Date of Last Revision
2023-05-03 05:04:49
Major
Mechanical Engineering - Cooperative Education
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science
Date of Expected Graduation
Spring 2018
Abstract
The Human Powered Vehicle Competition (HPVC) is held annually by ASME at a few locations. The University of Akron has competed in the ASME-East and ASME-West competitions over the past handful of years against universities from all over the world. Objectives of each team for the competition are three-fold: vehicle design, racing performance, and innovation. Our senior design project involved working on the innovation concept for ASME-East 2018 held at Penn State University during the weekend of 4/13. Speed variable steering was decided upon by the entire HPVC team early in the design process as the innovation choice for this year’s bike. It involves a mechanism that dampens the steering automatically and gradually as bike velocity increases, thus making it more difficult to turn the wheels at high speeds. Benefits of this innovation include increased safety by reducing speed-wobbles, increased rider handling & stability, and decreased overall lap times. There is also an established budget for the team and, in turn, the innovation subdivision to operate within while designing and testing the product.
Research Sponsor
Dr. Scott Sawyer
First Reader
Dr. Chang Ye
Recommended Citation
Miller, Eric and Kraml, Matt, "Human Powered Vehicle Design Team: Speed Variable Steering Stabilizer" (2018). Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects. 676.
https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/honors_research_projects/676
Human Powered Vehicle Innovation Video
signature page.pdf (29 kB)
Honors Signature Page; without Honors College Dean Signature
Included in
Applied Mechanics Commons, Electro-Mechanical Systems Commons, Manufacturing Commons, Other Mechanical Engineering Commons
Comments
Post-Competition Results
Because the competition has taken place before this report’s due date, the final results from ASME-East are available. The innovation concept performed well and succeeded in the proposed benefits found in the following report. Our team results can be seen below. Note that a field of 47 teams competed this year from across the U.S. as well as teams from Egypt, India, and Puerto Rico. We are proud of our entire team’s performance this competition year.
Results: 2nd Overall; 7th Design Report; 3rd Innovation; 1st Men’s Drag Race; 2nd Women’s Drag Race; 2nd Endurance Race