I had a great trip to RISD Tuesday, both the drive there and very invigorating discussions about both the ‘POD and the Electrathon car class  that Michael Beresford invited me to participate in!

After a reschedule to to rain the previous Thursday,  Tuesday dawned overcast but dry.  I had decided on a very back-road route through south central Massachusetts, northwest Connecticut, the eastern side of Rhode Island.  The ‘POD worked like it was supposed to, with added luxury provided by finally having all the windows in!  I could block off the cold 40-something morning air!  A Stop in Palmer, MA filled up the tank ($8.06) and I was on my way.  Part of my route was on MA-20 through the towns of Brimfield and Sturbridge and the path of this summer’s tornado that touched down in springfield.  I was amazed by the devastation right down the road from where I live.  The route then took me through Southbridge, an interesting good sized mill town that I had not heard of, then on to Woodstock and Putnam CT before crossing  into   Rhode Island on CT-44 at Gloucester.  After a brief episode in north Providence and GPS glitch, I was there!

After a chance meeting with Dick Gilbane on Water St (he was out for a morning row) who knew of my brother Sam I moved the ‘POD to the ID building Parking lot.  The fun then began…the students had questions and incredible energy, I took off covers and showed the “guts” of the ‘POD!.  It is really great when the discussion so focused and relevant!  Professor Michael Beresford used the ‘POD to highlight many design issues that his students were having with their Electrathon car project.  After a tasty Thai-food lunch (Mr Beresford’s treat!) it was off to the studio for discussions about the Electrathon project.  What can I say,  It is really great to get out of my back-woods shop and discuss design and engineering with such a passionate group!   when Michael mentioned that he need to go to his Studio across town to get a wheel for the students, I offered to chauffeur him there and back in the ‘POD.   I got to see his progress on all kinds of neat sculpture projects and the old Saab 96 that he is converting to battery power.  We made plans for me to hopefully come and see how the Electrathon project is making out in a few weeks.

The Drive back was just as fun as the way back, though driving at night in the tiny ‘POD can be a little intimidating.  All in all a Great trip!  Thanks to Everybody at RISD that came and saw and talked!

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I am showing the ROOPOD at my Alma mater Rhode Island School of Design tomorrow!

I will be outside the Industrial Design Building on Water Street with the ROOPOD from 11:00am to 1:00pm if you are in town please come see the ‘POD and ask any questions you might have!

Here is a Google map of the area:  if you need to you could get ddirectiond to here with the map link…

“>View Larger Map

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      We left at about 11:00am from Plymouth caravan style planning on a route comprised of mostly back roads and small towns.  As this was a race for fuel efficiency we wanted all the cars to have the same route, speed and real world driving conditions.  Somehow I was elected to lead our caravan with my gps skills (HA HA HA) and the others would follow each of us keeping the next one back in our mirror…unfortunately, Jory Squibb with Moonbeam was last in the que, and also meant to go slower than the rest of us…result we lost him about 30 miles in.  And then I navigated us onto a section of MA-25 that I did not notice was a divided highway till it was too late…Poor Jory in tiny Moonbeam was forced into 6 harrowing miles on 25 (his top speed is about 40 max) and he was about done with the likes of the rest of us after that!  He did have a good 40 miles or so to compute his mileage for the race.  He trailered up and became our film crew for a bit, and then took off to meet us in Boston. 

      The rest of us set out on a very nice stretch of MA-58 going through the towns of Plympton and Carver among others.  As the day wore on and we approached Boston, Our route was turning into that terrible kind of 4-lane road populated with car dealerships and discount flooring outfits going out of business.  We Decided it was time to get on the interstate and for the last 30 or so miles we plied the sometimes stop and go RT-3 and I-93.  Then we were off the highway at the Government Center exit and just a few turns till we were at the finish at City Hall. 

     We ended up going about 95 miles and had pretty rough traffic for some of it…in other words realistic mileage conditions for most people.  I was able to achieve 78MPG in the ROOPOD   Bill Buchholz in Dirigo eeked out 85MPG and George Voll in his dieselized Geo  Metro got 89!   Moonbeam’s mileage was 72 mpg for his 40 miles.

        Why didn’t ROOPOD  win- I was half the weight of Dirigo and the Metro, and have a much smaller frontal aerodynamic area?…My first guess is my drivetrain, I am thinking that my gear ratio in my chain final drive is too low…I think that the ‘POD’s motor was reving more than it needed to to move along the road…the fix?   I will make a smaller rear sprocket which will give me a higher gear.  I hope it works.  After the Race, We displayed our cars at the Boston Greenfest ( www.bostongreenfest.org ) and gave the public a chance to see what some determined Guys working in their garages could do.  After two long days of scorching sun and one very wild thunderstorm complete with hail we headed home.  my trip home on RT-2 was uneventful and not much different than if I did it in a heavy car!

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Stewart Systems has donated a complete finishing kit for the ROOPOD!  The finish is an amazing ceramic like coating that will be applied to the bare aluminium directly (just wipe on) and will be tougher than anodizing, very easy to apply and emits no bad VOC’s in the process (plus it will take just about 8oz to do the whole ‘pod!  I will post pictures and how when I start to finish! (a little more bodywork to do before finishing)   Thanks STEWART SYSTEMS!

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The ROOPOD in Shutesbury's 250th Annual Parade

here is the link from this picture: note that ROOPOD is Diesel, not Electric!

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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/sports/17green.html

http://www.boston.com/sports/other_sports/autoracing/articles/2011/04/15/watkins_glen_greener_than_ever/

This story was all over the place!  we had a great time, the ‘pod did great and we can’t wait to finish every detail!

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