Quote:
Originally Posted by wag
Did you have to use the rear tire of the blue bicycle for the buggy? I saw a previous event on the NASA channel and it looked like a lot of fun as well as an engineering challenge. Well done.
Wayne
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The bicycles we used had been chained up the bike rack for several years and we didn't use any parts off them. The wheels we used were more or less custom made, with hubs machined out of solid steel (weighed about 5 lbs a piece).
Anyway, Friday after the race, the plan was for everyone to go to sleep and work on the buggy that night. Me, being perpetually busy, instead went to the talk that was being given by Homer Hickam at the USSRC about his new book. We and his publisher's representative chatted for a while before I departed (they seemed impressed that I knew the moon's mass offhand: I had remembered it from an astronomy test I took a couple of weeks ago.). Afterward, I went with one of my friends from Space Hardware Club to the NSSTC (National Space Science and Technology) to meet with some people from CSPAR (Center for Space Plasma & Aeronomic Research) about an exhibit they were working on for USSRC and wanted our help with fabrication. The rest of the night and the next morning was spent in the machine shop on campus refining our buggy design.
During testing, a malfunction put our redesigned stearing system and one of our primary drivers out of commission. This resulted in replacing him with another team member that was at least a third bigger. While preparing for the second, we heard about a possible spirit award. I though it might be a couple of the guys on the team that were also in band to get their instruments out and play for the drivers. Since I was the only one with my horn on me, I became a one man band. Another of the people helping the team had Captain America mask and an Iron Man mask. Thanks to this, I ended up on NASA TV running through the rocket park like a mad man playing a trombone while wearing a Captain America mask with a U and H added to the forehead.
The race itself resulted in us being DQ'd for taking too long to finish the race, but I thought we did well for a team that built our vehicle in two weeks, for less than $1K, and it was our first time to be in the race.
The UAH Avengers:
