Exam Success for the Team!

On Tuesday the 4th of August, Nicola and I received the results from our Higher exams that we sat in May. We were delighted to find that we had both achieved 5 As at Higher!

Greenpower has played a huge part in our everyday lives; even whilst studying we were working on the cars. This involvement has helped us apply the things we've learnt in the classrooms of Maths and Physics to the creation of Minion and Aluminion. It has given us a greater understanding of the practicality behind STEM subjects. It has given us confidence in our own abilities and down to that it has perhaps been a deciding factor in the success of our exams. 

Thanks to our results, we can go forward with the comfort of knowing we have a good shot at doing the things we want to do and we are certain to get unconditional offers when applying to university. And thanks to Greenpower we also have a great conversation piece to put on our personal statements and CVs!

We wish every student out there the best of luck in upcoming exams and applications; and we hope that Greenpower can do the same for you as it has done for us!

Rockingham and Croft Heat

Finally, the day had come. The day that we would finally be racing our cars in Greenpower F24+. Before that could happen though, we spent the evening of the 29th of June travelling to Perth, a journey that can take about 5 hours. The following day we travelled to Corby, which is another 7 hours (especially considering the traffic). We had a good sleep before waking bright and early for the Rockingham Heat.

Having never raced at Rockingham mean't there was the excitement of approaching a new track. After passing scrutineering we headed out for practice. Both Minion (driven by Nicola) and Aluminion (driven by me, Ailsa) performed well, however we decided to gear up the cars and test them again. Then they ran even better. My car, Aluminion, got a bit of a beating when a collision occurred. The back axle of the other car dug a hole in the side of Aluminion and deformed other areas of the car causing a puncture to the front right wheel. The poor car only just got on the road.

For the F24+ races, there is an hour with no necessary driver changes. On a circuit like Rockingham, it's mostly a race of judging how much power you have left and how to use it. 

Aluminion, due to my misjudgement, had power left - enough to bump up my placing from 8th to 7th. But considering it was the car's first outing and that it is generally slower than Minion, I think 8th is a noble position. Minion on the other hand, ran out of power towards the end (perhaps from gearing too high, or other factors) which dropped the car down to 10th position.

It was a successful day, and a good opportunity to get to know the track that we'll be heading to for the final.

Since the journey from Caithness is a long one, we decided that in between these two races (that are 6 days apart) my parents and I were going to have a small trip round our family in England. We had a really great wee holiday before tackling Croft.

We had already estimated the gearing necessary for a tighter and tougher circuit like Croft and changed it - therefore, we were ready to go out for practice straight after scrutineering. Again, practice went well but not great and when we came back in we decided to bump up the gearing in both cars once again.

This time the race wasn't so successful. By the time we were lining up on the grid it was chucking it down. During the race, my communication system (phone, auto-answer and headphones with a microphone on the lead) wasn't working, so there was no way of knowing how the car was placing.

Then, as the rain came down, my electrics failed, everything just went. We do have a relay on the car that is easy to use as it's just a button on top of the steering lever. However, in a moment of panic and rashness - I came in to the pits. After being reminded that there is a relay button, Aluminion went straight back out.

At the end of the race, the car was still running strong and if it weren't for the mishap, it probably would have placed in the top three but a 6th place position is good enough for me. Minion had received a puncture fairly early on in the race and 14 minutes of race time was lost. The car ended up placing 7th.

It proved to be harsh race for many of the F24+ competitors and cars. But with so many F24 teams at these events we found that our cars were getting some love for the characters that they represent, it's always great to see support like that!

After such a tiring day we packed up the trailer. Then my parents, Nicola, and her dad left to head back up to Scotland - whilst I stayed to head back to my Brother's place for the oncoming week in which I would be volunteering for the Gathering of the Goblins.

Reel Racing would like to take a moment to thank Women's Engineering Society for sponsoring us - it wouldn't be possible to compete without such generosity. 

Day 6 - Constructing Aluminion 27/05/15

A lot happened between our last update and now - doing chunks here and there. We now, technically, have a rolling car, with mostly just electrics to sort out till we have a functioning car.

Firstly, we fit a seat, the brakes and braces for the battery compartment. The seat was made from aluminium sheet, and attached with rivnuts and screws to the chassis and side channel. This also lead to the instalment of the new seat belts.

We then we made a roll bar from flat bar (45x10mm) steel welded to steel tubing - this flat bar on the top section is heavier than the tubing and brace combined however this weight gain is offset by the aerodynamic improvements provided by the lower surface area of the flat bar.

The front of the car was formed by hot wire cutting foam - which creates an accurate and, what should be, a smooth foam core for the nose when used with a template.  This was then covered in 0.5mm aluminium sheet (which allows the aluminium to collapse easily on impact, like a crumple zone), stuck together with glue and riveted to create a rigid nose. The nose was then riveted on to the body of the car. The same technique was used for the tail, which has rivnuts to secure it to the car and allow it to be taken off when needed.

The foam for the inside of the cockpit was cut from some yoga mats we bought, which covered the seat, the sides and the area for our legs.

Before we put the top of the body on, we put the main wire from batteries to the back in order to save us the hassle of fitting that later (keep tucked in to the sides with brackets and cable ties). We fit the motor with the adjustment and bracket earlier too - ready for fitting all the electrics.

The top of the body was a joy to fit with some measuring, jigsawing, gluing and riveting it had been fitted. We riveted across any area with contact to the bulkheads. This process took over 200 countersunk holes and 200 rivets.

Down below you will be able to see the progress made from multiple angles. 

All aluminium was generously donated by Building Product Design Ltd.

Day 5 - Constructing Aluminion 18/04/15

Full photos of the car and its progress.

Today, we managed to fit the back wheels, giving us a fully functional rolling tub. In addition to this, we connected up the steering, with steering levers and rods connected to the front wheels. We also begin to fit the seatbelts. 

At this point our jobs and tasks are getting more and more minor but more and more fiddly. Everyone of us can't wait to see the finished product.

All aluminium was generously donated by Building Product Design Ltd.

Day 4 - Constructing Aluminion - 28/03/15

Our very simple steering hub. 25mm square box section with M10 threaded inserts (available from http://www.mcgillmotorsport.com/ and quite cheap) into which will go M10 rose joints. There is no kingpin as such, but this fabrication acts as a kingpin running between the two holes. Axle is 20mm steel and steering arms as still to be added. Tools required, hack saw, angle grinder, pillar drill and a simple MIG or arc welder.

Our ingenious extended drill piece.

In the time separating our build sessions, we made our wheel hubs so they are ready to be installed.

This Saturday, we spent our day cutting out the holes for our wheels and putting in the wheel hubs. We used a high-tech piece of aluminium with measure holes to mark out where to cut the space for the wheels. Then, the aluminium was cut out with a simple jigsaw. Installing the hubs was simple enough, yet somehow we managed to make a mishap on putting in the first one. However, thankfully, the mistake was easily fixed and we moved on to do the other side (with no mistakes). To make drilling the holes easier and more accurate, we made an 'extended' drill piece, with some steel rod, a drill piece and some welding. This worked remarkably well!

Nicola and I also did a fantastic job at cutting out square tubing to create a solid base for the back axle and motor. Those perfectly cut lengths were then welded together, ready to be installed.

Another small job was to put aluminium angle across the bulkhead behind the wheels, to help make it watertight some gasket as put behind the angle. By cutting slots in to the angle it allow to to bend the angle to the shape of the bottom of the car (which is slightly curved). Once this was done - more riveting was needed.

Nicola and I both tried out the car to see how we fit, and it is like a match made in heaven.

How incredibly productive was today?

All aluminium was generously donated by Building Product Design Ltd.

Day 3 - Constructing Aluminion - 07/03/15

On this fine day, we mostly worked on the bulkheads and wheel casings. This involved, yet again, more riveting and more panel beating. To create a curved edge -  that would match the car's curve and allow use to rivet the top of the body to the wheel panel - we used our template from earlier to form the panels around. With some patience, some strength and plenty of hammering our final result was rather successful. After panel beating the sections we riveted them to our main body. Nicola and I did some other bits and bobs, eg. putting in channel for the seat belts. Not too bad for one afternoon!

Nicola and I preparing to panel beat a piece of sheet aluminium.

Here you can see progress from later build sessions where the panels are firmly in place.

All aluminium was generously donated by Building Product Design Ltd.

Day 2 - Construction Aluminion 28/02/15

Today we riveted a lip over the top that we can attach a thin aluminium to after all the bulkheads and inside components are ready. After riveting these lips we moved on to create the front and back bulkheads, with simple bent aluminium and attached, once again, with rivets. The were rather a lot of pop rivets to pop in to place, needless to say, Nicola and I (Ailsa) had sore arms the next day.

With around 5 hours of working times, a great deal of progress was made.

All aluminium was generously donated by Building Product Design Ltd.

Day 1 - Constructing Aluminion 21/02/15

The day started with me and my father blending a rather large sheet of aluminium using a simple home-made contraption made of two pieces of steel angle.

Due to the large amount of aluminium to be bent it was a lot of work to bend to 90 degrees.

Below you can see the bend after one side. Of course we did with both sides to create a 'tub' shape.

Next up was drawing out on to MDF the shape we wanted for the car, taking in to account the batteries, wheels and the height we wanted the car to be. This shape was then cut out with a jigsaw.

The 'tub' we made previously was then lined up with the MDF (on the sides) and the aluminium was then cut out with the jigsaw, using the MDF as a template.

And after about 3 hours of work, and problem solving, two people achieved this.

All aluminium was generously donated by Building Product Design Ltd.