Air Car science project, not Q related but cool!

[qsiguy]

My son in 5th grade wanted to do his science project on using air power to run a vehicle so one thing led to another and this was the end result. Ran the expenses through my mileage research company, MPG Solutions. With a little more refinement you could get some decent range and speed from it. This one turned out a little on the heavy side but it works and is quite fun anyway. Taken about 4 weekends to get this done. The sound is really distinctive, sounds like a train cruising down the street, really draws looks from the neighbors.

He better win the science fair!

Here's a couple videos, first has build photos and some test videos.

This video has all the road testing.

And a couple photos.







and here's what you do with the scrap bike parts after you cut them up!

[maxnix]

That's cooler than even your turbo.

So did your son weld up your turbo tubes too?

[Mopar]

It's so FUN!!!!! I want one too.

One question tho, isn't that thing heavy? did you think about using lighter material instead of metal?

Nice job! your kid looks/talks like a future scientist

[qsiguy]

Ya, I said earlier it was heavy. Aluminum would be nice but I don't have the equipment to weld it at the moment. Made due with what we had at the time.

I have a feeling this won't be the last model in our air car linup!

[Denver90Q]

Cool but someone beat you to it. Hard to compete with China and India.

http://www.theaircar.com/MiniCats.html

[qsiguy]

Seen that one before. Pretty cool but totally different design. I need to get my hands on one of their air motors. That would be fun to play with.

[maxnix]

Twin aluminum scuba tanks next time.

[qsiguy]

Twin aluminum scuba tanks next time.

I agree, or something similar. I was already checking out some little aluminum welding tanks a friend has. Pretty light and hold around 2k PSI. I'm curious what range I could squeez out of this thing with one or two of those tanks.

I wonder how the volume of air compares for a small tank with high pressure vs. a larger tank with lower pressure. Anyone have conversion formulas to figure that out? I can't use anything higher than 110-120 at the actuator but it has to be a decent volume of air when compressed to 2k psi.

...Maybe I should submit it for ROTM!
Modified by qsiguy at 10:40 PM 2/4/2008

[Denver90Q]

Not sure if totally linear, but the air car holds about 90 cubic meters at 300 bar and will go about 100 miles. 300 bar is about like suba's and 300 atm. You might be at 20 bar if your lucky and you would loose alot of efficiency dialing it down. The nice thing about their engine is that it will run on most any fuel source when not running on air.

[bullittandy]

Way to go! Especially having the boy weld up the frame-thats the kind of good stuff that that comes back in 25 years when you get to see what kind of father you created.

When I was in the fifth grade I made "Totem Poles" for a history project out of some big wooden dowel using a skill saw and a belt sander-none of my teachers believed me when I told 'em I made them and not my dad.

Thanks for that memory.

[maxnix]

...Maybe I should submit it for ROTM!

For sure.

[sijoko]

This is really fun. I wish I could have done stuff like this when I was young. Props for being a super cool Dad for your kids.

[RAP]

[QUOTE=Denver90Q]Cool but someone beat you to it. Hard to compete with China and India.

http://www.theaircar.com/MiniCats.html[/QUO

Another "option" which doesn't state the whole story about the energy source. What is the energy source and how much pollution is generated providing the air power to this "pollution free" car ? ? ? Compressing the "air" needs a "compressor" which is powered by ? ? ? windmills? Doubtful. Compressing the air for this car is by a self contained compressor which plugs into a electric power source, or, an outside source furnishes the compressed air. How much coal or fossil fuels are burned to provide the electric power is what needs to be considered when stating that anything manufactured is "pollution free".

A "cute" automobile to be sure but who would be bothered with something that will only achieve some 90 miles. Nobody much cares for the electric cars available now. Except golf carts of course.

Not intended to distract from the kids achievement because anytime anyone can get any kid involved in any project that is constructive is a worthwhile endeavor as opposed to what many kids do today.

Jack

[Haitian_King]

Wow. I wish my dad had built mechanical things with me. He taught me how to read at 3 and built computers for me.

The only thing we've built to together are computers. And a great reputation.

Glad to see that sort of bonding qsiguy.

[qsiguy]

You are absolutely right Jack. One of the bits of data we indent to check is the power used by my air compressor during fill up. Something in actual production and daily use like that production aircar, really needs to address that issue. From a cost standpoint for the end user, the electricity used to fill the vehicle is much less then the gasoline would cost to drive that distance. That, of course, doesn't address the issue of the pollution made to produce that energy.

Actually tho, if you really broke it down I believe that gasoline would still be much worse than an air or electric vehicle. In a gasoline vehicle there is energy and pollution made/caused to make the fuel and also pollution caused using it. In an electric or air vehicle the only pollution produced is from generating the electricity and no pollution produced in using that power. I'm not sure how the production of gasoline compares to generating electricity. There sure is a lot to consider when you are trying to determine how "green" or efficient something is.

Another advantage to air or electric vehicles is that, like you mentioned, you can use renewable sources to produce it like wind, solar, etc.

Hopefully, getting the kids to start working on this stuff now they will come up with some great solutions for the future!

[qsiguy]

The science fair ended today and he got first place! It was definitely the star of the show.

Now he qualifies to go to regionals with it.

[Haitian_King]

Sweet! Great job. Gonna let him take the Q for a spin as a reward?

[louiegz]

That's Impressive! Your kid is a chip off the old block. Keep up the good work.

[gammer_ghn]

i wish your son the best of luck!!! damn i wish my dad had this much pride and faith in me lol.

[Jesda]

DAMN. Your son rocks!

[ddrumman]

Shane,

Congrats, you must be beaming with pride. He'll probably keep the Q and build his own turbo for it.

[Woot!]

I have never seen anything so cool in my life (besides the Q )! Why don't you post this in General Chat?

[qsiguy]

I suppose I should, I just only ever come here (this is where my shortcut takes me) and I only know you guys. Only other forum I hit is the VH forum.

[russg1942]

Great project. Looking to use similar approach for project at UCF.

Interested in what parts you used for the pneumatic cylinder (actuator) and control valve. Looks like a double ended cylinder with long stroke, where can I get one like it?

[qsiguy]

There are a few manufacturers around. I have a bunch of various sizes still. I believe most of them are made by Bimba. Grainger sells pneumatic actuators and I've seen them on e-bay for pretty cheap. I can sell you one if you want, just let me know what size you are looking for. I used the longest stroke one I had that was fairly small diameter for efficiency. A larger diameter actuator will produce more torque but will use more air.

If you have some specific tech questions you can also just email me direct if you want. The valves and solenoids are pretty common and simple. The electronics are fairly simple but might be difficult to understand if you are not good with electronics or know how to read a schematic.

Let me know what you are working on, I'd love to see what you've come up with. My pet project has been my alternative energy/fuel business http://www.mpgsolutions.org so I get really excited about this stuff.