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Environmental Concerns |
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A
chief pleasure of snowmobiling is the contact with the wilderness
that it enables. Without this activity, many people would see much
less of nature during the cold winter months when snow covers the
ground. We believe that enjoyment of the outdoors is vital in developing
a respect for wild areas. Snowmobiling impacts these wild areas
by producing excessive noise and excessive pollution in the form
of both exhaust gasses and unburned fuel and oil. The air pollution
is a problem because it contributes to smog. Noise pollution not
only damages hearing in humans and disrupts wildlife, but also disturbs
the peace for many trail abutters and property owners, people who
control access to the land which riders of snowmobiles enjoy. Environmentally
friendly snowmobiles will help alleviate the concerns of nature
lovers while allowing the enthusiasts to continue their enjoyment
of the sport. |
| Competition |
The
ultimate goal of this project is success at the SAE sanctioned competition
held in March of 2004. Hosted by Michigan Technological University,
it will be attended by approximately 250 students comprising 20
university teams. This area of Michigan is known to be fanatical
about snowmobiling and brings a lot of excitement to the competition.
Each team will compete in a range of tests, some of which like the
sound test, must meet a set level of performance in order to score.
Others, like the acceleration test, are scored relative to the best
performance. The team with the most points at the end of the competition
is declared the overall winner. Awards are also given for best performance
in each individual test. The tests performed include:
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Extensive emissions testing.
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A
fuel economy test wherein teams are given a fixed amount of
fuel and expected to travel 100 miles as fast as possible.
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An
acceleration test, during which the noise test is also performed.
- A
performance and handling test performed in a snow-cross style
on a professionally prepared course.
- Overall
design feasibility and design quality judging.
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| Engineering
& Interest |
As
mechanical engineers, we have always had a fascination with machines,
particularly fast ones that are fun to ride. Now that we have all
spent long hours learning the principles needed to understand what
goes into the design of these machines, we’re thrilled with
the opportunity to put these principles to use by improving on what
is available. We understand that people snowmobile because its fun;
that’s why we do it. We are not setting out to produce a clean
sled by merely compromising performance, but to produce a high performance
machine to show that clean and quiet don’t have to mean “boring”. |
| Academic
Connection |
This
project is accompanied by a yearlong course in which we design,
build and test a prototype system. It fulfills a degree requirement
of the Mechanical Engineering curriculum known as the Senior Design
Project. Throughout the year we produce reports detailing our progress
along with a final report for the class and a design report for
the competition. A faculty advisor will be available to guides us,
though we will complete the project for the most part independently.
We will have the support of the engineering professors and their
years of experience, along with friends of the university in
industry. |
Go
to Official SAE Clean Snowmobile Website
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