Category: Construction Progress

It’s been way too long, but I am still actively working on the Roopod so much to show and tell the biggest event was the work done by a intersession class at Amherst College on Social Entrepreneurship led by professor Megan Briggs-Lyster, they came up with a marketing plan to use the Roopod project to leverage awareness and education about sustainable transportation.  I will post more details shortly.  But for now a great big thank you to the team for all the hard work and great ideas!

Check out the sheet metal…

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Here are some pictures of the begining of the canopy…The hinges and gas struts are designed to clear everything that needed to be cleared when it opens, and hold it there…I might have to get the next weaker gas struts as these ones seem like they have more push then I really wanted (it pops open with too much force) it will be alot heavier with all the glass and lexan, but still I think that the are too “pushy”…It was Very Scary cutting the tubes with a hacksaw!

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Hey everybody! the roopod is street legal check out the pics! check out the video

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I am just a couple of days away from trying to get the ‘pod inspected…just need a rear fender and a few reflectors…but we may have tried it on the road, and we may have gone 48.2 MPH! (slight downhill) more soon, this is just a teaser…there are so many back-posts to put in…very soon…roo

Here was the next item on the list towards roadworthiness…just a couple of simple levers right? not quite, I have three days into the design and construction of this unit.   The hardest thing to figure out was the Push-pull cable arrangement of the two shift cables…how can you get two cables in tension to push and pull on the same lever, and since the lever on the gearbox is pointing to the rear when it is in forward gear, how do you get the shifter to have the reverse action…that is probably a run on!  Anyway, it is possible, it does work and I will try to explain it…It is all about the cable “housing” if the cable is in tension and pulling, then the little tube around the cable (housing) must be pushing! and if you push on the housing, then you are pulling on the cable, so at the shifter end, on one cable, I anchor the end of the cable and push on the housing, and the other end I anchor the end of the housing  and pull the lever with the cable anchored on it: this moves  the lever on the gearbox forward when I pull back on the shift lever.   The other cable is the opposite… If you did not get this explanation, don’t feel bad, I did all my thinking and still I hooked it all up backwards the first time!  It does make for a nice and compact, simple way to move the lever on the gearbox with a cable pulling on it from each side. The Brake lever is much more “conventional” with just a ratchet and a regular bike brake cable, then for both levers, they have a cam on the bottom to activate a micro switch…one for Parking brake idiot light, and the other for the backup light…I will try to put up a video of it working.  for now look at the captions on the pictures for more notes…

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Hi everyone, well it is official ROOPOD will actually drive.  I have been working like a demon on getting everything ready to drive and we are here!

I will try to list some of my most critical observations:

 Suspension is working great, ride height is a little low for the rough roads around here, and my driveway but I will fix that with some slightly taller shocks in the back.

Brakes are doing what they should (as far as I can tell in the yard!) I may need to adjust the balance bar a bit to keep the back from locking up first…the real test will have to wait till I can get some speed up on the road.

Steering seems just perfect, I seem to have got the steering geometry just right, the wheel feels lite in the hands, but not sloppy at all, center return is good and there is no play or stiction anywhere= fancy rack payed off! again we  need high speed testing.

Drive-train:

Engine runs fine, is just about as vibratory as I thought it would be, and maybe a little less loud seems good about not belching much black smoke when under heavy acceleration.

CVT seems to be just right, enguages just above idle as it should and shifts as it should, hopefully it will work as well at higher speeds. actually there seems to be all the torque I need at the low and and I am thinking of putting a bit taller final drive in which could possibly make for a better top speed…hope to try soon.

Reverse Transmission seems to to what is should, I am skeptical of how robust it is going to be , and I hate how wimpy the plastic shift lever is on it…hope it does not break…right now it is held in gear with a zip tie…working on the shifter today actually. (this item is my most worrisome, if it is not up to the job, there will be big back to the drawing board time)

Rear wheel sprocket mounted to the wheel lugs is handeling the torque fine. and would love to figure out a toothed belt for the final drive, but the chain is fine for now…

Fuel system: works in it’s abbreviated form, but soon will have a heated fuel tank and heated fuel filter to run Vegetable oil. also a 1 gal diesel tank for starting on. I will be using the solenoid valves and fuel level senders that greasecar has given me, but I am going to make my own heated filter that is smaller and lighter.  I also have to make the heat exchanger for the the fuel tank.

electrical system is just barely hooked up, but that soon will change, I am getting all the stuff I need to hook up all the lights and accessories.  I will have to make my own self canceling turn signal switch. other switches will be toggles on the dashboard.

I am lights and fenders away from being inspectable for the road, and I can’t wait!  it may take a couple weeks to get there, but soon!

look at the pictures, I will try to caption the pictures if I am trying to show you anything particular…

and here is the video from the first drive!



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Here are some more pictures of the ‘pod in it’s current state taken by my friend Ford Bailey it’s amazing what a real photographer with a real camera can do! enjoy…

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My apologies, I was so crazed trying to get ready for the OGC that I neglected regular posts for a couple weeks there, and now this post is going to be big….again sorry…

First, the pictures:

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these pictures include pictures of construction progress leading up to the OGC and pictures at the start of the OGC in Greefield, MA, and Pictures at the finish in Boston, MA, and some pictures out in the yard yesterday. here are some links to press coverage as well

http://www.necn.com/Boston/SciTech/2009/08/20/Drivers-take-on-One-Gallon/1250806914.html

http://green.autoblog.com/2009/08/24/one-gallon-challenge-alt-fuel-race-cars-get-up-to-164-mpge/

this is the report by Jory Squib that is on the autoblog green sight:

This weekend’s One Gallon Challenge in Massachusetts resulted in some pretty amazing fuel economy results. The five vehicles that took part in the race challenge (any line of of cars that starts “in stately, fuel-conserving style” can’t really be called a race, can it?) made the 100-mile drive into Boston and posted fuel efficiency results as follows:

• MIT’s all-electric Porsche – 164 MPGe (plug-to-wheels) or 75MPGe (well-to-wheels)
• Moonbeam – 93 MPGe
• Dirigo – 88 MPGe
• Ricker Truck – 70 MPGe
• Wood-burning truck – 27.7 MPGe

OGC organizer Jory Squibb said the vehicles helped show solutions for “our complex evolution to ultra-economy” and promised to hold the event again next year. Fun fact of the trip: the MIT Porsche recharged at a 220V outlet at a local Ford dealer.

Ten!…Nine!….Eight!….the spectators shouted the count-down until Nancy Hazard dropped the checkered flag in front of six unusual cars. Without the screech of tires, the One Gallon Challenge began in stately, fuel-conserving style, as each car set out to drive the 100 mile trip from Greenfield to Boston on one gallon of fuel.

As the cars pulled into the Greenfest festival in downtown Boston later that afternoon, after blisteringly hot weather and many adventures, each had proven some aspect of our complex evolution to ultra-economy.

Dirigo–a sleek diesel 3 wheeler clocked in at 88MPGe with a running cost of 2.9 cents per mile–showed the importance of good aerodynamics. This car had not only driven the 100 mile segment without back-up, but also driven the 450 mile round-trip from Maine. With a sigh, Bill Buchholz finally pointed the hood North.

Ricker Truck, also 900cc diesel-powered, clocked in at 70 MPGe and showed the advantages of using laminated foam construction for safety and light weight. This car was finished only hours before the race.

The wood-gas powered truck from 21st Century Motor Works breezed in at 27.7 MPG, showing the viability of using a local, carbon-sequestering fuel source: ordinary cord wood.

MIT’s electric vehicle team drove their lithium Porche in at an amazing 164 MPGe (plug-to-wheels) and 75MPGe (wells-to-wheels) Once our electricity grid becomes more earth-friendly, this technology may lead all others. Many spectators, used to lead-acid technology, were awed as these students drove their Porche, with 15 automotive-sized batteries, from Cambridge to Greenfield on a single charge, then charged up with 220v at the Ford dealership, and merrily drove back home. Without a doubt, the miracle battery we all dreamed of decades ago has arrived.

The Roopod, poster-child of the event, was not quite drivable at race time, but was on display both in Greenfield and in Boston. This ultra sleek and light, 14 HP diesel-powered wonder will be a car to be reckoned with next year.

Dripping with sweat, Jory Squibb drove his gas-powered three-wheel Moonbeam across the line at 93 MPGe and 2.7 cents per mile cost. Built as a grocery-getter, it had never been driven far from Camden, Maine; but finished the race without incident, blasting its heater to keep the engine cool in the 90 degree heat.

Though they were weary after interacting with the thousands of attendees of the two-day Greenfest, all participants agreed to return next year with new developments and face an even larger field of next-generation transportation.