CarBEN EV5 Full Sized Prototype Construction - 5 Seat Electric Car From Scratch
I've begun the construction process to build the first full sized prototype of my CarBEN EV5 electric car!
I bought 25 sheets of Dow XPS foam sheets today (a quarter of what will be needed in total), and began cutting the first one on my PhlatPrinter 3 CNC machine. All the drafting and major designing is done, and the 3D SketchUp model is "sliced" to eventually generate the g-code to cut the foam to form the core of the chassis. All was going swimmingly, until the bit failed to lift up on the Z-axis far enough and then it plunged in too deep, causing the X-axis to drag and get skewed... I'm going to hopefully troubleshoot it with the help of the folks on the PhlatBoyz forum. I video recorded the "event" and I'm uploaded it now to YouTube -- I'll link to it when it is ready. So, it is started but still not "flowing along" yet. |
Godspeed !
Wishing you the best . |
Looking forward to your progress.
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Here's the video -- it is a noisy thing with both the CNC router and the small shop vacuum running:
[youtube]pejWMTbQ1jo[/youtube] You can see when the error occurred at about 10:50 -- I first thought it was a slippage on the Z-axis screw (which you can see me adjusting back upwards after pausing the g-code controller program) but it keeps plunging in. I was hoping that the pieces would be usable, but the resulting X-axis slippage meant that it ran off the back edge of the sheet... |
I have successfully cut the first 4 sheets for the CarBEN EV5 chassis -- only 89 to go!
WOO HOO!!! I had to fix two problems: the voltage driving the Z and Y axes was too low, and the drive belt on the X axis stepper motor was loose. And I added back the two side roller rails so that they keep the sheet from shifting side to side. Each piece finished the cut *right* where it started; virtually perfectly... Today was an amazing day! I've been working for over three years on this project and I finally have something *physical* to show for it! :-) Video to come... |
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Here's a couple of photos:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9255.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9254.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9259.jpg Here's the video of cutting the second copy of the F23 sheet -- it is fairly long and noisy, but I try to "narrate" as it goes along: [youtube]J81NwJvlfjc[/youtube] I ran out of space on the camera about a minute before the last part finished, but I'm sure you get the idea... ;) Now I need to generate more g-code files - and cut hopefully 5 or 6 more sheets tomorrow. Then start gluing... :) |
Nice can't wait to see it finished.
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Well, I hope you are patient. This will take a year, or two or maybe more.
I have to buy ~68-75 more sheets of foam (depending on how many "extras" I need), and then the real fun begins. Fiberglassing the inside and the outside, fitting it with suspension and wheels (likely custom rear suspension?) and working out the steering and the connection to the hinged front wheel skirts, buying at least the windshield and wipers for a Smart ForTwo, putting in the driver's seat, working out hinges and latches for the rear hatch and rear doors -- and THEN building the battery pack (hopefully around 50kWh+) and the drivetrain. |
Congrats on the next big step!
Now I can say "I was there when it all began..." :) What kind of glue will you be using? |
Neil, have you succeeded in producing a model that you can do CFD testing on ?
It would be nice to know if there is some unforeseen area that needs to be addressed before you go ALL THE WAY. It would be a lot easier to modify it now then later, eh ? Also, I just know you are aching to get a somewhat accurate Cd figure ( I know all of us are ! ) |
I'm going to be using waterproof carpenter's glue -- the light brown Titebond. There will be lots of gluing -- the jigsaw joints first, then the 2 copies of the same cut pieces, then the adjacent layers; using the 1/2" holes with alignment dowels. I'm planning on starting at the nose and I should be able to glue up the first 8-12" (at least!) pretty soon.
I started on the smoother SU model using the sections as the starting point, and I found that some parts were less difficult and some were very difficult. I am not sure if I can put the effort into do the new SU, when building the real thing is starting... I got 6 more sheets cut today -- 10 done and 83 to go! I had "chauffeur" duties for my son today (he was working at my in-laws house), and I had to relearn the process of getting the g-code files. I took the time to correct *most* of the minute drafting glitches already, so doing enough to produce sheets should be relatively quick in the morning. Tomorrow should be 8 or 10 more I hope. |
I cut 8 more sheets of foam today -- just 75 to go! I've got 6 sheets left from the first buy (3 were scrapped during troubleshooting and a glitch), so I'll be off to the store to buy some more next week. I'll starting gluing tomorrow...
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Awesome! This is inspiring.
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I've now cut 22 sheets and begun to glue things together. I've stacked and glued the first foot of the front! Here are pictures:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9260.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9262.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9263.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9265.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9267.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9269.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9271.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9273.jpg |
And I thought I had a lot of smoothing to do:eek:.
Starting to look like a car:thumbup:. Glad to see you are making progress. |
The finished surface will be close to the base of each of the steps -- I was trying to have all of the pieces have an excess of material. The car is "hidden inside" the stacked layers. ;-)
So yes, I will be making a lot (more) blue dust. My little (2 gallon?) shop vacuum gets filled up after cutting about 4 or five sheets in the CNC, and sculpting the steps off with a Stanley SurForm (the rasp made like a cheese grater) will make a lot more. I'm thinking of rigging the SurForm to the vacuum hose will save me a LOT of cleanup afterward. I'll be doing a lot more gluing today! |
Wow! This is so cool! :thumbup:
After all the shaping, will you be using carbon fiber cloth? E-glass? S-glass? Vacuum bagging? Will there be structural members imbedded, or are you going for full monocoque? |
I think I will be using fiberglass (I'm not sure what E-glass and S-Glass are?) and probably not vacuum bagging it. I'm thinking 2 layers at least inside and out, and yes mostly a monocoque structure with gusseted mounting points for a subframe in the front to hold the suspension and provide a crumple structure. The rear may have a very minimal subframe that cradles the back of the car. I'm thinking the rear suspension will be a double trailing arm, and a lateral link for side loads. The lateral links could be inside of the cross member on the cradle. I left a space in the battery cell bays in the floor for this.
I will be learning as I go, especially with the the fiberglass. I'm following 3-wheeler's lead by using waterproof wood glue rather than epoxy. Fiberglassing all over the inside of the hood area, and the inside of the battery cell bays and the inside of the car will be particularly interesting. I may well have to build various rails out of foam to hold the hold thing on it's sides and upside down, etc. and maybe even a scaffolding? I have to leave some areas uncovered until things like the suspension get designed and installed and then fiberglass those areas. Here's some pictures of today's progress: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9274.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9276.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9278.jpg I added 6 more layers; minus two pieces that I have not cut yet. This happened because I was trying to pack pieces as efficiently as possible, and two pieces are on a sheet that is 7 ahead in the sequence... I'll buy more foam as soon as I can (I'm waiting to be paid) and I'll cut that far and then keep gluing. In the meantime, I need to help my brother finish rebuilding his bulkhead AND there is the small matter of emptying out my little 1 car garage to make space to build more that 3 feet of CarBEN -- otherwise it will be trapped on my screen porch... The third picture is taken with the main piece "nose down" so the the additional pieces are on top and the dowel rods can be left in. I also put together the pieces of the hood so far, but the final assembly of that will have to wait until the hood opening gets fully formed on the car. The hood doesn't have alignment pins, so it has to be done by fitting it. Next time I'll put in the alignment pin holes. The main piece I've glued together is amazingly light and strong -- it will get significantly lighter after the shaping is done, though it will probably be less rigid. I think it weighs less than 8 pounds? I'll try to weight it tomorrow, as will as get a better picture. The fiberglass will obviously add both weight and strength. This is going to be a lot of fun! |
E-glass is your more common, everyday fiberglass cloth. It's formulation was originally developed as an electical wiring insulation. The 'E' stands for electrical.
The composition of the glass fibers in S-glass were developed specifically as a structural material. It is 30% stronger and 15% stiffer than E-glass, according to Aircraft Spruce and Specialty. The homebuilt aircraft community would be a good source of information for the use of fiberglass/foam composites in structural applications. I haven't got a hold of a copy yet, but I hear Burt Rutan's manual; "Moldless Composite Sandwich Aircraft Construction", is the accepted bible of the technique. Nice progress so far! :cool: |
Thanks -- I'll probably buy a copy of Mr. Rutan's bible -- he is the guru of composites.
Some better pictures of the front 18" of CarBEN EV5: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9279.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9280.jpg Edit:I ordered the Rutan book and it should arrive soon. |
Neil, It's lookin' good man!
Keep up the good work. Wayne SC |
You realize, you can never wreck this thing...
I can't imagine investing that many hours and then having somebody back into it in a parking lot or something equally stupid. Very exciting. Indeed. troy |
Your local hardware store must really like you ! ;)
Looking good ! |
Quote:
Neil, Very, very cool! I'm so glad to see you're making progress, it's looking NICE. Wayne SC |
I bought 24 more sheets of 1" x 2' x 8' T&G Dow XPS today, and my copy of Burt Rutan's "Moldless Composite Sandwich Aircraft Construction" 4th Edition October 2005 came today. It is quite different than I thought -- it is a 11x17 portrait format GBC bound (the spine is at the top of the page) that is largely typewritten with hand sketches. A fair bit of it are about hotwire cutting of wings, and measuring and testing epoxy, etc. But some of the techniques will be very useful.
I'm going to have to work on a peel ply method that works with the waterproof wood glue I am using. If anybody has experience with this, please post some pointers! I'm going to cut two copies each of 5 sheets that are "forward in the sequence" so I can get the missing pieces I need to continue building on the nose of the car. |
I cut the 10 sheets today that contain the pieces I need to continue gluing -- that will resume tomorrow afternoon. I've got a little paying work in the morning...
I cut some of the sheets from the back of the car -- seeing the pieces actual size for the first time is great. The back of CarBEN EV is quite a bit smaller than most cars. Oh, I cleared out enough stuff from the garage to make room to keep assembling larger sections. I will need to try and shape the *inside* before putting together the sections, since those inside surfaces will never be more accessible. Years ago, I dug a trench from the house to the garage, and buried two conduits for power, but have not pulled any wires through yet. For now, an extension cord will have to suffice... |
I'm continuing to glue up the foam core of my CarBEN EV5 (open source 5 seat electric car). This first photo shows a mistake -- can you spot the omission?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9378.jpg Here's the hand-cut fix on the left side: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9379.jpg The thin struts are there temporarily to hold the beginning of the firewall in position: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9381.jpg The first 2 feet of the front: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9383.jpg With the hood in place: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9384.jpg I also had not exported the latest version of the F19 sheet, so I was missing a piece (outlined in red marker) that I was able to trace from the mirror piece and cut by hand: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9386.jpg I've continued on the shaping progress (SurForms are the best tools for rough shaping) and I'm starting the lapped hood opening edge: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9387.jpg This is now too big to fit into my car... I need to put a work table in my garage! |
This is superb! I haven't been on much, but I remember when you started designing it - gives me some motivation to work on my EV conversion for sure!
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Awesome!
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I'm back from a week off, so I'll get a little done. I've got a paying drafting job next week so there will be another brief pause...
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I glued another layer and then I had to cut another 8 sheets, so as to have all the parts for another 3 layers. If I cut 6 more sheets I can glue up another 6 layers. So, that would be another 18" of the car.
As I mentioned, I'm working this week, so pictures should be possible next week. |
This is a fabulous thread! I love the fact that you are building a 100% DIY EV. Can't wait to see this thread evolve!
Great project!:thumbup: |
I've glued up another 6" and I've now got a nice random orbital palm sander, that makes a much smoother surface than before. I still need to do a lot more shaping inside the hood area before I glue any more layers to it. Here's pictures from today:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9756.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9758.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9760.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9762.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9765.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9766.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9770.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9771.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9773.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9776.jpg |
I now have a 24" deep piece and a 20" deep piece -- they are held together with four 1/2" dowel rods for the moment. I have to nearly finish the shaping inside the motor bay while it is accessible from the back before I glue these together.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9793.jpg Here is the front 44" resting on the ground -- looking kinda' like the CarBEN EV5 Ranch? ;) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9795.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9796.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9797.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9798.jpg Okay, now in the proper orientation: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9799.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9800.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9801.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9802.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9803.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9805.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9808.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9812.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9814.jpg As a reminder, here is the latest animated video of the SketchUp model: [youtube]SXrqznFQ85c[/youtube] |
Question for those folks with experience shaping foam -- what works for smoothing small-ish concave surfaces?
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Looking good, Neil.
A guy at work said that he saw the tv show you were on. |
I added 4" to the second piece (photos to come), and I've now glued up another 6" (sections 11-13) for a total of 4'-6" of the front:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9817.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9819.jpg The gluing is slower now because the sections hang off my table too far (as you can see) -- I need to make a table the is ~6'x6' for the middle part of the car. All 4 battery bays have started -- the outer 2 extend just 2" forward, and the center 2 extend 6" forward. |
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