FSAE Accumulator Handcart
As a part of the FSAE Electric Racing team at UC Irvine, I worked as a mechanical engineer for the batteries subteam. One other mechanical engineering student and I were responsible for designing and modeling a specialized accumulator handcart that would be used to transport the accumulator within the accumulator container around construction and competition sites in an efficient and safe manner.
The handcart design had to follow specific FSAE requirements: a dead man’s braking mechanism and a transmission jack lift. The inclusion of the transmission jack lift allows for the accumulator to be lifted into the vehicle chassis with ease, thus streamlining the integration process. The incorporation of a dead man’s style braking mechanism prevents the occurrence of any unsafe situations, such as a runaway handcart, that could potentially damage the accumulator, or worse, harm people present on-site. Without sufficient design, the accumulator handcart may not be able to perform its various operations efficiently making the transportation and integration process unnecessarily difficult and potentially dangerous.
I was personally responsible for designing and modeling the handcart’s braking mechanism which uses an integrated spring for braking when the brake is not activated. Thus, the brake is released only when the operator engages a lever by hand. The engineering design process was used. This began with initially conducting in-depth research into the various types of braking mechanisms available, such as tread brakes and drum brakes. From there I was able to estimate the level of difficulty required to convert them into dead man’s braking mechanisms as well as consider implementation of the brake onto rigid or swivel caster wheels. Next, I generated engineering drawings of various design concepts and consulted with the other members of the battery subteam. The optimal design concept was determined to be the tread brake integrated onto a rigid caster wheel as it was the most simple and reliable. In an effort to minimize costs, this design utilized as many components as possible from last year's unfinished handcart construction. Once a concept was selected a detailed CAD model of the braking mechanism was constructed in Solidworks and later integrated onto the model of the handcart. Next, a plan of manufacture was generated as well as a bill of materials. Fabrication of the handcart was completed during the pandemic which I was able to assist with remotely.
The handcart design had to follow specific FSAE requirements: a dead man’s braking mechanism and a transmission jack lift. The inclusion of the transmission jack lift allows for the accumulator to be lifted into the vehicle chassis with ease, thus streamlining the integration process. The incorporation of a dead man’s style braking mechanism prevents the occurrence of any unsafe situations, such as a runaway handcart, that could potentially damage the accumulator, or worse, harm people present on-site. Without sufficient design, the accumulator handcart may not be able to perform its various operations efficiently making the transportation and integration process unnecessarily difficult and potentially dangerous.
I was personally responsible for designing and modeling the handcart’s braking mechanism which uses an integrated spring for braking when the brake is not activated. Thus, the brake is released only when the operator engages a lever by hand. The engineering design process was used. This began with initially conducting in-depth research into the various types of braking mechanisms available, such as tread brakes and drum brakes. From there I was able to estimate the level of difficulty required to convert them into dead man’s braking mechanisms as well as consider implementation of the brake onto rigid or swivel caster wheels. Next, I generated engineering drawings of various design concepts and consulted with the other members of the battery subteam. The optimal design concept was determined to be the tread brake integrated onto a rigid caster wheel as it was the most simple and reliable. In an effort to minimize costs, this design utilized as many components as possible from last year's unfinished handcart construction. Once a concept was selected a detailed CAD model of the braking mechanism was constructed in Solidworks and later integrated onto the model of the handcart. Next, a plan of manufacture was generated as well as a bill of materials. Fabrication of the handcart was completed during the pandemic which I was able to assist with remotely.
