Grand Valley Magazine - (Page 30)
SU STA I N AB I L IT Y
Changing gears:
Students build electric motorcycle
by Leah Twilley
A
fter successfully converting
a standard-combustion
1999 Subaru Outback into a
battery-powered vehicle last
year, students in the Alternative
Energy Club are turning their attention
to another form of transportation.
"After we finished working on the
Subaru, we thought it would be fun to
apply what we learned on the car to a
new project," said Dugan Karnazes, a
third-year electrical engineering student
from Grand Rapids. In the fall of 2013,
they decided it would be a motorcycle.
"With a car, you have a lot of space to
work with, but with a motorcycle, you
have less space to work with and all the
plans must be defined, so it's a good
challenge," he said.
Caitlyn Hurley, president of the
Alternative Energy Club, said everything
needed to be mapped out before the
motorcycle was purchased. "We had
to determine where to place the motor
controller, the battery, and other parts
and pieces," she said.
Student members majoring
in mechanical engineering took
measurements and created blueprints,
and students majoring in electrical
engineering helped design the
motorcycle's dashboard, which will
include a unique key card reader that
will start the motorcycle when swiped.
Included in the design plan is the
ability for the motorcycle battery to be
charged from a standard wall outlet.
Karnazes said the bike will be highway
legal, so it will go at least 55 mph and a
predicted upward speed of 80 mph.
Near the end of the fall semester, the
group completed a three-dimensional
model. They purchased a 1982
Honda CB 750 from Craigslist with
financial assistance from the School of
Engineering and a grant from the Grand
Valley Sustainability Reinvestment Fund.
Group members removed the engine
and other parts, so all that was left was
a frame. "We had to perform a stress
analysis to make sure the frame could
30
Spring '14
Alternative Energy
Club members meet on
Thursday nights to work
on their newest project,
converting a 32-year-old
motorcycle into one that
operates on a battery.
photos by Amanda Pitts
handle all forces that will be exerted,"
said Hurley, from Clinton Township.
Karnazes said these types of projects
give students the opportunity to apply
what they have learned in the classroom
to a real-life project. "These projects
also give entry-level engineering
students access to experiences they
wouldn't normally see until they take the
higher-level courses," he said.
The group plans to make the
instructions available to the public
when the motorcycle transformation
is complete. "The whole idea is that
this is a community project," Karnazes
said. "The model we have is extremely
popular, so if other people out there
want to build their own, they can follow
our guidelines."
Hurley and Karnazes said the main
focus of the Alternative Energy Club is
to get students exposed to things they
might not experience otherwise. "We do
a lot of fabricating in the machine shop
and it's only available to upper-level
mechanical engineering students, but
through this club, they can learn how to
use new tools and concepts," he said.
The group spends about two hours
each week building the motorcycle in
the Keller Engineering Labs building. In
addition to the Subaru, the group has
also designed and built a bicycle that
can run on a battery.
Karnazes said when the group finishes
existing plans for the motorcycle, it
will serve as a platform for continuous
improvement. "There are a lot of electric
motorcycle races and competitions, so
we'd also like to take it down to a track
and play with it," he said.
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Grand Valley Magazine
Table of Contents
Campus News
Athletics
Donor Impact
Art of the Possible
One Book Carries Discussions Beyond Classroom
One Million Hours
Power Trio Turns Ideas Into Companies
Research
Q&A Renee Freeman
Off the Path
Sustainability
Focal Point
Arts
Alumni News
Grand Valley Magazine
https://www.nxtbook.com/gvsu/GVmagazine/GVMagazineSpring2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/gvsu/GVmagazine/GVMagazineWinter2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/gvsu/GVmagazine/GVMagazineFall2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/gvsu/GVmagazine/GVMagazineSummer2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/gvsu/GVmagazine/GVMagazineSpring2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/gvsu/GVmagazine/Spring2016GVMagazine
https://www.nxtbook.com/gvsu/GVmagazine/Winter2016GVMagazine
https://www.nxtbook.com/gvsu/GVmagazine/2015FallGVMagazine
https://www.nxtbook.com/gvsu/GVmagazine/Summer2015GVMagazine
https://www.nxtbook.com/gvsu/GVmagazine/GVMSpring2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/gvsu/GVmagazine/GVMwinter2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/gvsu/Grandvalley/GVMFall2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/gvsu/Grandvalley/grandvalleymagazine
https://www.nxtbook.com/gvsu/GVmagazine/spring2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/gvsu/GVmagazine/winter2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/gvsu/GVmagazine/fall_2013
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com