CO2 Racer

Grant Campbell
Nolan Slagle

The Challenge
design and build a car out of a block of wood
to be powered by a single CO2 cartridge. The
goal is to be the fastest car that is still
legal.

The Rules
To keep the car legal, specifications were
put in place for minimal length, regulated
wheel placement, and minimum thickness. We
counld make a thin casing around the CO2 and
attach wheels to it.

Early Design and Inspiration

Original sketches ranged from a car that was
encased in a shell of wood to cars that were as
thin as possible. We ended up settling on a
aerodynamic car inspired by the F1 series of
race cars.

Schematics

Inventor Drawing
The design was
changed slightly due
to software
limitations, but the
first draft of the car
was completed.

3-D Models and Assembly

Assembly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggHeCWO
S2iM
3-D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ni_k6YD
dqwE

Inventor Testing
Using the wind tunnel program in Inventor, we
were able to see roughly an estimate of drag
that our car would experience.
Video of Car w/out wheelshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zTTumlm_Ow
With wheelshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyFGY9KJRL4

Additional Testing Images

Manufacturing Stage
We used a bandsaw, belt sander, drill press,
dremel, and a hand drill. For the most part,
the construction went without any issues,
however, the front left wheel well was
damaged while drilling.

The Finished Car

Refinement
Sadly, the wheels didnt freely rotate and
required some modifications. We drilled the
axle holes larger and used plastic straws to
hold the axle, fixing the problem.

Test Results
We ran two tests to measure both the
precision of the wheel placement, as well as
the overall aerodynamics. The first measured
deviation from a straight line down a hill, the
second was a wind tunnel.

Test Data
Wheel alignment:

Wind Tunnel

1 cm right
1 cm right
.5 cm right
1.5 cm left
Average Deviation was .25
cm to the right

.075N
.077N
.078N
Average Force of drag in a
10 m/s wind was .076
Newtons

Race Results and Speed

The average time in our race was 2.063
seconds and out average speed was 10.8 m/s.
We achieved 4th place out of 12 cars.

Videos of Races
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=za7yQEh45co
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1yM2iLrjsM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45P7NqSHXhk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nk8Vdc2Eeyg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHUZkG6kIZU

Reflection and Afterthoughts

Although our car performed well, there were certain flaws
in our designs. We did not take full advantage of the
minimum length and instead ended with a car that was
longer and heavier than competing cars. The rear axle was
also too short and proved to be unstable and incapable of
keeping the rear wheels straight.