Andrew Deckard instructs Ryan Crawford, left, and Javier Medina how to assemble one of the five new CAD computers purchased by MINDDRIVE. Andrew was a student in the first two years of the program and he is now our computer expert. He designed and ordered the new computers that will be used to teach SolidWorks to our students.
A typical Saturday class has students of various levels working with mentors on different projects.
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Translogic on AOL did a nice feature on the MINDDRIVE car and its students. Take a look.
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[pb_vidembed title="Busy Day" caption="" url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H5iM1LMoYA" type="yt" w="650" h="385"]
Today, the shop was a beehive of activity. Nathan Park from the University of Missouri came to visit and explained the Tigergen II hydrogen car. MU students participated in the Shell Eco-marathon April 14-17, 2011 in Houston, and they’re designing Tigergen III for the UrbanConcept Challenge. It was encouraging to share information between the two programs and note the similarities between our projects.
Students and mentors broke into five groups, each working on specific tasks such as suspension repair, body design and fender construction. The communications class continued interviewing students and mentors and preparing biographies.
Several MINDDRIVE students and mentors participated today in the Art of the Car Concours at the Kansas City Art Institute. This car, based on a Reynard Indy chassis, is in the preliminary design stage, but the body, made from transparent plastic film, is similar to the car created last year. Students below are, from left, Ehiner Perez, Elias Williams and Itoya McConnell.
On Friday, the opening day of Cars2, the Minddrive car was part of the annual Pixar Motorama car show. It was on the set for some live shots of Good Morning America, and then on display later in the day at the Pixar car show. Students Zack Knighten and John Shaw were on hand.
In the third class session, Phil Hill and Steve Rees lectured on the basics of aerodynamics. Students then attached strings to two passenger cars and watched their movement as the cars drove by. This exercise gives a simple visual demonstration of how air moves over a car’s body. In the fourth class, students and mentors presented preliminary sketches of a body for the car. Students and mentors attacked individual tasks in order to get the car’s body partially configured for display at the Art of the Car Concours on June 26th.
Students from four high schools gathered at MINDDRIVE for the first time.
With bright smiles and a sense of anticipation, 15 students and 13 adult mentors met for the first time on Saturday, May 21, for the first MINDDRIVE class of 2011. Ten students will work on constructing a new electric car using a 1998 Reynard chassis as a base, while six students will form a communications class that will document the car project, update the website and shoot photos and videos.
From left: Kelvin Duley, Mario Ramirez, Zack Knighten and Chan Brown pose with the car on yard of original bricks that mark the track’s finish line.
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a motor-racing shrine unlike any in the world. Since the first 500-mile race in 1911, this 2.5-mile track has given rise to dreams and witnessed untold heartache. Every imaginable kind of story has been lived out in this special place.
Last Saturday, four Minddrive students from DeLaSalle High School wrote their own story as they drove the Minddrive electric Indy car around the famous oval during Emerging Technology Day, which was the kickoff of the Indy 500’s centennial celebration. The students were Mario Ramirez, Kelvin Duley, Zack Knighten and Chan Brown. Read More→
This past week we took delivery of a 1998 Reynard Indy Car that will be used for the upcoming Automotive Design Studio project. This project will have similar perimeters to last year’s car. It will be an ultra lightweight simplistic electric car that will strive to attain the highest possible efficiency. The efficiency will be measured in miles per gallon equivalent for an electric car. There is a factor for calculating the value of electrical energy per a gallon of gasoline. Last year the student’s car attained 443 miles per gallon equivalent. This new car, with what was learned last year is anticipated to increase the efficiency by 20% over that last year which would put the final number at 495.6 MPGe. You can bet that we will be working to hit 500 MPGe. The new car is similar to the 2000 Lola chassis from last year.
