News
Welcome to the 2009 McMaster Moonbuggy Team Website!
Contact Us: mcmastermoonbuggy@gmail.com
***
The Moonbuggy Team returns home.
After many months of design and manufacturing, we made our trip down to Huntsville, Alabama. Although our buggy turned out to be an impressive machine, we fell short of a winning buggy by a single significant flaw. The forces of side loading transmitted from the wheels along though the steering were underestimated and the heavy impacts of the course were just too intense to hold the wheels steady.
During the first race, our buggy travelled over the simulated moon surface with high impacts. The steering was unstable and our front right bicycle wheel took a major side load, which it was not designed for, causing it to crumple.
We then fixed up the minor kinks in the buggy and replaced the front rim to get it ready for day 2. Unfortunately, once again, the forces transmitted were too strong and the same right wheel buckled under the weight of the buggy.
Since we had a few set backs in the final stages of manufacturing, we were assembling our buggy right up until the night before the race. Adequate testing time which we did not have would have made us aware of this problem. Had we been able to make some changes to our steering to provide the driver with more mechanical advantage, along with more durable rims, there may have been a very different outcome in Huntsville.
The photos page has been updated with photos of the assembly leading up to our departure to Huntsville, as well as updates to the competition page which now has photos of our Huntsville adventure along with a link to a Daily Planet segment featuring the Canadian Moonbuggy Teams.
The McMaster Moonbuggy Team would like to thank all of the people who made this project possible.
Thank you to our sponsors who gave us all of the funding and material we needed to fuel our creativity. Please visit their websites through the links to the right.
Thank you to our advisor Dr. Tim Nye who met with us on a weekly basis and made sure we stayed on track, as well as to guide us with his extensive mechanical engineering knowledge.
Thank you to the JHE second floor shop technicians Mark, Jim, JP and Ron who helped us along day after day during our manufacturing process. An especially large amount of gratitude goes out to Mark for always being ready to TIG weld our aluminum parts and staying late after hours on our last shop day to make sure we were able to complete all of our machining. Thank you Mark!
Thank you to Tracy at the Huntsville Center for Technology for allowing us access to their machine shop giving us a dry place to assemble our moonbuggy during a severe Alabama storm and tornado warning.
Also we would like to thank the Cameron University Moonbuggy Team who offered their spare wheel when they saw that our wheel had buckled. Unfortunately, we were unable to implement their wheel to our design without extensive machining.
The Moonbuggy Team would also like to thank their own Tabitha Johnson for driving the team and the moonbuggy packed into a small minivan all the way to Huntsville and back. Not only did she spend about 28 hours driving a minivan, she also had to drive the moonbuggy in Huntsville. Thanks for the safe trip Tab!
That is all from this year's McMaster Moonbuggy Team "Red Rover Mk II". We've had a long ride with ups and downs, but overall, a great experience. We hope that the McMaster Moonbuggy Team lives on in the years to come as all of this year's members are graduating. We will use the extensive knowledge gained in teamwork and problem solving and apply these new skills to our challenges in the workforce. The skills we have learned could not have been taught in any classroom.
Good luck Red Rover Mk III; bring it home to McMaster!
April 8, 2009
***
We are down to only 4 shop days left and we are really starting to feel the pressure. Tomorrow we will be presenting our moonbuggy design as a 4th year final project. In terms of what is left that needs to be done, we have the following:
- Drive shaft assembly
- Steering housing welding
- Derailleur and hub gear mounting
- Seat manufacture, assembly and installation
- Fender
manufacture and installation
- Rear chain-cog reversal system implented
Check out the Red Rover Design page for updated renders of the current model. More cadding is to come!
March 24, 2009
***
Only 9 more shop days left to work on Red Rover Mk II, it is crunch time.
Thank you again to beach road for supplying us with more material, we wouldn't have a drive shaft without you.
The A-Arms and shocks are mounted to the frame, the Drive shaft is almost complete, the steering linkage components are being machined and the seats are being designed. Check back soon for photo updates.
March 18, 2009
***
We have finished our shock analysis and decided on the shock to be used for
for Red Rover Mk II. Thank you to Tsunami Bikes for supplying us with four shocks that are perfect for our buggy. We can't wait to see them in action.
March 8, 2009
***
Our bike part shipment has arrived! Time to start assembling.
March 4, 2009
***
Another helping hand for the moonbuggy team thanks to Beta Plastics, Thank You!
Also, thank you to MACycle for helping us out with our bike part needs. We look forward to getting our part shipment.
March 1, 2009
***
A big thank you to the McMaster Alumni Association for their generous contribution to our team!
Our next steps are to continue welding as well as ordering in our stock bike parts.
February 23, 2009
***
Reading Week has finished up and we have made some good progress. The crank arms have been cut and welded and the a-arms have been cut. The u-joints have been purchased and machining keyholes has begun. Also we have tested a few different shocks to see which one would be best for our purposes. Thanks to Tsunami Bikes for the samples. Check out the photos page.
February 21, 2009
***
We are now on Reading Week, so this is the time to put many long hours into the Moonbuggy. The bare bones of the frame have been welded and progress on the crank arms and a-arms are to be made this week.
A big thank you to Service Filtration of Canada and Tsunami Bikes for their generous donations to our team.
February 15, 2009
***
The Majority of the cuts for the frame on the 8ft peices of mild steel were made. The welding template has been made and welding can begin.
February 3, 2009
***
Beachroad has generously donated 84 ft of mild steel. Thank you Beachroad!
Construction of the frame is to begin this week.
January 31, 2009
***
The 2009 Red Rover Site has been launched!
January 27, 2009