Solar Car Lift, Hinge, and Wheel Alignment Project

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Solar Car Lift, Hinge, and Wheel Alignment
Project

• Team Leader Robert Krukoski
• Matthew Wilkinson
• Acie Hager
• David Shahan
• Ryan Hoffman

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Solar Car Racing

• 1987 --- Solar car racing began with World Solar
  Challenge (WSC) across Australian Outback.
• 1990 --- Solar car racing came to U.S. through
  General Motors sponsored Sunrayce.
• 2001 --- Sunrayce was replaced by the American
  Solar Challenge (ASC).
• July 2003 --- UK participated in its first ASC
  race.

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UK Solar Car Team Trials

• UK participated after 3 years of design and
  construction
• Competed in Qualifying Race
• After scrutineering for while, they realized
  they needed gadgets for their car
• ME 412 Team was assigned three critical parts
  that are needed for success

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ME 412Areas of Design

• Hinge
• Wheel Alignment System
• Lifting Mechanism

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Hinge Design

• By
• Ryan Hoffman

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Current Approach for Shell Removal

• Shell must be lifted off the car by 3 or 4 team
  members
• The shell is then placed on supports separate
  from the car

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Problems with Current Shell Removal

• Requires several people to accomplish task
• Requires moving or disconnecting wiring and
  cables going from car to shell
• Risk of shell sustaining damage while in
  transport to the supports
• No adjustability of shell angle once placed on
  stands

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Design Requirements of Hinge

• Must maintain contact of the shell and car
• Must allow access to the components of the car
  underneath the shell
• Allow driver to get to his seat
• Must allow the shell to be adjusted to the
  optimum angle for the solar array to gain the
  most amount of available sunlight
• Must be lightweight because it will be a part of
  the car yet strong to support the 200 lbs. weight
  of the shell

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Hinge Design

• L-shaped center piece made of aluminum
• Angle iron with slide fastened to shell supports
  on the shell to allow the shell to be lifted
  vertically then tilted to clear the lip of the
  shell
• Pins fastened in slide with thumbscrews to allow
  adjustment of the shell angle with respect to the
  sun

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Analysis of Hinge

• When loaded with a 100 lbs. load at the location
  of the pin, the bracket develops a stress of
  approximately 6 ksi.

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Hinge Analysis

• When loaded with a 100 lbs load, the L-shaped
  component develops a stress of approximately 2
  ksi.

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Final Design
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Wheel Alignment

• By
• Robert Krukoski

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Wheel Alignment Requirements

• Be able to have all four wheels aligned
• Have the tolerance within a couple thousandths of
  an inch
• Need to be aligned with the car on the ground,
  and person in drivers seat

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Wheel AlignmentSelection Process

• Four Major Designs
• Laser Guided Alignment
• Connecting Bars
• Independent 5 Point Alignment
• Slots on Ramp for Alignment

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Design of Wheel Alignment

• Decided to go with Smaller Lift
• Independent Lifting best Design
• Aligning the wheels to the frame

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Design of Wheel Alignment cont.

• Have brackets going around the wheel
• Attach to Plate, Magnets
• Adjustable leg in front (Three Point Stand)
• Bubbles to align Wheels

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Design of Wheel Alignment cont.

• What to use for actual Calibration?
• Calibrated Pins
• Micrometers
• Dial Indicators

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Final Design
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Solar Car Lift / Jack

• By
• Matthew Wilkinson

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Frame Design Selection Process

• Two Major Concepts
• Roll under car frame
• Ramp Style car will roll onto frame
• We Decided on Roll under car frame design.

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Lift Jack Requirements and Geometries

• Six Designs were Created
• Goals
• Design a frame that was structurally strong (2000
  lb capacity)
• Total height under 9 in.
• We also tried to reduce weight

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Results of Structural Analysis
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Frame Stress Analysis Description of
physical system
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Lift Wheel Selection

• The whole lift apparatus and car must be mobile
  in order to make working on the car easy
• To do this, wheels must be designed to mount on
  the frame that will hold the weight of the car
  and lift which is approximately 1500 lbs.
• The wheels must facilitate motion in any
  direction.
• Rather than design them from scratch, we found a
  pre-designed caster that would work for this
  application.

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Lift Wheel Specifications

• The caster has a 360o swivel mount, with an
  optional brake
• Each caster has a 500 lbs. capacity. One at each
  corner gives a total capacity of 2000 lbs.
• Low cost at 17.09 per wheel
• Phenolic Resin construction for durability

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Lift Air Bag Lifting Mechanism

• Simplex Air Bags
• Price 694
• Rating 7.6 tons
• Max Height 7 in.
• Min Height 0.6 in.
• Dim 12in. x 12in. x 0.6in.
• Weight 6 lbs.

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Lift Air Bag Lifting Mechanism

• Matjack Air Bags
• Price 625
• Rating 13 tons
• Max Height 7.5 in.
• Min Height 1 in.
• Dim 15in. x 15in. x 1in.
• Weight 12 lbs.

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Lift Air Bag Lifting Mechanism

• Power Team Air Bags
• Price 478
• Rating 7 tons
• Max Height 6.3 in.
• Min Height 1 in.
• Dim 12in. x 12in. x 1in.
• Weight 4 lbs.

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Lift Air Bag Comparison
Power Team air bags meet our requirements,
especially minimum height. The only drawback is
the obvious high price. However we believe that
our budget can handle the purchase of two bags.
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Final Design
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Conclusion
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Design ReviewHinge

• Able to tilt solar car lid any desired angle
• Strong enough to hold the lid and not fail under
  certain loading conditions
• Simple to operate

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Design ReviewWheel Alignment

• Able to be aligned at anytime
• Simple to read, and operate
• Able to get all four wheels straight relative to
  the frame of the car

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Design ReviewLift / Jack

• Slide under Car
• Able to lift car and any additional load if
  needed
• Air Bags have quick response
• Total Weight of lift is approximately 155 lbs.

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Final Thoughts

• Meet the requirements set by our advisors
• Helps the performance of the UK Solar Car Team
• Given Helpful insight to our project
• Total Cost
• Approximately 1300.00

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Any Questions?