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| 2015 Triton Racing Team |
The competition included a number of events. On Friday, the team competed in the Skid Pad, Acceleration and Autocross events.
“We had a mechanical failure on Friday that set us back,” said Natalie Fenaroli, one of the car’s two drivers. “The right front hub sheered – or rather, the wheel came off. I got a lot of jokes about women drivers.”
The part that broke wasn’t one that the team had on hand in their stash of spare parts since they had machined it themselves. Luckily, the students were able to network with other teams and in doing so, got in contact with Speedway Motors, a local company with a machine shop.
“Speedway Motors helped us design and manufacture a replacement part,” said Fenaroli. “In addition, a student from the University of Nebraska stayed up all night to help us complete the welding. We included stickers from both Speedway Motors and the University of Nebraska on the car for the following day’s competition.”
After putting the wheel back on, the team was prepared to compete in the Endurance event on Saturday.
“I completed something like seven laps before we changed drivers,” said Fenaroli. “I could smell metal burning, but the driver change happened so fast that I didn’t have time to warn the second driver.”
The result? The same wheel came off, preventing the team from finishing the Endurance leg of the competition. The team learned a lot, says Fenaroli, about design processes.
“We didn’t account for forces as a result of play in the bearings,” said Fenaroli. “Basically, there was room between the hub of the wheel and the bearing – meaning that we need to invest in more tolerant bearings!”
Overall, the team worked really well together, said Fenaroli.
Triton Racing placed 9thin the Business Presentation and 2nd in Efficiency, earning them a trophy for the first time.
Watch the wrap up video here:
For more on this year's car, click here.
Watch the wrap up video here:
Triton Racing FSAE Lincoln Nebraska 2015
PLEASE WATCH IN HD!UC San Diego Triton Racing gives students hands-on experience in engineering, project management, and marketing by developing cutting-edge gasoline and electric race cars. Visit us at sae.ucsd.edu to learn more and to find out how you can participate.This summer, the team traveled to Lincoln, Nebraska to compete against 100 teams from around the world. The team took the international stage by storm leading to a 2nd place finish in fuel efficiency and a top 25 finish overall.Shot and edited by: Keita Funakawa (www.FKFilms.com)Special thanks to:Spark Aerial&Yaseen Kady
Posted by Triton Racing on Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Documentary
Since the 2015 race car is so unique, Triton Racing decided to film a documentary that follows the production of the car from start to finish. The documentary is being filmed by UC San Diego student Keita Funakawa. Stay tuned for news of it's release! In the meantime, check out this trailer:
Competition is less than a day away, here's a trailer for our upcoming documentary! Huge thanks to @keitawf
Posted by Triton Racing on Tuesday, June 16, 2015