Louisville High School

Monthly Reports

Louisville Power Drive 
P.O. Box 489 - 202 West 3rd Street
Louisville, NE 68037
(402) 234-3585 Fax (402) 234-2141
Cynthia Osterloh                               Jesse Zweep
      Secondary Principal                       Industrial Technology

January
January started out strong, our main goal was to manufacture our steering and spindle components. There was plenty of geometry that we had to take into effect to get the steering placed correctly. We also had the challenge of aligning our tie rods so that they would not hit the side of the car frame & allow the driver enough room to exit the car.
 
The team has been working hard to complete many of the smaller projects on the car. One of them was completing the motor mount. We were able to install the motor on the mount and fit it onto the frame. Another task that has been completed is welding the frame solid.  After taking all of our measurements and mocking up the components, we are satisfied that all of the frame members and supports are in their correct place & will not have to be moved. Our main setback this month has been waiting for our rear wheel to be built.  As soon as the wheel is built we will be able to fabricate the wheel mount and place it on the car to have a rolling chassis!!!
 
Overall the team has put in many long & late hours working at night to get the car ready for the upcoming race season. Many of the team members have had the opportunity to build and hone their skills on the machines, such as the lathe, and to learn new techniques of fabrication while building the car.
 
Along with building the car, a few team members have spent much of their time devoted to documenting the design and building. We have taken many pictures and have begun incorporating them into our documentation portfolio that will be scored at the end of the race season. Power Drive has been a challenge and an exciting process for the team to endue to this point in the year, and we are looking forward to race day!!!

February
The Louisville Power Drive team has been busy this month. We were able to finish our mount for the rear wheel and now have a rolling chassis. One of our biggest setback this month was correcting the problems with our steering. The car is supposed to be able to turn in a 25 foot radius & our steering was not able to do so. We made adjustments to our tie rods and corrected our steering geometry, and now the car turns to meet the requirements. We also took the time to set the toe in & out of the car and made sure the wheels were set to 0 degree camber.

The team has been working to meet the safety requirements to race. One of which is getting the five-point harness secured in the car & also placing padding on the inside where the drivers body touches the frame. The team is also taking time to double check to make sure that all other safety requirements have been met, specifically pinning the axles and steering components.
 
The next big challenge is to wire the car. We are taking our time & following the wiring diagram our instructor gave us which lays out the proper way to wire the components together. Finally, the last of the major components have been fabricated and placed on the car, which are the brake pedal assembly & sprocket mount for the rear wheel.
During the month of March, the team goal is to be able to test the car to be sure that everything works properly before putting the sheet metal body on and preparing the car to race. 

March
March has had its challenges for the Louisville Power Drive team. Persisting problems with wiring the controller as well as amp and volt meters that wouldn’t work have made for a stressful time. With a little extra time & effort by all team members, we have been able to fix the problems and have both a working controller & meters.

The sheet metal skin has been applied to the frame of the car. Some of the challenges we faced were trying to get the outside of the car as smooth as possible; this meant that our side panels need to be as close to the frame of the car as possible. The most difficult part was bending the sheet metal around a few of the bends and curves on the car. Currently the team is in the process of applying body filler on the seams & covering the rivets to make the body as smooth as possible, we hope this will cut down on air resistance as the car travels on the track.
 
The team is really getting excited to begin the race season. We have been able to take the car out for test driving and are pleased with the results. These tests have been very helpful for the drivers to gain experience & are preparing them for race day. Drivers are learning about amperage & voltage readings in the car as well & how that affects overall performance. Pit crew members are also getting a chance to practice pit stops and setting up the car for the race.