This College Final Project is Cooler than Yours

"No, I don't thank you for the fish at all" (notindetroit) 05/12/2014 at 10:39 • Filed to: Hoon Mechanics, School Project, Finals

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It's Finals season, which means you're reading this instead of actually studying, so, get off the damn computer and study . Oh, sure, you've got it down thanks to that late night cram session you're planning the evening before and you're going to continue to waste all this potentially productive time being right here. That, my friend, is why this thing from the mechanical engineering students of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! is way cooler than your final project.

They call this the "Praying Mantis" for obvious reasons, and it's technically called a reverse trike, also for obvious reasons. Now, sure, there are many reverse trikes you can readily purchase from Can-Ams to the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! so it's not exactly a new concept. When I talked to one of the students, Alex IForgotHisName (he readily admitted that it's a bit long and complicated to remember), he also admitted that no new ground is being broken here. Rather than trying to demonstrate new groundbreaking engineering techniques, it's meant to showcase and demonstrate a solid, grounded foundation of engineering principals the students should have learned throughout the school year and carry that with them to the practical world where they will have opportunity to work on groundbreaking designs.

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One unique feature this trike does have is its double-A frame front suspension, designed to accommodate a wide range of shock and camber combinations (including slightly toe-out, as it was set to when these Android Potato images were taken).

The base frame, along with the tank and other major automotive components come from a Yamaha 600cc-class bike bought from a private listing. The engine showed evidence of having been laid down hard sometime in the past - which makes sense, as these students weren't looking for a Concours-quality bike anyway and could effect major engine repairs themselves. Alex told me that they actually thought of possibly doing a FWD reverse trike (actually, more like a true three-wheel car like a Morgan at that point) borrowing heavily from automotive components instead of salvaging a bike. Despite the expected torque steer, such a configuration would allow for more power to be put onto the road with double the contact patch (actually close to quadruple depending on the tires used, like on the current setup). Unfortunately they ran into time constraints and an inability to reach a consensus on how to handle the complexity of the A-frame suspension while running CV joints. Maybe next year.

The design at least suggests growth potential, including maybe for a larger auto-sourced engine. You're probably wondering how they're going to protect the relocated radiator like that - they were fabricating the fiberglass front bumper in the shop at the time.

You can actually see the fiberglass bumper being worked on with Green Hoodie doing the final shaping (sorry, he was a bit too busy for me to catch is name). Also note how long the drive chain had to be extended by (another argument for considering a FWD configuration. For the next graduating class to consider, I guess.)

Yeah, maybe it's not the most unique reverse trike in the world, but it's an interesting final project nonetheless. Certainly better than yours! ( buuuuuuuurrrrrn! ) It'll be interesting to see how it comes out with the bumpers and final fabrication put into place. A Jalopnik test drive? I've got the license endorsements for it but I doubt they'll let me take it for a spin. Maybe with just the right amount of convincing....

yamahog > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 05/12/2014 at 11:03

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Neat! But "cooler than yours?" Not until they get to run it in one of the only 5x7 foot wind tunnels in the country ;)

Milky > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 05/12/2014 at 11:46

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My project from the fall semester …

And I'm bringing my scooter design to production as an intern currently. But I can't show pics of that yet.

tromoly > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 05/12/2014 at 12:02

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Those shock towers scare me a little. And REIB (Rod Ends In Bending) on the a-arms? Don't let Pat Clarke see this!

SPNKiX > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 05/17/2014 at 18:50

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it's def cool but I'm not sure it's cooler than mine.

gffhnv > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 05/17/2014 at 18:54

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Not. Even. Close. (courtesy of Global Formula Racing ) BTW they just finished FSAE Michigan

Thatoneguy > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 05/18/2014 at 12:24

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Ya man, you have to know that there are plenty of FSAE guys on here that will rip the engineering in this thing apart. My favorite, look at the upper mounting for the dampers, what is going on with the tube lengths? Also, load paths people, load paths.....