Carleton engineering students are on track to complete their first-ever hybrid race car.
The students are building the car to compete in the Formula Hybrid Competition – an event hosted by the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.
“The hybrid is a whole new system that we’ve never seen before,” said engineering student Candace Lemon, one of the project’s engineers.
The event is a spin-off of the Formula SAE competition in Michigan, which is for internal combustion engines only. Carleton has competed in the Formula SAE competition since the mid 1990s. Two years ago, the team decided to shift their focus to hybrid technology. Since the shift, the car hasn’t made it to competition.
Lemon said the new electrical component means using a completely new design and more expensive technology.
Metin Yaras, the chair of the mechanical and aerospace engineering department, said the opportunity to innovate is in the engine.
“It is not a mature technology,” Yaras said.
“You can look at different brand names and you will see different-looking hybrid packages, but what combination works best?”
He said finding the right combination is “in part, what our students can contribute to.”
Yaras said Carleton provides only a small portion of the funding for these kinds of projects. Otherwise, the team itself is responsible for the fundraising. A welding shop, for example, contributed significantly one year Yaras oversaw the project, he said.
“I will weld the whole frame for you,” the shop owner told him. “Just bring me the material and I won’t charge you anything for the labour. Just bring me the blueprints.”
This as an important part of the learning experience, Yaras said. While most of the focus seems to be on the design and technical innovation, the economics are very much a part of it. This means “getting others involved and believing in what you do,” he said.
Right now, the skeletal frame of the car sits in the workshop only feet away from 2010’s Formula SAE final product.
Carl Pigeon, a third-year engineering student and volunteer of the project, said they will be using some of the materials and designs from that car as well.
The hybrid competition itself is very similar to the original Formula SAE event. They put the cars through dynamic tests to evaluate their performance and static tests to evaluate the brains behind the car’s design.
One year, Carleton placed first for their suspension design, while another year they scored highly for fuel efficiency — both static events.
Teams with bigger budgets can afford the best materials, which helps them particularly in the dynamic events, Lemon said. Some schools even hire trained drivers.
Teams can also buy a refined suspension system off the shelf, Yaras said.
“I have to ask myself the question; should our students have access to the same suspension system?” Yaras said. “I’m not convinced that’s the right way to go. I’d rather see our students design their own suspension and make it work.”
Some companies hire students who demonstrate an extensive knowledge of their design on the spot, he added.
“We’re not a race car team — we’re an engineering team.”
