Wawasee Earns Third in Prototype Diesel
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
“It was definitely a successful trip,” said engineering and technology teacher Allen Coblentz. “A lot of learning experiences took place. A lot went right, and a lot went wrong. You can learn from your failures as much as your successes. We accomplished a lot of big things this year. Paying attention to the small things equates to more miles per gallon, and we didn’t get to that this year. There are things we can build upon for next year.”
Wawasee’s prototype gasoline car took 12th place with 695.1 mpg, the official Shell website states. Wawasee also placed ninth with its prototype battery electric car at 140.8 miles per kilowatt hour, and its prototype diesel car earned third place at 907.1 mpg.
The Eco-marathon is a challenge for students to design, build and test fuel-efficient vehicles that travel the farthest distance using the least amount of energy. There are three competitions around the world, with the Americas competition featuring university and high school teams from the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Brazil.
Junior Austin Yoder was on Wawasee’s diesel team. “It was hard keeping people on track with what to do,” he said.
Practice day went right, but on test day, their first run was the only one that counted toward their highest mileage. That was 907 mpg.
“We failed the brake test,” Yoder said. “We had a couple of mechanical failures with the electric part of our car. The biggest setback was the clutch went out.”
He also noted, “For all the problems, we’re happy we came out third.”
“There was only six teams,” senior Donovan Navarro pointed out.
For next year, Yoder said they needed to “make sure we check and do the little things before we go down there. We also need to be prepared for the brake test. That’s just the most challenging part of the technical inspection.”
Junior Kevin Carpenter worked on the electrical car.
“The brakes definitely went wrong. We did a lot of work on them down there,” he said.
The treading on the tires kept popping, and they had to adjust the angles of the tires, he said.
“The motor we fixed, we definitely didn’t have any problems with it. We can definitely use it again next year,” Carpenter said.
The new steering system also worked, but Carpenter suggested they may tweak it a bit.
Driving on the track in Houston also was an issue.
Carpenter said it was a lot different than they thought it would be. The drivers had to really be aware of the other cars and potholes on the track.
“Competition was a lot tougher than we thought it would be,” he stated. “We went into it with more confidence than we should have.”
Drivers next year should be a lot lighter, he said. Carpenter said he weighs about 170 pounds, but most of the other schools’ drivers were about 120.
“It definitely made a huge difference,” he said.
“It was a learning experience,” confirmed junior Nathan Allen. “Definitely need to be better prepared for next year. We need to get done faster.”
Juniors Randy Ricci, Doug Hapner and Chase Corrigan all worked on the gasoline car.
“Our brakes went right. Our calibration went right,” Hapner said. “We passed our brake test easily. We needed more time testing our calibration.”
During the competition, he said the driver turns the engine on and off, and they need to know the number of times they need to burn.
“We need to heat our engine. Probably run it hotter. It seemed to be what the better teams did,” he said.
“The fuel injection worked,” said junior Brad Potulney. “It worked, not as good as we thought it would, but it’s the major thing we worked on this year.”
“The car didn’t roll as well as we thought it would. It didn’t run as well as we thought it would,” said senior Dylan Cousins.
He said the car that won had no throttle. It ran wide open with an engine extremely hot.
“Probably change the engine next year,” Hapner suggested on what they could do to improve their car. “Have smaller drivers next year. Most of our guys are 5’10”. We want guys who are 5’8” or smaller.”
Hapner said placing 12th out of 35 cars wasn’t bad for the first time with that gas car. It has new steering, fuel injection and body.
“Everything in general with that car was brand new. We were expecting higher mileage, but being the first year we didn’t know as much,” Hapner stated.
Coblentz said in the four years Wawasee has participated in the Eco-marathon, competition has grown from 60 to 70 cars to about 140 this year.
“That’s created its own set of complications. It’s the same track, the same place, but more cars. If a run starts at 8:30, then you better have your car in line by 6:30,” Coblentz said.
While there were no major accidents, there were more this year than years past, he said. Wawasee’s diesel car did run into another car stalled on the track.
He said he wished the event could be held later, like in May. However, because colleges participate and their school year ends early May, the event is held in early April or sooner.
“This activity, at least through our school, is supported 100 percent by sponsors,” said Coblentz. “... Since 100 percent is supported by people in the community, we wouldn’t be able to do this without them. It is a major cash outlay to do this project, but over the years we’ve done it, it has just a lot of positive aspects for the students to do this.”
Large financial sponsors included Northern Indiana Lakes British Motor Club, Phend & Brown, Doug Schrock, Main Channel Marina, Shell and Wawasee School Board. Material sponsors included Wawasee Tent & Tool, Lake City Tool & Die, Technical Services, Jasper Plastics, Betterway Products, TAG, Cytec, SEI , Adventure Glass, Rinker Boat Co. and Indiana Vac Form Inc.
Senior Andria Millberg redesigned the body of the gas and electric cars. The experience was a positive one for her.
“There’s a lot of variables that play in it, but with the research we did before, I think it did cut down on the drag, but I don’t have any research from the cars the years before,” she said.
Millberg said she was disappointed she won’t get to do it again next year, but now she’s considering becoming a mechanical engineer instead of an architect because of the Houston experience.[[In-content Ad]]
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“It was definitely a successful trip,” said engineering and technology teacher Allen Coblentz. “A lot of learning experiences took place. A lot went right, and a lot went wrong. You can learn from your failures as much as your successes. We accomplished a lot of big things this year. Paying attention to the small things equates to more miles per gallon, and we didn’t get to that this year. There are things we can build upon for next year.”
Wawasee’s prototype gasoline car took 12th place with 695.1 mpg, the official Shell website states. Wawasee also placed ninth with its prototype battery electric car at 140.8 miles per kilowatt hour, and its prototype diesel car earned third place at 907.1 mpg.
The Eco-marathon is a challenge for students to design, build and test fuel-efficient vehicles that travel the farthest distance using the least amount of energy. There are three competitions around the world, with the Americas competition featuring university and high school teams from the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Brazil.
Junior Austin Yoder was on Wawasee’s diesel team. “It was hard keeping people on track with what to do,” he said.
Practice day went right, but on test day, their first run was the only one that counted toward their highest mileage. That was 907 mpg.
“We failed the brake test,” Yoder said. “We had a couple of mechanical failures with the electric part of our car. The biggest setback was the clutch went out.”
He also noted, “For all the problems, we’re happy we came out third.”
“There was only six teams,” senior Donovan Navarro pointed out.
For next year, Yoder said they needed to “make sure we check and do the little things before we go down there. We also need to be prepared for the brake test. That’s just the most challenging part of the technical inspection.”
Junior Kevin Carpenter worked on the electrical car.
“The brakes definitely went wrong. We did a lot of work on them down there,” he said.
The treading on the tires kept popping, and they had to adjust the angles of the tires, he said.
“The motor we fixed, we definitely didn’t have any problems with it. We can definitely use it again next year,” Carpenter said.
The new steering system also worked, but Carpenter suggested they may tweak it a bit.
Driving on the track in Houston also was an issue.
Carpenter said it was a lot different than they thought it would be. The drivers had to really be aware of the other cars and potholes on the track.
“Competition was a lot tougher than we thought it would be,” he stated. “We went into it with more confidence than we should have.”
Drivers next year should be a lot lighter, he said. Carpenter said he weighs about 170 pounds, but most of the other schools’ drivers were about 120.
“It definitely made a huge difference,” he said.
“It was a learning experience,” confirmed junior Nathan Allen. “Definitely need to be better prepared for next year. We need to get done faster.”
Juniors Randy Ricci, Doug Hapner and Chase Corrigan all worked on the gasoline car.
“Our brakes went right. Our calibration went right,” Hapner said. “We passed our brake test easily. We needed more time testing our calibration.”
During the competition, he said the driver turns the engine on and off, and they need to know the number of times they need to burn.
“We need to heat our engine. Probably run it hotter. It seemed to be what the better teams did,” he said.
“The fuel injection worked,” said junior Brad Potulney. “It worked, not as good as we thought it would, but it’s the major thing we worked on this year.”
“The car didn’t roll as well as we thought it would. It didn’t run as well as we thought it would,” said senior Dylan Cousins.
He said the car that won had no throttle. It ran wide open with an engine extremely hot.
“Probably change the engine next year,” Hapner suggested on what they could do to improve their car. “Have smaller drivers next year. Most of our guys are 5’10”. We want guys who are 5’8” or smaller.”
Hapner said placing 12th out of 35 cars wasn’t bad for the first time with that gas car. It has new steering, fuel injection and body.
“Everything in general with that car was brand new. We were expecting higher mileage, but being the first year we didn’t know as much,” Hapner stated.
Coblentz said in the four years Wawasee has participated in the Eco-marathon, competition has grown from 60 to 70 cars to about 140 this year.
“That’s created its own set of complications. It’s the same track, the same place, but more cars. If a run starts at 8:30, then you better have your car in line by 6:30,” Coblentz said.
While there were no major accidents, there were more this year than years past, he said. Wawasee’s diesel car did run into another car stalled on the track.
He said he wished the event could be held later, like in May. However, because colleges participate and their school year ends early May, the event is held in early April or sooner.
“This activity, at least through our school, is supported 100 percent by sponsors,” said Coblentz. “... Since 100 percent is supported by people in the community, we wouldn’t be able to do this without them. It is a major cash outlay to do this project, but over the years we’ve done it, it has just a lot of positive aspects for the students to do this.”
Large financial sponsors included Northern Indiana Lakes British Motor Club, Phend & Brown, Doug Schrock, Main Channel Marina, Shell and Wawasee School Board. Material sponsors included Wawasee Tent & Tool, Lake City Tool & Die, Technical Services, Jasper Plastics, Betterway Products, TAG, Cytec, SEI , Adventure Glass, Rinker Boat Co. and Indiana Vac Form Inc.
Senior Andria Millberg redesigned the body of the gas and electric cars. The experience was a positive one for her.
“There’s a lot of variables that play in it, but with the research we did before, I think it did cut down on the drag, but I don’t have any research from the cars the years before,” she said.
Millberg said she was disappointed she won’t get to do it again next year, but now she’s considering becoming a mechanical engineer instead of an architect because of the Houston experience.[[In-content Ad]]
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