The SMV Team has reached their first major milestone of this year. The wooden test chassis is officially rolling with the Steering Team’s front assembly design, featuring a camber/caster configuration, and rear wheel brackets in place. With donated parts from HB Performance Systems, the vehicle rolls effortlessly. Seeing it roll for the first time was an exciting moment for the team as they got to see their hard work starting to pay off. They even attracted the attention of the MSOE Formula Hybrid Team as they took a break from their work to come see our prototype in motion.

The Body Team has also put a lot of hard work in to finalize their design. The picture to the right shows Troy, our 1st string driver, sitting in the test chassis against a life-size projection of the body to make sure all the critical measurements are within tolerance. The vehicle will only stand about two feet high, so there is not much room for error! The Steering Team also measured Troy for a custom steering wheel to replace the mock wheel.

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To the right is the final body design of the 2010-2011 MSOE SuperMileage Vehicle. The CAD file has been sent to our sponsor Midwest Composite Technologies, Inc. where they will use large CNC machines to create the wooden molds that we use to create the carbon fiber shell.  This year’s body features a more streamlined shape and internally housed wheels.

There has been a lot of progress lately, but the there is still so much to do as the team continues to build. As our vehicle is starting to take shape, we’re getting more and more excited for competition.

Up next on the list of things to do: add the engine and brakes to our test chassis for a complete rolling, driving, and braking vehicle