5/4/2015 Julia Cation
Written by Julia Cation
This year’s student team performed very well in the Parker Hannifin Chainless Challenge—taking second place overall and placing in the top three in nine other categories. The annual competition for fluid-power bicycles, was held April 8-10 this year in Irvine, California, and featured nine working bicycles from schools across the country.
The competition, which began in 2006, stipulates that bikes must be chainless and human powered; use hydraulics, pneumatics, and electronics; and weigh less than 225 lbs.
Illinois’ team was an interdisciplinary collaboration that included six students from MechSE and one from ECE. Their vehicle, called the Fluid Efficient Energy Transport (FL.E.E.T.), weighed 185 lbs., performed at a comfortable cruising speed of 12 mph, and had a top speed of 22.8 mph.
Katie McGrew, a senior in mechanical engineering, said the cross-disciplinary makeup of their team proved to be very beneficial. “One of the best things about working on this project was that we had several different sub-teams working on different parts of the design, namely the mechanical power transmission, the hydraulic system, and the electronic control system. This allowed for focus on specific areas, but through large amounts of collaboration we built an efficient, cohesive system. This collaboration between teammates—even spanning two majors—was one of the most important things that I learned during the course of this project,” she said.
MechSE associate professor Elizabeth Hsiao-Wecksler finished out her fourth and final year as the team’s faculty advisor on a high note. “This year in particular, we learned a lot from our previous experiences in this competition, and the students were able to apply previous lessons learned and develop a successful bike. They collaborated and worked hard as a team to compete very well this year, and I am proud to have been part of such a fun competition these past four years,” she said.
Mark Esposito, also a senior in mechanical engineering, attributed the team’s success to being very goal-oriented, maintaining excellent teamwork across engineering disciplines, and putting in a lot of hard work. “This year's team took great pride in every aspect of the vehicle's design and build, which shows in the tricycle's final form and function. Prior to the project, the team had almost no experience in hydraulic systems. The Chainless Challenge not only taught us more about hydraulic systems but also about the design process, collaborating as a team, and overcoming the challenges in our way,” he said.
Illinois placed in the top three in 10 of the 11 award categories:
Highest Total Overall Score – 2nd
Best Paper and Presentation – 1st
Manufacturability/Workmanship – 1st
Best Design as Selected by Other Teams – 1st
Best Relay Team Time (combo of pre-paired teams’ sprint times) – 1st, with University of Cincinnati
Cost Analysis – Prototype and Production – 2nd
Reliability and Safety – 2nd
6.2 Mile Time Trial Race – 2nd
Best Sprint Race Time – 3rd
Efficiency Challenge Race – 3rd
The Illinois team:
Iain Brearton (ECE)
Sebastian Dargatz
Christian Dawson
Mark Esposito
Grant Hallan
Katie McGrew
Ian O’Leary