Week 3

Hello again,

Here's another weekly update on my progress in Baja. On Tuesday, I spent the day working at the manual fabricating the hubs for the car. This compromised the full five hours (3-8 p.m.) that I was there that day. The hubs later had to be put through further molding in the CNC lathe, work that was carried out by someone practiced with those (vastly more complicated) machines. In the course of my work, I learned how to use a tool I had never used before, and received training that I would not otherwise receive unless I was a student enrolled at ASU Polytechnic.

On Thursday, I helped remove the engine from the 2015-16 car, so-called "Gold" for its distinctive hue. The other previous years' cars we possess are "Red" and "Widow" (which is black). Gold is the vehicle we use to test the eCVT and gearbox, as well as the one we showed off to the public at Night of the Open Door. After the engine was removed, new holes were drilled into the engine mount to shift the center of gravity over. Here, I got to show off my physics knowledge briefly when I helped the CVT lead calculate how much the engine should be shifted over using the formula:

After that, I went to the club's weekly meeting and listened to all the items on the agenda. The biggest issue at this session was having the leads complete the expense reports in a timely manner. Since I had nothing better to do, I stayed late helping Stephen (the brakes lead) complete his expense report, as well as his cost presentation.

All in all, another fruitful week.

Thanks for reading,
Max