Group Learning

Financial Narrative

Financial Forms

Project Participants

*Students Linked to Lessons Learned*

Power & Drive	Documentation	Steering & Brakes
Casey Fern	Tiffany Huynh	Lopaka Terada-Pagdilao
Austin Bryant	Gaby Mireles	Jana Holmes
Brian Nakagawa	Jacky Shishido	Keiji Ogikubo
Matthew Collins	Katie Hoppe	Colin Pritz
	Jana Holmes	Tiffany Huynh
Driver	Body & Frame	Jacky Shishido
Lukas Holmes	Colin Pritz	Chanel Jones
	Matthew Collins
	Katie Hoppe

Well, we didn't finish it in time for the race, but we finished it!...and it ran! This is the first time any of us, including the teacher, has done this. We made a lot of mistakes, and we learned from them. The following describes how we organized and worked through the tasks. To make the frame, we went through lots of steps:

Electric Car.GIF

Summary

First, we talked about it. We decided on using angle iron and plywood for the frame. We decided on angle iron because we can fasten it together with bolts. That's something we can do ourselves; we can't weld by ourselves. We asked Aloha Airlines for aluminum angle iron, and they gave us some.

Research and Development

We investigated angle iron and tubing. We chose angle iron because we can do more of the work ourselves. We can drill and bolt it. Tubing would have to be welded, and we can't do welding yet. We wanted aluminum instead of steel because it's much lighter.
We made two mock-ups with wood before we started to use the aluminum. We found out our first design was too big. We found our second design needed to be simplified a little in order to be able to make it out of angle iron.

Summary

We didn't know what kind of wheels to use. We investigated moped tires, bike tires, and wheelchair wheels. We couldn't find any wheelchair wheels. We almost got moped tires, but at the last moment we found out they wouldn't meet specs. Bike tires are weaker, but the BMX wheels should be strong enough....

Research and Development

...We talked about steering and brakes. Nobody knew much about how cars steer or stop. We looked at box cars and go-karts. We decided to use steering and brakes like a go-kart.
We investigated brakes and steering on box cars, go karts, golf carts, and riding lawn mowers. The steering on box cars was simple, but it would be weak, because the wheels have to stick out too much; then the axle might break or bend. The brakes on box cars were simple, but go kart disc brakes looked better, because they seemed stronger and more reliable.

Elec Brake Assembly

Research and Development

...and we learned a lot. But when we started to put the electrical system together, we found out we still had a lot to learn -- like how to connect wires to different kinds of places on batteries, controllers, and fuses, how to solder, and how to keep from getting shocked.
We have not conditioned and tested our batteries at all yet. That's mostly because we shouldn't run the motor without a load on it, and since we don't have the car made, we don't have a way to put a load on the motor. We thought of connecting it to a bicycle, like an exercise bike, but that remains to be done.

Summary

We invited some experts to come and teach us about electricity. We didn't know anything before that...,

Evidence of Student Learning

Frame: We learned that. . .

aluminum is lighter than iron or steel, but still strong enough to make a frame.

triangles have more strength than rectangles.

the angle in angle iron is what makes it hard to bend

a mock-up can give you a better idea than a drawing of how something will work.

Wheels, steering, and brakes: We learned that. . .

most cars steer with a rack-and-pinion assembly; the ends are called spindles, the pivots are called kingpins, and the rods are called tie rods.

disc brakes have a disc that is pinched by another part to stop it.

there is a ratio between the drive sprocket and the wheel sprocket; the ratio makes a big difference in how hard the motor works and how strong or fast the wheel is.

a mock-up can give you a better idea than a drawing of how something will work.

wheels are more complicated than they look; the measurements of axle and hub have to be very exact .

Power train and electrical system: We learned that. . .

volts measure pressure and amps measure flow.

you have to have a closed circuit for electricity to flow; closed means everything is connected; open means something is not connected.

a fuse can save more expensive things by burning up first.

electric motors are made of magnets and electromagnets.

soldering is a way to connect electrical wires; soldering is cool to do.

batteries and motors are very heavy.

In general: We learned that . . .

it's hard to make decisions about what to do when you have never done something before.

everything takes more time than you expect it to; most things take more steps than you think they will; sometimes you have to start over again and again.

it helps a lot when everyone is working on something; it slows things down a lot when some people are fooling around.

it's fun to be making something, especially with power tools.

it's disappointing when you don't think you'll make it, but you don't have to give up.

...And From The Individuals

Jacky Shishido I participated in the electric car team because it is important for us to look at using alternatives to gas powered cars. I felt this project would give me an opportunity to understand, in detail, a vehicle that is alternately powered ,aerodynamic , safe and lightweight. My contribution to this project is to help with the documentation steering and brakes teams. The projects contribution to my life , was that it gave me time with my dad and strengthened my beliefs, that the time for alternatives to gas powered vehicles has come and perhaps from our understanding will come the pen minds, that can dream and design the vehicles of the future. We developed skills by working with tools and equipment, which translated into an understanding of how a car is put together and how it works. Not to mention that we learned that we had to work together else nothing got done. \|back\|	Jana Holmes My name is Jana Malia Holmes. I am on the steering and brakes team. In our car we are using a rack and pinion steering . We are also using aluminum angle iron, donated by Aloha Airlines, and a sheet of wood. We are also going to go on a track for one hour and attempt to make as many laps as we can. Only going on two gel cell batteries. At this stage of making the electric ca, I have learned how to make the rack and pinion steering. I have also learned that we can accomplish such an demanding and some what difficult task, of balancing and building this electric car. We have not started to build this car so when we actually start , I think that I will learn a lot more. What I will take from this is that I can make a car and so much more confidence I can do anything I put my mind to. I will also hopefully take an award of some kind from this. I also want a good grade. I will also know how to build a car fit ever comes up in the future. \|back\|
Keiji Ogikubo My team is steering and brakes. I learned how important organizing the plan is, and how hard building the car is, because you have to thing about electricity, the motor, the wheels, the brakes, the steering, and all the other stuff. You also need to choose which wheel to use, which battery to use, etc. I think steering and brakes can help me later in life because if I decided to be a mechanic or work in the car business, having this experience will help me. \|back\|	Austin Bryant My name is Austin Bryant and I'm on the electrical team. The job I do is wire the car and make it so the car is able to move and shut down the right way. I am learning about wiring electric cars and how they work. Something I learned about myself is me being capable of doing something. Because usually I sit back and watch people do everything for me., but I'm learning to work with the team. I think that this experience will help me work with others better and also teach me some mechanical things about cars. \|back\|
Casey Fern I'm on the electrical / power team, with Brian , Austin, and Matthew. We're in charge of things like getting power from the batteries to the engine and power pedal. We also set up the off/on and kill switches. are team works with the body/frame and brakes/ steering groups, too. We work together to set up the car in a way that we can use as little wire as possible, and make sure there is enough room for the engine and we make sure that the brake cables don't get in the way of the power wires etc., etc. I've learned a lot about how an engine makes a car run , and electricity in general. Before now, I hardly knew any thing about electrical currents and electrical power, until now. Now I understand how the batteries in our car will give power to the engine. I don't know how much of what I've learned will help me later in life , but I know that working with the other teams to make the car is as efficient in power and space as possible will help me work better with others in the future. Also I feel that when this project is over , I will have a better knowledge of not just the electrical power system in things like cars and go-carts, but maybe more simple electrical machines too. \|back\|	Katie Hoppe I am on the documentation team. I help to write and organize the criteria for documentation. I also help in taking pictures. I am learning a lot of things that I didn't know before. I didn't understand how electric cars work and what was needed to build one. Working on a project like this really showed me how important it is to schedule and plan things this is our schools first year in entering this race almost all the people building this car are 8th graders and we don't have a lot of experience. Doing this project has taught me that organization & planning are just as important as having actual skills. I also learned that knowledge and research play very big roles in the quality an & completion of projects such as this. Thing that I learned while doing the Electron Marathon will stay with me in anything that I do further on in life. Before doing this project I had no idea of the importance of organization, planning & teamwork. Participating in the Electron Marathon has been a good experience for me and it was something that I could enjoy. \|back\|
Colin Pritz I'm on the brakes and steering team. I'm learning about how go carts work because that is what we are looking at to see how an e-car works. It is al lot of fun and I like working with the teams I'm on. I hope we do good. When it come to race day, we will be ready. It may be useful to me because I may want to have a job working with cars or go carts when I get older so if I knew it already, it won't be hard. \|back\|	Lopaka Terada Pagdilao My group is steering and brakes. In our group we choose the steering, and the type of wheels. We choose the steering, and the type of brake we are going to use. We will be putting the steering and the brakes on the car. By being in this group I've learned to stay organized and set deadlines. If you didn't stay on top of things, you would fall behind and you couldn't finish the car. I think brakes and steering will help me because if someone needed help on a go-cart I could help them. It would also help me because I would know how to fix things. \|back\|
Brian Nakagawa I'm on the power team and my job is the placement, hookup, and trouble shooting for the cars electrical and mechanical parts. What the power team and I have been doing is: the placement of the motor , the placement of the batteries, and the layout of the measuring chain. I've learned a lot about basic electricity , (from engineers Rudy Tamayo, Rodney Chong and Cornwell Friel.) I've learned about voltage, current, power, conductors, alternating current, direct current, phases, basic electrical components, closed circuit, open circuit, short circuit, insulators, resistors, conductor sizes, magnetism, and how a motor works. I've learned how to set up the batteries, motor, disconnect switch, potbox, and other electrical parts. I've learned how to balance the weight of the car, or distribute all the different parts in a balanced way. I've learned how I shouldn't handle the charging and discharging of the battery. I've learned about what components are needed to have a car that will make it through the race. I've learned about troubleshooting for all the electrical connections, made with writing. I've also learned about how a team needs to work together and support each other to make a project run. all of the things I've learned will help me understand things like electricity, electrical connections, and they will also help me work better with any kind of team, later in life. \|back\|	Tiffany Huynh During this project, I learned a lot about working as a team. I learned that if you don't learn to put your differences aside, you will not be able to do this project to it's fullest potential. I also have much more understanding about cars. I've learned more about: disk brakes, and the difference between BMX wheels and Moped wheels.. This project has also made me look at science in a whole different perspective. I also think that this is a very good school project because it applies to a lot of different subjects. such as Math, because of all the calculations we have to figure out. Science, because your using physics; such as figuring out how the car works and how it is put together. Language arts , in using writing mechanics for the documentation. I think this will help me in the future because there will always be times where you have to work with other people as a team and this experience will help me to do projects of this sort in the future. \|back\|

Return to Top

Financial Narrative

Donations (beyond those from the race sponsors):

   From Aloha Airlines, we received aluminum angle iron, for our frame. We priced the same materials at Lowes, and figured they'd cost $372.75 We asked Aloha Airlines for help because the father of one of our team members is a pilot for Aloha.
   From Otis Elevator, we received $200, toward our wheels. That's what we thought the wheels would cost, but in the end they cost over $500. We asked Otis for help because the father of one of our team members is a repairman for them.
   From Hayashi Auto Repair, we received a seat belt and an accelerator pedal. We asked Hayashi for help because they are next door to us.
   Wahiawa Chevron agreed to let us recharge our battery on their slow-charger. We asked Chevron for help because they are across the street from us.

Expenditures (on car):

Our costs are listed on the financial forms, which are in this report. We still need to pay for the rear tires, which aren't finished yet. That's why the cost is estimated on the sheet. We still haven't bought a lot of things: the steering wheel, the aluminum pipe for the roll bar, the steel parts for the front and rear axles, the fiberglass or aluminum sheeting for the outside cover of the car, and lots of little things like nuts and bolts. That's why so many costs are estimated.

Return to Top

Return to Top

Ho`ala Home Page