Combustion
February 2020
LHRIC has made a lot of progress in the past month. Design of the majority of components has been finalized, with the exception of the intake and the headrest. The manufacturing process is well under way - all the small, repetitive parts (cone spacers, brake buttons) are complete and many of the bigger dynamics and drivetrain components are at least half done if not completed already. The frame jig is in position and the frame is now being tacked together. We ran into some setbacks setting up the frame jig, but the frame is on schedule to be put together in time.
In the coming two weeks, nosecone mold manufacturing is to be completed and the surface of this part is expected to be adequately prepared in order to start layups by the beginning of March. Work will continue on completing the frame, which is expected to be ready in about a months’ time. If all goes according to plan, with all machining work being done by mid-march, the entire car should be fully manufactured by the time welding on the frame is complete. Come the next newsletter, we hope to be able to report that the car is ready and we have begun data acquisition and document preparation for the competition in June!
Electric
February 2020
The past few weeks have been productive towards building the car and the body team has made substantial progress. Aero has primed and sanded the airfoils and undertray molds as well as gain headway on fiber layups for the wing elements and the undertray. Molding for the male nosecone has been prepared and is ready for the female nosecone layup. The frame is three-fourths welded, as well as suspension pickup points jigged and welded. The bellcrank and shock mounts have been aligned and tacked, and the frame is coming together in accordance to our time table.
Dynamics has made significant progress on our wheel system, with turned front and rear hubs, with the rear hubs milled to their final shape. Wheel centers have been touched up, with brake buttons and upright spacers turned, and the camber adapters have been milled. The powertrain team has made significant progress on the battery. Cells have been received and labeled - special thanks to NuEnergy for their donation - and the segment plates have been milled. The slave boards are assembled and in the coming weeks the powertrain team is getting prepared to cut case sheets and weld the battery case.
The team has made excellent progress in the past few weeks and things are gearing up to build the car as quickly as possible for testing. Every member of LHRE is dedicated to building our car and check for updates in the next newsletter!
Solar
February 2020
During our winter break, the team was able to make progress towards building Bevolt in all aspects. From the mechanical side, we made substantial progress on finalizing our suspension, with a specific focus on routing our battery cooling system through our car, while maintaining steering and suspension unaltered. We are pushing to finalize our roll cage and array design.
Our electrical team was able to progress further with the programming of our battery protection system, as well as a revamping of our telemetry system. We are currently heavily pushing to finish the design of our motor control system and our dashboard interface.
In terms of manufacturing, our team worked heavily right before break in order to produce our first array modules that will go into Bevolt, as well as spot-welding over half of our battery modules. From the mechanical side, we have been working with sanding and gluing our body molds, and already have prepared our tub mold for its first fiberglass layup.
Besides dedicating our time to the car, we also focused heavily on our workspace and the safety of our members while working. We organized our solar car garage and removed unused cabinets, opening up space for us to optimize our work. During the cleanup, we also made sure that we had enough personal protective equipment for our members working with layups, and ensured our first aid kits were stocked up and still effective. Overall, it was a very busy break and we're looking forward to finishing Bevolt this semester!
Your Longhorn Racing