This week we were meant to present a literature review and a power point presentation on our project idea. Unfortunately this did not go to plan for us. The issue was that we where struggling to find articles for our literature review. We also had to present our idea but with struggling to find information we had forgotten about the presentation. The only thing we had to present was our gantt chart.
For this reason we hung back a bit as other groups where presenting great ideas compared to ours. It seems as though other people were hanging back as well from presenting. For this reason we decided to wait to the break before we started asking questions. During the first break we talked to Anura about our idea as he had yet to pick a technical adviser and we thought he would be a good place to start.
He talked to us about our idea and said that our exhaust brake idea would only work on manual transmissions, and could only work for automatic transmissions if the driver has selected 1st or 2nd gear, due to the way the transmission couples and de-couples itself from the engine.
He did however like our idea (finally!) and agreed to be our technical adviser for our project. He then gave us some helpful places to start searching for articles for a literature review as after all this time I had literally found nothing on exhaust flap brakes. And had tried to do some comparisons with Jake brakes which are used in trucks as well. Anura told me it would not be relevant so I am hoping that we finally find some good information from the websites he has provided to us.
Friday, 16 August 2013
Technology Project Class 3
With our third week into the technology project our group had still not come up with an idea for the technology project. This is becoming concerning as we have to make our first presentation for week four of the technology project. It seems as though everyone else has come up with an idea except for us and I feel a bit left behind.
However my team mate Jal came up with a good idea to create a retro fit kit exhaust brake for petrol engines. The idea drew inspiration from the exhaust flaps used in diesel trucks which closes off the exhaust pipe and essentially suffocates the engine. This removes the combustion process and turns the engine into an air compressor which aids in deceleration or engine braking.
After a bit of research I did however discover that this idea would not work on petrol engines because of the throttle body. The butterfly valve closes of a large percentage of air to the engine during idle and engine braking. This translates to small exhaust flow, and there would not be enough exhaust gases to help the engine slow down.
With a bit more research I did discover that there is already a retro fit kit exhaust brake for diesel engines in SUV's and utes. These kits are vacuum controlled and with a bit of modification to the original idea we decide to create an electronically controlled kit for diesel engines in utes and SUV's when they are towing heavy loads to help improve engine braking.
However my team mate Jal came up with a good idea to create a retro fit kit exhaust brake for petrol engines. The idea drew inspiration from the exhaust flaps used in diesel trucks which closes off the exhaust pipe and essentially suffocates the engine. This removes the combustion process and turns the engine into an air compressor which aids in deceleration or engine braking.
After a bit of research I did however discover that this idea would not work on petrol engines because of the throttle body. The butterfly valve closes of a large percentage of air to the engine during idle and engine braking. This translates to small exhaust flow, and there would not be enough exhaust gases to help the engine slow down.
With a bit more research I did discover that there is already a retro fit kit exhaust brake for diesel engines in SUV's and utes. These kits are vacuum controlled and with a bit of modification to the original idea we decide to create an electronically controlled kit for diesel engines in utes and SUV's when they are towing heavy loads to help improve engine braking.
Technology Project Class 2
After a rather long weekend of trying to come up with ideas for automotive issues I thought I had come up with the best idea possible. My plan was that I wanted our group to build something physical to show a working model of it.
My idea was to build a water pump that was controlled by a solenoid, so is that it would disconnect when the engine is cold allowing for the engine to warm up even faster than ever thought possible before. We had then decided that if this was the case we would then go with Gerry as our technical adviser since our project was engine related and Gerry teaches the course about engines.
This idea did not last very long however, after talking to Gerry about our idea he quickly told us that the idea would not work. He told us that the coolant would quickly begin to boil next to the cylinders in the engine block and cylinder head, yet the coolant further away would still be cold which would mean that sensors could not detect this. This would eventually lead to the engine overheating and seizing.
I feel as if time is running out to think of a good idea and I feel quite bad now as my only good idea would wind up not working. Its back to the drawing board I suppose and Roman has told us that we have to come with an Idea by the end of this second week. I do not feel very confident about this at the moment.
My idea was to build a water pump that was controlled by a solenoid, so is that it would disconnect when the engine is cold allowing for the engine to warm up even faster than ever thought possible before. We had then decided that if this was the case we would then go with Gerry as our technical adviser since our project was engine related and Gerry teaches the course about engines.
This idea did not last very long however, after talking to Gerry about our idea he quickly told us that the idea would not work. He told us that the coolant would quickly begin to boil next to the cylinders in the engine block and cylinder head, yet the coolant further away would still be cold which would mean that sensors could not detect this. This would eventually lead to the engine overheating and seizing.
I feel as if time is running out to think of a good idea and I feel quite bad now as my only good idea would wind up not working. Its back to the drawing board I suppose and Roman has told us that we have to come with an Idea by the end of this second week. I do not feel very confident about this at the moment.
Technology Project Class Day One
For our first day technology project class we were introduced to what was expected of us for this course. My initial thoughts for this course was that we had to build a physical working object. But when Roman our lecturer for this course told us it could be theoretical that made things seem a little easier considering we have a very short amount of time to create our object.
Our goal for technology project is to address an issue in the automotive industry and create something that solves this issue. This had me stumped for ideas very quickly as any idea I did have was quickly shot down as there was already something that existed or my idea would not work.
I am feeling very concerned about what I have to achieve before the end of the year as this course is not going to be a walk in the park. We also have to pick our idea quickly as we need to pick a technical adviser to help us with our project and give us ideas to keep our group on the right path. This puts pressure on us to think of a good idea that is not too simple and not too complicated either.
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