BMW Concept Car Revisited!

Interested in a sneak peek at what it takes to create a concept car? Check out this blast from the past! Art Center College of Design students were tasked with reinventing the interior and exterior of a BMW 1 Series 5-door SUV not available in the states, while also maintaining the underlying structural characteristics.

Art Center student Alex Alexiev was selected to lead the exterior design group for the project named Deep Orange, a collaborative effort with Clemson University’s International Center for Automotive Research.  The Clemson students retrofitted an existing BMW with a state-of-the-art extended range 125 kW electric motor that can be fueled either by charging its stable of lithium polymer batteries from a 110v AC source, or by firing up the highly efficient on-board 800 cc motorcyle engine.

 After the design sketches were approved and a 1/5 scale clay model was sculpted, ACCD student leader Alex Alexiev and his team focused their efforts on a full scale model that became the centerpiece of the Art Center’s contribution to the collaboration. Blocks and sheets of Precision Board Plus were donated by Coastal Enterprises for use as the substrate in the full scale model. The design team’s primary goal was to create a 3-door look and 5-door vehicle. From initial sketch to finished model took 14 weeks! The CNC machining time was donated by ADM Works in Santa Ana, CA.

Coastal Enterprises on Pinterest!

We now have an official Coastal Enterprises Pinterest page. Visit us at: http://www.pinterest.com/precisionboard and check out some amazing signs and engineering projects!

 

JEC America’s Composites Show: Nov. 7-9

Coastal Enterprises exhibited from November 7-9 in Boston, MA at the JEC Americas Composites Show & Conference.

JEC Composites is the largest composites industry organization in Europe and in the world, with a network of 250,000 professionals. JEC is directed at composite industry professionals the world over. JEC’s ever broader range of products & services and its many promotional activities facilitate the development of business-to-business know-how and connections within the composites industry.

The JEC Group was created by CPC, a non-profit association that holds the capital. JEC is a simplified joint stock company established under French law. Its mission is to develop products and services for its customers and the composite industry.

Visit our Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn next week for trade show updates and pictures!

 

 

 

 

Sun Raycing with the PrISUm Solar Car Team

How soon will solar powered cars become a reality? This past July, the Iowa State University PrISUm solar car team raced their way to a second place finish in the North American Solar Challenge. Project Director Evan Stumpges took some time with us to explain a little bit about the PrISUm Solar Car team.

The North American Solar Challenge is an all volunteer project with each student team preparing for 2 years for the biennial NASC competition. Students design vehicles that run entirely off of solar power, which will clearly be a major automotive game changer should they ever go into production. The race spans thousands of miles over U.S roads, and consists of several timed stages between preset locations. This year the race started in Rochester, NY and finished in St. Paul, MN. To ensure a fair competition, each solar car is followed by an observer, and penalties are issued if the legal speed limit is not maintained. Speed is tracked by a GPS placed into each car.

As project director, Evan was personally in charge of designing the suspension system as well as acting in a leadership role to all of the other volunteers involved. Iowa State designed Hyperion to compete at the highest level of reliability in this years competition. Because many of the teams (16-18 teams typically compete) cars fail during the competition due to mechanical and electrical reliability issues, Evan says they placed a strong focus on building a reliable solar car that they could count on to make it to the finish line.

The end result was the Hyperion Solar Powered Car, which ended with a second place finish at the NASC, and best lap time at the Formula Sun Grand Prix (takes place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.) Hyperion was able to maintain highway level speeds throughout the entire 1650 mile competition and ended with an average speed of 65mph. Out of curiosity, we asked Evan if the car was equipped with any sort of A/C or heating system in case of harsh weather. It is not, although it does have a forced-air intake fan, which allows air to pass into the cockpit. The battery system is also equipped with cooling fans and is used in case of a storm or other solar panel failure, and will allow for travel up to 125 miles at 45mph. Hyperion had a total of 4 drivers, Evan being one of them, who traded off driving tasks through the competition.

Coastal Enterprises has donated Precision Board Plus HDU to Iowa State University for mold tooling for the past 5 years. Evan stated that the variety of densities available and the minimal dust level were some of the reasons PrISUm and the company who assisted with the CNC machining, Harlow Aerostructures, enjoyed working with it. PBLT-18 and PBLT-20 were the typical densities used for these molds. Evan estimated the cost of this car to be around $330,000, and believes it would probably cost around $80,000 – $100,000 if in full production and depending upon which type of composites were used to produce it.

A recent Iowa State University graduate now, Evan is currently employed at a major machinery manufacturer as an associate engineer designing advanced electrical drivetrains. He attributes much of that to being a part of the all volunteer solar car team and specifically, the high level of discipline and leadership skills he attained while a part of the program.

Many more pictures can be seen here.

Also check out the  Team PrISUm facebook page.

Pictures from the mold making process:


Mixed Density Hand-Carved HDU Masterpieces!

Paul Martin, owner of Piccadilly Signs in Winnipeg, Canada is our newest fan of  hand-carving PBLT-30. You may remember him from our previous blog: Precision Board Plus in High Definition.

After speaking with Kellie Miller, Customer Relations Manager at Coastal Enterprises, about the benefits of using PBLT-30, Paul decided to try hand-carving some himself and has become quite fond of it. In the pictures you see here, PBLT-30 was used for the 3 dimensional items, such as the bear and the tree trunk in the “Wests” sign. The rest of the sign was made using PBLT-18.

Paul stated that he enjoys working with PBLT-30 because “the level of intricate detail it can hold is greater than the lower densities.” According to him, he used his normal carving tools such as rotary drills and traditional wood carving tools and they worked fine. While tougher to carve than PBLT-15, the PBLT-30 reminds him of carving wood – but having no grain makes it a superior product.

After working for a large sign company for many years, and self-teaching himself wood carving as a hobby, Paul recently started his own sign company and stated he “hasn’t looked back since.” Paul’s work will even be featured on the cover of the upcoming September edition of Sign Builder Illustrated. You can see more pictures of his work at: http://piccadillysigns.com/.