West Wilkes High School placed 1st in problem solving and 3rd in Flight at the Technology Student Association's Regional competition at ASU Today.
The day started cold with a bus that wouldn't start. Then we arrived, bumper to bumper, in the middle of charter buses as far as one can see. I guess we were under dogs among schools from Eastern North Carolina (from Greensboro to Charlotte). Additionally, The following students should be congratulated for all their efforts: Harley Trenton Taylor It was great on a side note that we had the best problem solving team...because our bus first needed jumping off to leave campus...then it required jumping off from Watauga County School system bus garage....then it started missing within 1 mile of school. The bus limped in and shut down at the softball field parking lot... They think a solution would be associated with the battery, alternator or wiring... ;o)
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We were able to present our wind tunnel miata model testing, RJ Speed Legends and McAllister Racing remote control vehicles, NC State STEP Challenge solar charging station, STEM Cycle electric cart, game design, EV Team video, Carbon Fiber Mountain Bike Frame, and Engine display during the event. Next week we should have the miata back with upgraded wrap from The SignFactory Direct. Awesome Day at West Wilkes High School! Isaac and Charlie duke it out during the Legends B Main Event. Charlie leads most of the race but with a few laps to go Charlie gets into trouble opening the door for Isaac to win by a few tenths. The race was most exciting. Mr. Tolbert's head on crash in the legends A Main blows off all four body clips and breaks one post. He finished the race but the damage proved too challenging for him to hang onto his lead. The Tolbert duo finished 1st and 2nd in the 1/12 scale pan car B Main. The Tolberts swapped leading the race several times but senior pulled ahead in the end. Charlie was able to beat senior during group violin lessons earlier so they called it even. Overall WWHS EV team brought home some wins for the program while having a lot of fun. If you are in Mtn. City TN on Friday or Saturday Night come up and have one of Pat's famous Race Burgers. Simply the Best! Isaac and Devin removed the DC-DC converter due to the fact it stopped working after 10 years of service. The DC-DC converter is essentially the "alternator" of the electric vehicle which drops the main pack voltage of 170v down to 12v to power headlights and all 12v accessories. Upon inspection the converter was found to have a fatiqued fuse. The failure was most likely due to a weak connection within the fuse from the factory or from 10 years of vibrations on the race track. Soldering in a fuse fixed the problem. The demonstration was most interesting. Questions of the evening...1) How did you get the Miata in the School? 2) How fast does it go? As we are making plans for the Spring Thaw Event at NCCAR. Our golf cart is a luxury we are not willing to give up. Even with the cart students walk several miles during the EV challenge daily to and from trailer, race shop, track, and garage areas. The cart is especially useful moving tools, equipment, and students place to place throughout the day. Fortunately, the cart is a great example of a sustainable transportation vehicle. One that can be solar charged and use retired batteries from our race vehicles. Since Tolbert became the owner of the cart nearly 6 years ago it has always had a rear end roar. The vehicle was a scrap vehicle purchased from a local golf cart scrap yard that has since closed. Due to the fact one of the wheel lugs stripped from accidently cross threading, the team decided to crack open the rear end and learn what makes it tick (or roar) and repair. The learning experience is most beneficial. We would like to Thank Golf Cart Catalog.Com from Foscoe, NC for their continued support and sponsorship of our program. See Mr. Williams at Golf Cart Catalog.com in person or on the web for all your needs. Tell him we sent you. https://www.golfcarcatalog.com/ Tolbert and Charlie entered both legends and 1/12 scale pan car divisions. The pan car division rules changed to slow vehicles down in hopes to make the racing more fun and exciting for drivers and spectators. The rule change required all vehicles to stay above a 3 second lap time. Any lap lower than 3 seconds was tossed out. In addition it helped to reduce broken part costs ;o) Charlie finished the night placing 2nd in one legend and pan car heat while Tolbert placed 1st in a pan car heat and 3rd in legends. The most exciting race of the night proved to be the pan car A Main with Tolbert, Charlie and Danny. Danny was sporting a new camaro body paint job that look as though it just came out of a car show. The race was very intense. Everyone had a shining moment during the race. Each led a number of laps. Danny had the lead during the last minute of the race. Tolbert pulled up and narrowly passed with about 3 laps to go. During this time Charlie made the attempt to take the lead and tapped the rear fender of Tolbert. This accident open the door for Danny to retake his lead and finish the race up front. Everyone was on the lead lap the entire 4 minute heat. The race was most exciting. We were all laughing and congratulating each other after the race. |
AuthorWest High's EV Team
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