Full Scale Innovative Vehicle Design Challenge
Square One’s Full Scale Innovative Vehicle Design Challenge inspires teams of high school students to transform a gas-powered go-kart kit (or build a car from the ground up!) into an electric or hybrid electric vehicle, featuring an innovative component that sets it apart from the rest.
Student teams compete at the Michigan International Speedway in performance, engineering and craftsmanship, design innovation, ambassadorship and presentation categories.
Square One’s Full Scale Innovative Vehicle Design Challenge inspires teams of high school students to transform a gas-powered go-kart kit (or build a car from the ground up!) into an electric or hybrid electric vehicle, featuring an innovative component that sets it apart from the rest.
Student teams compete at the Michigan International Speedway in performance, engineering and craftsmanship, design innovation, ambassadorship and presentation categories.
It was a big day, the day we received our go kart. We laid the parts out making sure we had everything. Soon it was assembled and a few laps around the parking lot was required, but empirical data was needed. Our RVR, Recreational Vehicle Repair, Program has a chassis dynamometer. One of our students along with 2 of RVR's students ran a series of dyno tests on the go kart.
One of the design issues of the go kart is a ground clearance problem.
Guideline 1.5 states "Ground clearance shall be a minimum of your tire side wall height plus 1” to prevent body grounding in the event of any tire failures and/or road surface
faults."
The go kart has 6" rims and a unique 3 bolt pattern. Options include changing the hub, making an adapter plate and changing the suspension.
Changing the hub would need to involve relocating the brakes, matching of bearings (or turning the spindle to fit) and the expense of hubs, rims, tires and possibly brake rotors.
Our CAD program drew up a design for an adapter plate to convert the 3 bolt pattern to a 4", 4 bolt pattern. The resulting design produced some of the bolt holes seemingly to close together. Before we could investigate changing the suspension more than a brainstorming discussion, we remembered the KISS rule, Keep It Simple Simon. Our Machining Program used a rotary bench to index the 3 bolt pattern and drill the holes in a 4 bolt, 8" steel rim. The wheel was not 100% true, but the results were one rim .030" out of round and the other .050" out of round. Not great but acceptable results. $50 bucks and just over an inch clearance.
Guideline 1.5 states "Ground clearance shall be a minimum of your tire side wall height plus 1” to prevent body grounding in the event of any tire failures and/or road surface
faults."
The go kart has 6" rims and a unique 3 bolt pattern. Options include changing the hub, making an adapter plate and changing the suspension.
Changing the hub would need to involve relocating the brakes, matching of bearings (or turning the spindle to fit) and the expense of hubs, rims, tires and possibly brake rotors.
Our CAD program drew up a design for an adapter plate to convert the 3 bolt pattern to a 4", 4 bolt pattern. The resulting design produced some of the bolt holes seemingly to close together. Before we could investigate changing the suspension more than a brainstorming discussion, we remembered the KISS rule, Keep It Simple Simon. Our Machining Program used a rotary bench to index the 3 bolt pattern and drill the holes in a 4 bolt, 8" steel rim. The wheel was not 100% true, but the results were one rim .030" out of round and the other .050" out of round. Not great but acceptable results. $50 bucks and just over an inch clearance.