CSU Team Takes Away Top Prizes in Human Powered Vehicle Challenge
Colorado State University recently competed in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Human Powered Vehicle Challenge West. Hosted by Portland State University, 27 universities competed for pedal powered supremacy. Colorado State's six-person team competed with a recumbent tricycle named the "Rampage" in the weekend events. Built originally as a utility class vehicle, Rampage was entered to compete as a single rider racer as well. When the rain had cleared, Colorado State had won 1st place in the Utility class and ranked 5th place overall in the single rider category.
CSU’s 2008-2009 Human Powered Vehicle featured a fully student designed chrome-moly frame. Steering knuckles and pedal support pieces were sand cast out of a high-strength aluminum alloy. The fairing was thermoformed from polyethylene terephthalate (PETG). All patterns and tooling were designed and produced by the students. The 2008-09 team members are Daniel Hipwood, Evan Jarvis, Michael Porter, Brett Schlueter, Christine Sednek and Matthew Shirley.
The competition was intense. Friday May 1st featured design presentations covering progress made in the weeks leading up to competition, as well as static display of the vehicles and several safety inspections. Judges were immediately impressed with the thoroughness of design, manufacturing quality and overall aesthetics of Colorado State's vehicle. The next day revealed that Colorado State had placed 4th in Single-rider Vehicle Design, but 1st in Engineering Design for their utility vehicle.
On Saturday, May 2nd, vehicles competed in the sprint event, a test of top speed. With a 400 meter run-up, and 100 meter time trap, average speed across the time trap was used as a basis for overall top speed.
After the sprint event, the utility race began. The 25km lapped race includes a parcel pickup or drop off each lap, numerous turns, bumps, ramps, and even a stop sign. Portland let loose the heavens with a heavy rain and strong winds midway through the race. Racers were soaked and electronic lap counting equipment failed. Armed with stopwatches, lap counters kept tabs on the race. Colorado State was able to quickly outrun and even lap competitors, as several schools encountered mechanical issues.
As the checkered flag waved, CSU team member Brett Schlueter closed the race. The University of Nevada Reno crossed the line shortly after; however, because of the staggered start, Nevada had actually taken 1st place in one of the closest finishes seen by the ASME judges; Colorado State was edged out by 14 seconds, taking 2nd place in the Utility Event. Combined with the 1st place design score Colorado State pulled out 1st place overall for the Utility Class.
Sunday, May 3rd, the 65 km lapped endurance race event began with all teams lined up on the starting grid. Dodging downed two-wheeled recumbent vehicles, Colorado State pushed hard through the course. Finishing 11th out of 26 single rider vehicles, when combined with the sprint and design scores Colorado State secured a 5th place finish overall for single rider vehicles. This left Colorado State the highest scoring single-rider tricycle at the competition, an amazing feat for a utility vehicle turned racer.
The team credits the results to hundreds of hours of design, testing, and fabrication, as well as the guidance of faculty adviser Dr. Steven L. Schaeffer. They are proud to be a part of the winning legacy of Colorado State University's Mechanical Engineering competition teams.
“Throughout the year the students worked well together and met regularly with me,” says Schaeffer. “Design was accomplished early in the academic year so that manufacturing activities could be focused on during the winter months. A high level of individual and team enthusiasm for the project contributed to their success.”
This article was written by team member Daniel Hipwood, senior in mechanical engineering. For more information on the event and to see official results please visit the website: http://www.asme.org/Events/Contests/HPV/Human_Powered_Vehicle.cfm"