I am glad to report that this past week has been a huge success in terms of progress on the car and preparation for the competitions this summer. It appears that the team is on track to making their April 29 competition deadline for California and well into their initial testing and perfecting of the car. As there was some uncertainty as to whether the eCVT would be ready in time for competition, the old mechanical CVT was re-geared and put into the car. In addition, the electrical, drivetrain, chassis, and brakes subsystems all completed their "rough draft" stage and began to be tested. The most up-in-the-air element of the current car is whether the brakes will perform immaculately for competition; thus far we've seen the current master cylinders provide too much pressure and cause the wheels to lock up while attempting to decelerate. Hopefully, this issue will be resolved shortly.
Without further ado, let's get into what I worked on this week:
On Tuesday, I helped recycle the brake light from the old car (which, let's be honest, doesn't really need to be changed, provided that it works) by creating a new metal seat for it and desoldered the wires connecting it to the old car. The rubber lip that was supposed to fit between it and the cup was deemed to thick by our chief engineer to make it on to the car, so the brake light sits flush between the aluminum and the bulb.
On Thursday, I helped fabricate brass weights for the newly retooled mCVT. After getting the cylinder to the right diameter, the rod was cut into equal-sized pieces, filed on the edges, and turned down to be an integer multiple in weight.
On Saturday, I scrapped Gold for parts by taking off the battery holder and seat belt holder. Then, I witnessed the car being driven and the brakes being tested, and for the first time saw the fruits of many members' efforts. It was rewarding seeing parts I designed up and running on the car. Here is a sneak peak of what the car looks like:
Once again, until next time,
Max
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