CSU Students Eager to Compete in May 1-3 HPV West
A team of CSU students will be competing May 1-3 in the 2009 Human Powered Vehicle Challenge in Portland, Oregon. The CSU team will compete against 27 schools in the "HPV West" competition. Vehicles will be judged on design, utility, endurance, and performance in the sprint event.
Human Powered Vehicles are aerodynamic, highly engineered "super bikes". Some land-based vehicles have achieved speeds of more than 60 mph. The May competition, sponsored by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, encourages students to design a vehicle that can be used for everyday activities such as commuting to and from work and going to the local store.
The 2008-09 HPV team consists of mechanical engineering seniors Matthew Shirley, Michael Porter, Daniel Hipwood, Brett Schlueter and Evan Jarvis, and environmental engineering senior Christine Sednek, who is one of the riders for the CSU team along with Jarvis. The team chose the HPV project for their senior design capstone class, which gives students a chance to apply engineering principles to real-world applications.
"The teamwork experience we get in the capstone class also looks good to employers," said Porter.
The Colorado State University team designed their vehicle to carry loads up to 150 pounds, perfect for a trip to the neighborhood grocery store. "We had to meet various constraints for the competition, and to ensure we met those we had to use computer analyses to design the frame to withstand certain loads," said Schlueter. "The engineering curriculum requires us to use ProEngineer."
One of the innovations they made to this year’s vehicle was a chain system so they could adjust the pedal to fit riders of all heights without having to add or remove links in the chain.
Dr. Steven Schaeffer serves as the team’s adviser, overseeing the design and construction of CSU’s newest HPV. He taught team members the welding, casting, and other manufacturing processes, including how to design the HPV to be ergonomic. By studying ergonomics, especially a body’s optimum neck and arm angles, the CSU team has a vehicle that is less likely to injure the rider.
In addition to riding in competition, Sednek did research on climate corrosion mitigation so the bike can withstand the humidity and temperature variations prevalent along the Front Range of Colorado, as well as the rainy climate of Portland.
Last year’s team took first place in the utility competition. The 2008-09 team has high hopes that they will do well in the ASME HPV Competition, and are shooting for 1st Place in some of the categories.
For more information on the HPV team and the May 1-3 competition, e-mail me486_hpv@engr.colostate.edu.