Nothin’ Says Love like Diesel Engines

When Purdue was accepted as one of the teams competing in the EcoCAR 2 competition, the team knew we were agreeing to a lot of late nights, meeting new people, making great friends and traveling to new places, but we never thought finding our future spouse would be part of the deal. This was the actual case for two members of Purdue’s EcoCAR 2 team, Christopher Rhoades, Front Drivetrain team lead and Haley Moore, Project Manager, who met at the beginning of Purdue’s first year in the competition. Chris had just started his graduate career at Purdue, and was new to the university and the state of Indiana. Haley was finishing up her undergraduate degree and starting work on her master’s degree, having been part of the team that wrote the proposal and was currently busy getting the newly formed team rolling.

Unlike some relationships, Haley and Chris’s was not love at first sight. Before the two even met, Haley had already canceled a meeting she had scheduled with Chris to go over his responsibilities on the team, causing frustration between them at first. A few weeks later the Purdue team had set off on the six hour drive to Pontiac for the Year One Fall Workshop. During the drive and the time spent at the workshop, Chris and Haley discovered that they had a lot in common and really enjoyed spending time together.  Among the discussions on engine selection and component packaging, they found that a strong friendship had been established between them. In just a few short weeks, these two mechanical (and very stubborn) engineers were dating. Chris and Haley aren’t the typical couple. Just ask their families. Everywhere they go, EcoCAR 2 gets mentioned at least ten times and at least one argument occurs. One specific time was Labor Day weekend when they got into an argument about how the car should be disassembled, in what order, and who would be in charge. Chris ended up winning that argument, although the glory was short lived when he was forced to walk Haley’s puppy Riley at 2 A.M. You will often find Chris and Haley in the same lab, usually wearing their matching EcoCAR 2 shirts. The matching shirts have even been worn by the two in pictures while on vacations.

In certain situations, some really great ideas and solutions have come from knowing each other so well. Chris typically gets frustrated very quickly. And Haley’s been able to get him to re-focus and get him to get work done (They have this saying, “Just shut up and do it”…works like a charm!) A perfect example was when the team was removing the stock engine from their Chevy Malibu. For some reason, one of the bolts that secured the front cradle got bent. After Chris spent hours trying to remove the bolt, Haley stepped in with a hammer and chisel (and then later on a drill) and got the bolt out. A short time later (and after a few trips to the hardware and auto parts stores), the engine was out and the crisis has been averted. Haley tends to be a major perfectionist. Chris knows when to pull her away from the situation and get her to relax and re-focus when no one else can. And really, does an example need to be given for this one? This is EcoCAR 2 after all J

(And here is the sappy part) All EcoCAR 2 participants can talk about the experiences and opportunities they got during the competition. But, Chris and Haley have EcoCAR 2 to thank for their engagement and approaching wedding! So during this Valentine’s Day, we thank the EcoCAR 2 Organizers and Sponsors for providing this competition that led us to each other and giving us unreasonable deadlines that keep us from going on dates.

If you are planning a wedding, here are some eco-friendly wedding tips:

-          Use a wedding invite and RSVP website instead of paper invites. You don’t have to pay postage or deal with all the RSVPs in your mailbox, and you save money! And if you really want to do paper invites, make sure they are made from recycled material

-          Give trees, or anything consumable (like salsa or homemade jam) as wedding favors

-          Avoid limos or big SUVs to haul the wedding party. Try to rent hybrids or high MPG cars!

-          Don’t require your guests to drive a lot. Try to have the wedding and reception within walking distance

-          Instead of printing pictures for everyone, upload your pictures to Flickr or Dropbox and allow them to print off the ones they want. Paper isn’t wasted this way (also saves you money!)

-          Don’t use anything disposable such as camera, plates, utensils, and napkins

-          Avoid balloons and confetti for decorations

And just to be really sappy, we also included a picture from when Chris proposed on Haley's birthday

Hello from Austin, Texas!

Today begins Day 2 of Winter Workshop at Freescale Semiconductor in Austin, Texas. The EcoMakers are very grateful for the hospitality shown by Freescale and dSpace for this workshop! Yesterday, team members sat through several information sessions about the rest of Year 2. We also had presentations made by our GRAs Haotian and Adam, as well as our Communications Manager Josh. We were incredibly proud of how well they all did! Haotian said that he was well prepared to present, but was a little nervous right before. Once we got everything done, the team used our free night to go out to dinner tonight at B.D. Riley’s Irish Pub. The food was great, and we even got to cheer the Boilermakers on (even though they didn’t win, we were still very happy to be able to watch them while in Texas!) 

Today, we have two more presentations. Haotian and Yili will be presenting the team’s Software-in-the-loop demo, while Joe will be presenting the team’s Sponsorship pitch and Table Top Display. We wish these three the best of luck, but we know they will do a great job! We also have several meeting for various components on the car such as waivers and engine implementation. The team is using our time very wisely by including time to meet with our mentor about design details, as well as the other diesel engine teams and Magna motor teams. One of the great advantages of EcoCAR 2 is being able to work with other teams to solve problems and issues that we are all having. 

The team after dinner at Welcome Night!

The EcoCAR2 competition is Purdue University’s first time participating in an Advanced Vehicle Technology Competition. Although Purdue may be rookies to the competition, the EcoMakers have been working closely with General Motors to make sure they are following state-of-the-art in vehicle development. General Motors, a headline sponsor for the EcoCAR2 competition, has not only offered technical support and mentorship, but has also donated the 2013 Chevy Malibu and financial support to all the teams and the engine the EcoMakers will be using, as well as other various components.

Specifically, several people from GM have helped the EcoMakers with analysis and review waivers. Thanks to GM, Purdue has had access to help fit the electric motor and battery box into the 2013 Chevy Malibu. Whenever Purdue’s team runs into trouble, they are able to reach out to GM for help. For example, one specific issue the EcoMakers ran into was when the motor would not fit where it needed to go because of the 5 bar. GM has provided specifications and assistance to help us re-route the 5 bar.

General Motors has also provided the EcoMakers with a fantastic mentor who is very engaged with the team and provides assistance throughout the competition. Dale Klein has been extremely helpful answering questions and providing a personal connection between the EcoMakers and GM. The EcoMakers are extremely grateful for everything General Motors has provided them. The enthusiasm of all the GM employees regarding EcoCAR is encouraging to all of the students in the competition. Even Purdue alumni working for GM have been very encouraging throughout the project. We know we would not be able to take part in this amazing educational opportunity if it were not for the General Motors support. Check out our sponsorship video to get an even better idea of GM's role in helping the EcoMakers in year two of the EcoCAR 2 competition!

 

http://youtu.be/Sjnso9Z7zN0

Update from alumni Whitney Belt

The EcoCAR program helped me tremendously by not only increasing my knowledge with the current state of hybrid electric vehicle HEV technology, but it also gave me a better understanding of all of the background tasks required to design a HEV. My current job is in the rotational Ford College Graduate program at Ford in the Sustainable Mobility Technology department where I will go through various systems design, controls design, and testing programs in their current and future hybrid projects.

                Going into EcoCAR 2: Plugging Into the Future, I had a lot of experience with the function and operation of standard gas and diesel powered vehicle and low voltage (LV) systems. I was a GRA for the Purdue EcoMakers, and was in charge of leading the design of the HV energy storage system (ESS) for our parallel-through-the-road (PTTR) architecture as well as helping the powertrain teams. I had not worked with any hybrid propulsion or high voltage (HV) systems, so I had to do a lot of research to catch up to speed. Fortunately, the EcoCAR program provided an endless supply of knowledgeable contacts for any questions as well as all of the programs that we would need to accomplish the task accompanied with training for all of them. The program also connected teams with a large number of HEV vendors which gave us access to all of the equipment that is available to automakers. All of this gave me a huge head start in comparison to other entry level applicants in the job market as I was more knowledgeable about what products and technologies are available as well as I had experience with most of the tools that they use in their design processes.

                Along with technical gains, I also grew in the area of project management. I had previous experience on smaller projects with groups of four to five people, but this project required that I manage teams of twenty to thirty people with little to no prior automotive or electrical experience in order to design a crucial part of our hybrid architecture. In doing so, I learned how to properly train and task team members so that the overall project would be completed on time. Another part of project management entails collecting data through simulations and writing reports summarizing the results. This was a huge part of EcoCAR 2 as we were required to compose reports detailing every step of the design process. All of these tasks helped me with my current job in that reports are a crucial part of the design process in a large company as well as being able to manage a project and delegate tasks in order to meet a deadline.

Kyle Lindenman (alumni), Dr. Motevalli, and Whitney Belt

Engine Removal from the Project Manager's Perspective

As most of you saw, the engine removal we thought would go smoothly did not (OK so I was hoping it would go smooth…project managers always hope things work out!) We had planned to drop the engine out from the bottom of the car because of the way the car was assembled. Based on feedback, we were told this would be easy. But then reality set in. I was able to get one of the bolts holding the cradle in the car, while Chris was not. Chris tried the other two bolts with no luck. He went back to the original bolt and kept trying to get it out. It eventually moved about ¼ of an inch. Then it got stuck. We continued to use the impact wrench to attempt to get it out to no avail. What we didn’t know is that when we did all of this, we actually cross-threaded the bolt, broke the nut, and stripped the head. So then we had to switch our plan and start to drill a hole in the nut to try to fully fracture it with the idea that the bolt would then just fall out. After breaking three drill bits, we decided to call it a night. We came back the next morning with a brand new corded drill, new drill bits, two car jacks and the determination that the bolt WILL come out. After we jacked the engine and the frame up, we began drilling again. After 30 minutes, we decided to give the impact wrench (with a smaller socket) another try. And this time, the bolt came out as it should! After celebrations and determining it was Zhi’s cookies that gave us the power to get this task done, we got the other bolts removed and realized that we were almost there. After disconnecting a few more parts and lines, we were able to lift the car from the engine and cradle. Cheers erupted in the lab with excitement that it was finally out.

This was a great learning experience for all students involved. Very few of the students had removed an engine before, so they got the experience of doing this. For others, they had not dropped an engine from below the vehicle. From my standpoint, I was incredibly impressed by the problem solving skills shown by the students when we had the issue with the bolt and nut. Ideas were being thrown out constantly, students were leaving to do get tools from home they thought might fix it, and discussions about what to do were constant for about 2 hours. And I knew the problem solving discussions were amazing when people were asking how we knew to do what we did. This team never fails to amaze me in their dedication and determination to solve issues that come up. 

Check out our Facebook page for more pictures of our dis-assembly process, as well as our YouTube page, which includes time lapse videos of the engine removal. 

https://www.youtube.com/user/PurdueEcoCAR2

  Team members after removing the engine from the vehicle

Garrett giving a "Thumbs up" on finally getting the engine out!