in SAE's Automotive Engineering International magazine and the only only way to view it was to go to another website or download the pdf. A cool little website was found that allows you to embed pdf and other documents inside the current web page. Below is the original article quoted and the new pdf format.

Congradulations Team! The Cal Poly Supermileage Team made it into the August 2006 issue of SAE's Automotive Engineering International magazine. The article is under the "Tech Briefs" section of the August issue.

Here is a link to the online version of the magazine.

Here is a link to the article

Here is an alternate link to the article.

Cal Poly at the NASCAR Auto Club 500

2008-02-28T09:26:00.000-08:00

Last weekend was a great week for the Cal Poly Supermileage team. Being last years Shell Eco-marathon Americas winner, Shell invited the team to the NASCAR Auto Club 500 race at the California Speedway in Fontana, CA. Friday was spent doing a press conference and photo shoot with the 2007 Daytona 500 winner, Shell sponsored, No. 29, Kevin Harvick. Below is a link to the album of some pictures that we took of the photo shoot and press conference.

Shell Photoshoot

Shell was also kind enough to invite us to the actual Spring Cup race on Sunday. We received a tour of the garages, track and the pits before the race and we got to see the race from fully catered box seats. The race was delayed due to rain, however, but we still had a blast. Below is a link to the race day gallery.

NASCAR Auto Cup 500 - 2008

Videos from the race will be posted soon!

Shell Eco-marathon on Green Wheels

2007-10-17T13:19:00.000-07:00

The intro video of "Green Wheels - Fuel Efficiency" is now posted on YouTube:

Ecomarathon on Voom

2007-10-09T22:24:00.000-07:00

Theres a short clip from the Green Wheels shown on the voom network. The show aired tonight.
http://voom.tv/equatorhd/greenwheels/

click watch the video

Cedarville University in the News

2007-09-07T09:42:00.000-07:00

Cedarville University's interview with ABC/FOX news in Dayton Ohio. The more exposure, the better!

2006-2007 Team Photo

2007-06-26T16:13:00.000-07:00

Here is the team photo we took in the studio on campus with everyone minus Nick.

2007 SAE Supermileage Results

2007-06-12T09:21:00.000-07:00

The 2007 SAE Supermileage results have been posted on SAE's website. Congratulations to Rose-Hulman and Cedarville for placing in the top two!

Shell 2007 Highlights

2007-05-17T12:25:00.000-07:00

Quoted from Jason's Email

"Hey guys,

I don't know if you have seen this yet, but shell has the 2007 highlights online now. Theres a few quotes from Tom and some pretty good quotes from Dr. Mello.

Highlights

Also the eurpean contest is over. I wanted to see how Laval did but I cannot find their name listed anywhere in the results although the site does mention they had a candian team compete. Maybe they had some bad luck.

Jason"

T-Shirt Design

2007-05-10T10:07:00.000-07:00

Here are the new T-shirt designs by Kevin

FRONT

BACK

Lou Ann Hammond Eco-marathon Videos

2007-05-01T00:41:00.000-07:00

COURTESY OF www.carlist.com

COURTESY OF www.carlist.com

COURTESY OF www.carlist.com

COURTESY OF www.carlist.com

Eco-marathon Videos

2007-04-29T00:59:00.000-07:00

UC Berkeley Starting
Cal Poly Starting
Cal Poly Starting 2
Jason pushing the toolbox back to the pit

Eco-marathon Photos

2007-04-27T00:34:00.001-07:00

COURTESY OF SHELL

DAVID AWAITING HIS TURN

COURTESY OF SHELL

Shell Eco-marathon CP Galleries

2007-04-26T23:40:00.000-07:00

Shell Eco-marathon Americas

Links to other galleries:

Shell Eco-marathon on YouTube

2007-04-26T23:36:00.000-07:00

News Articles

2007-04-26T22:55:00.000-07:00

Here are some news articles about us:

LA Times
Orange County Register
San Luis Obispo Tribune
Cal Poly News
KWES NEWS

'07 Cal Poly SMV Update

2007-04-26T17:15:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since we last updated the CPSMV blog. The first thing we changed was the address from cpsae.blogspot.com to cpsmv.blogspot.com. Originally this blog was created to document the changes in all 3 Cal Poly SAE clubs: Mini Baja, Formula, & Supermileage. However, because of the hectic schedules of each team, we were only able to document the Supermileage vehicle.

2006 SAE Competition
The 2006 SAE competition (our first) was a huge success. The team received great feedback and comments about our "level" of performance and construction quality. We were 1 of 2 teams to use a monocoque chassis and we placed 6th place out of about 20 teams. Our best run of the competition was about 861 mpg which is good for our first year. It still does not beat the reigning champion British Columbia's 3145 mpg. The competition was extremely fun and was certainly a tremendous learning experience (driving philosophies, different tires, less weight, etc.).

2007 Shell Eco-Marathon
During the '06-'07 school year we were informed that Shell was going to be hosting an Eco-marathon competition in the Americas. The first 5 teams would receive $10K and the overall winner would receive a $10k prize and national recognition. Also, any internal combustion engine could be used instead of the Briggs & Stratton required by SAE. We decided to give this inaugural competition a shot due to above pros. However, the competition was going to be held in April instead of June, which meant less development time.

On April 14th at the California speedway, (which is much closer than Marshall, Michigan) the 2007 Shell Eco-marathon was held. Our first run achieved an astonishing 1710 mpg and our best run of the day achieved 1902.7 mpg; enough to win us first place in the IC category and overall! There were a total of 20 schools at the competition (we recognized a lot from the SAE competition) and we took first in only our second year! The European competition has been going on for about 20 years or so and this year they are expecting about 250 teams (a lot more than our inaugural 20 teams). Next year we expect the competition to pick up some more teams from around the country/world due to the publicity that Shell has been creating.

'07 Cal Poly SMV Car
We used the same chassis as last year, implementing several modifications from our original design, including:

50cc Honda motor instead of the 150cc Briggs
Better rolling resistance tires
Wheel Covers
Lighter wheel mounts
Lighter driver
Lower RPM engaging clutch

Updates
Keep checking back because we will continue to update the blog with pictures and videos from the '07 Shell competition!

'06 SAE Competition Gallery

2006-09-27T20:03:00.000-07:00

SMV - Michigan - 2006

Jun 12, 2006 - 201 Photos

SAE Automotive Engineering International Article

2006-08-23T10:34:00.000-07:00

Congradulations Team! The Cal Poly Supermileage Team made it into the August 2006 issue of SAE's Automotive Engineering International magazine. The article is under the "Tech Briefs" section of the August issue.

Here is a link to the online version of the magazine.

Here is a link to the article

Here is an alternate link to the article.

End of the 2006 Competition

2006-06-14T15:53:00.000-07:00

It's been a fun and exciting first year. A lot has been learned and we are in the process of making and "Improvements for next year"s list. We're going to keep the same shape, but redo the entire bottom and top if we can get the carbon. The car is also going to go on a steel diet. All the uprights for next year will hopefully be composites and the engine development will hopefully take place.

Goals for the engine:

overhead cam
smaller displacement (50 cc instead of 150)
fuel injected
lighter body

Goals for the car:

get rid of all the steel
put 2 layers of 45 degrees carbon to prevent twisting of the chassis
lighter engine mounting plate
higher gear ratio
more testing
look prettier!

Videos of the Competition 4

2006-06-14T15:45:00.000-07:00

Ivy Tech, Penn State, & Cal Poly

Cal Poly on banked turn

Cal Poly & Ivy Tech 2 coasting

Cal Poly & Ivy Tech

Videos of the Competition 3

2006-06-14T15:43:00.000-07:00

Cal Poly Starting

Cal Poly Starting

Cal Poly on the straight away

Eaton doing some semi jack knifing testing

Videos of the Competition 2

2006-06-14T15:38:00.000-07:00

UMass

UMass, Windsor & British Columbia

York College of Pa

Central Michigan

Videos of the Competition 1

2006-06-14T15:34:00.000-07:00

Laval University Starting

Chisago University

University of British Columbia Starting

University of British Columbia and Mater Dei High School

The Trip Home

2006-06-13T18:58:00.000-07:00

We had to travel 2500 miles back to CA in 3 days so that our Formula team could have the van and trailer.

David hugging the dinosaur at a gas station in the middle of Colorado

Estevan passed out in the back of the van

Jason passed out in the back of the fan

And of course, me passed out in the back of the van

Cal Poly 2006

2006-06-13T18:25:00.000-07:00

Results:

6th place out of 17 schools with 861 mpg
1 of two school with a monocoque chassis and composite roll bar. (The other school was Cal Berkeley)
Definately turned heads with the quality of the layups and the surface finish.
Learned a lot about what to do next year!

She's so sexy.

What a nose.

British Columbia checking out our surface finish while waiting for tech inspection.

David, Estevan, & Josh doing the oral examination. We were the first to do this examination in the history of SAE SuperMileage!

Other Schools Part 2

2006-06-13T18:20:00.000-07:00

E.T.S. or the University of Quebec. Last year they had a car about twice the size. They placed ahead of us in this years competition, even though they only got 1 or 2 runs in.

University of Laval. They placed 2nd this year.

The University of British Columbia with Cal Poly behind them.

A picture of the garage during the Aesthics Award voting.

Other Schools

2006-06-13T18:10:00.000-07:00

Here is the University of British Columbia. They took first place for the 3rd year in a row with over 3100 mpg. Their car is tiny!

Here is Cedarville University with their rear stear car. Way to go guys with the uniqueness, and nice surface finish.

Binghamton University

Ivy Tech. They beat us in the Aesthetics Award, eh using air brushed paint to hide the imperfections in the surface. Naked carbon fiber still looks the best!

Day 2 of Competition Continued

2006-06-13T03:13:00.000-07:00

The unofficial results. After British Columbia's 2nd run of 2900 mpg, the judged didn't believe it so they delayed the mark until after their 3rd run.

What the engine compartment looked like after David "accidentally" made the fire extinguisher go off while trying to get out of the car.

The raffle and awards ceremony. It took forever!

The Cal Poly SMV team that went to Michigan. Tom is missing from the picture & the competition.

Day 2 of Competition!

2006-06-13T02:47:00.000-07:00

Jason getting ready to make his run

All the cars waiting for fuel underneath the tent.

Jason bundled up and ready to go

The car out on the track

Results:
Cal Poly 6th with 861 mpg

Accelerating & Coasting Testing Part 2

2006-06-12T21:40:00.000-07:00

Tom Coasting

Tom Accelerating

2006-06-12T21:34:00.000-07:00

Jason Coasting

Josh Accelerating

Josh Coasting

Here in Michigan

2006-06-07T21:33:00.000-07:00

So we finally arrive in Marshall Michigan after an 8 hour drive from Iowa City. Now it's time to put some finishing touches to the car. Here we are in an abandoned Kmart parking lot.

Here is Estevan cutting the holes for the wheels larger (inside the trailer because of the pouring rain).

Tomorrow is the first day of competition where a safety check will be performed and practice runs will be made. More updates the next few days.

Michigan!

2006-06-07T21:18:00.000-07:00

Well we finally made it to Michigan. The rest of the day was spent putting some finishing touches to the car. Here are some pix of the trip:

Here is David "sleeping" in the car

The Hooters of Omaha, Nebraska. The twins and Estevan had never been. ;-)

Here we are at one of the many gas stations along the trip. Kum & Go...haha...eh

Here is what Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, & Illinois looks like. Pretty darn boring.

Map of the Trip which we did in 4 days

The states we went through:
California
Nevada
Utah
Wyoming
Nebraska
Iowa
Illinois
Indiana
Michigan

Parking Lot Testing

2006-05-31T13:37:00.000-07:00

A video of our testing at Google Video

Testing!

2006-05-30T17:14:00.000-07:00

Making sure the car passes the 20 degree incline test

Jason getting strapped into the car

Tom running along side the car to make sure he drive train is in working order

The car all together

This week: tear down and polish everything! Then leave for Michigan on Sunday!

The Fairing

2006-05-30T17:03:00.000-07:00

Estevan taping off where he wants the stripes

The fairing with the tape marks for the side windows

David chattin on the phone while looking at the side view windows

The fairing after being painted and sprayed with clear coat by Estevan.
All we need now is some polish and wax!

5-22-06 Progress

2006-05-22T23:23:00.000-07:00

The back of the firewall after it being bonded to the roll bar

The front of the firewall. OOOO, shiny!

Estevan & David bonding the front lips

Our stearing geometry

Test Fitting

2006-05-21T01:24:00.000-07:00

Making sure David fits in the car

Fitting the engine, jackshaft & rear wheel in the back of the car

We only have 2 weeks until we leave to Michigan! We should be done pretty soon. I'll keep posting as the testing and building continues!

Potting the Inserts

2006-05-21T01:21:00.000-07:00

Estevan & Jason drilling the holes and making sure the bolts fit through holes.

Josh & Estevan mixing the potting compound

The finished inserts for the front wheels

Insert Testing

2006-05-21T01:14:00.000-07:00

Metal inserts were made thanks to Trace, an IME student. These inserts are in the shape of a thread spool and the purpose of the inserts is to give us a place to bolt down our parts in the car.

The inserts potted in our test pieces of carbon fiber

David working the tensile tester down in the composites lab

A test piece failing in bending

End results:
Pull Out test - 135 lbs per insert
Shear Test - 700 lbs per insert

Roll Bar 2

2006-05-07T15:18:00.000-07:00

Roll Bar Vacuum bagged

Pulling the roll bar and test pieces from the oven

David trying to pull the roll bar from the mold

Test fitting the roll bar in the car

Making the Roll Bar

2006-05-07T00:35:00.000-07:00

Making the top portion of the mold

Making the bottom portion of the mold

Test fitting the two

Bondoing and RTVing the two halves together

Making the Sprocket

2006-05-07T00:16:00.000-07:00

Ordinary piece of aluminum sheetmetal

Central Coast Creative Cutting letting us cut our sprocket on their water jet cutter

The machine cutting our sprocket and spacers

The finished product

Finished Products

2006-05-01T16:48:00.000-07:00

Weighing the parts
Top: 4 lbs w/o ribs
Bottom: 9 lbs
Projected Total weight excluding driver: 70 lbs
Finished parts.
Next: Ribs in the top, start mounting stuff to bottom!

The Carbon Fiber

Top w/ sacrificial windshield

2006-04-23T21:04:00.000-07:00

The foam pieces are glued together, screwd to MDF, and bondoed until there are no more visible holes and cracks.
The bottom part is being sprayed with duratec (a sandable primer) to give it a hard, smooth surface.
The top half (plug/tool) being sprayed with duratec by Estevan.
After the duratec dries, the plug is then sanded to shape. The process of bondoing, spraying duratec, and sanding is repeated about 8 times per plug, until all holes, gaps, dips, and valleys are removed.

2006-04-23T20:52:00.000-07:00

The final result of the top plug.
The final result of the bottom plug. The plug is waxed and sprayed with a chemical release which allows the fiberglass female mold to be easily parted from the plug.
The start of wet layups. Fiberglass is used to make a female mold of the car. The process is called "wet layups" because we have to mix resin, hardner and cloth together to get the final "hard" result. And yes, that is Cindy in the background.
The start of laying down "mat" fiberglass.

2006-04-23T20:44:00.000-07:00

The final result of the bottom fiberglass mold (part).
After drying for 48 hours, the female mold is pulled of the plug. The surface coat gives the mold a nice smooth finish
The two molds are then taken down to C & D Aerospace in Santa Maria where the final layups will take place. The carbon fiber used is what's called pre preg (preinpregnated resin). It's suppose to be much lighter than wet layups because of the exactness of resin to cloth ratio, 40%.
David starting on the laying of the first layer of carbon in the bottom mold.

2006-04-23T20:34:00.000-07:00

The group adding the first layers of carbon to the bottom mold.
NoMex core is added to the middle to improve stiffness of the bottom half.
Closeup shot of the NoMex core. It's very light and feels like paper. The layers of the bottom half are 2 layers of carbon, some reinforcement pieces, NoMex core, some more reinforcement pieces, and then 2 more layers of carbon.
Second set of reinforement pieces added to the bottom mold.

2006-04-23T20:30:00.000-07:00

Finishing laying the final layer of carbon fiber.
Laying down peal-ply so that the inner surface is rough (easier to post bond to)
After the vacuum bag is applied. The vacuum squeezes the excess resin out of the carbon and it gets rid of bubbles and folds in the carbon.
We're finally finished at 2:45 AM, Saturday morning. Now the two halves have to be baked at 150 degrees F so that the resin can cure, and we'll finally have our car!

2006-03-12T17:58:00.000-08:00

The Casting

The furnace used to melt the aluminum. It works by running high current through coils inside the furnace. The electromagnetic field inside the furnace causes the aluminum to vibrate so violently, the aluminum begins to melt.

The liquid aluminum drying in the plaster mold after it has been poured.

The pouring setup. The mold is placed onto a shaker table that vibrates the molten aluminum down to the bottom. A vacuum is also applied to the bottom of the mold to suck down the aluminum.

The gating system (extra metal) is being sawed off by a ban saw. The rest of the manifold has to be machined to size. Next, milling the ends flat and boring the critical holes to the right size.

2006-03-12T17:29:00.000-08:00

Getting ready to cast the aluminum version of the intake manifold
What the intake manifold should look like after all sensors and accessories have been installed.

The plastic model is placed into a steel cylinder in order to recieve the plaster that will be the mold.

Steve seals the bottom of the cylinder to a rubber base that will be removed after the plaster has dried. The purpose of the wax seal is to prevent plaster from leaking out the bottom.

The plaster has been mixed and poured. Now all we have to do is let it dry and then put it in the kiln. The purpose of firing it is to remove all the excess water from the plaster.