Emery Wainscott
News Editor
ewainscott@murraystate.edu
Student volunteers from the Electromechanical and Manufacturing Engineering Technology student organization traveled on Wednesday, April 20, to compete in the National Fluid Power Association’s Fluid Power Vehicle Challenge.
The competition in Ames, Iowa, is being held in person for the first time in three years. The competition will end on Friday, April 22.
“[The Challenge] strives to promote original thinking in a competitive setting by combining two technology platforms that are not normally associated with one another—human-powered vehicles and fluid power,” according to NFPA’s website. “The Vehicle Challenge hopes to create an environment that results in uncommon connections and breakthroughs, while supporting learning and the growth of fluid power industry knowledge.”
Murray State’s group is competing with a hydraulic bicycle that uses a pre-built frame.
Electromechanical engineering and technology major Boaz Burnett said the bicycle can be powered by the pedals, like a traditional bike, but the action of pedaling pumps fluid in order to turn the wheels.
This concept is known as “regenerative braking,” which captures kinetic energy and stores it as potential energy. This can be used for a speed boost.
“The electronics are controlled using a programmable logic controller, which is one of the main focuses of our degree,” Burnett said.
Electromechanical engineering and technology major Nate Heady said this energy is stored in accumulators, a pressure storage device that contains a compressible gas. The “charge” of the hydraulic fluid compresses the gas and starts storing potential energy.
Potential energy is the energy an object has in relation to objects around it. For example, a book on a top shelf has more potential energy than a book on a bottom shelf because it has farther to fall.
“We can also simply pedal the bike, which spins the wheel, and that will also start storing energy,” Heady said. “With this energy, we can do a lot. We can go very fast, very far or somewhere in between.”
Program Coordinator for the Electromechanical Engineering and Technology Program Jake Hildebrant was the adviser several years ago. He said hydraulics is a fluid, generally an oil, used to perform work based on Pascal’s law. The law states that an object immersed in fluid experiences pressure from all sides.
Hildebrandt said hydraulics is very common in the industry sector to move extremely heavy loads. More commonly, hydraulics is used in farming and in braking and steering systems in most cars.
“This is a great exercise for projects that students will have to face in industry,” Hildebrandt said. “It is also a great opportunity to network with industry professionals. One of the advisers for our students this year is actually an EMT graduate who received his job from relationships that he created when he competed in the NFPA hydraulic bike competition a few years ago.”
The hydraulic bike will compete in three races: a speed race, an efficiency race that will test how far the bike will go on a single charge without pedaling and a relay race, where participants can pedal the bike if wanted.
Hildebrandt said the biggest change was when the sponsor of the competition changed from Parker Hannifan, a motion and technological corporation, to the NFPA.
“Murray State won first place nationally in 2014 and 2018 and second place several of the other years,” Hildebrandt said. “We are competing against some of the largest engineering schools in the nation at this competition. Some of the regular engineering programs that compete are from Purdue, Akron, Milwaukee School of Engineer, Cal Poly.”
After the competition, students can win cash prizes. Heady and Burnett both cite goals of wanting experience and recognition for their hard work.
“I’m very proud of what our team has done,” Heady said. “Despite being the most senior member, I’ve been outdone by a lot of team members that have never competed before … No matter who wins the competition, I’m confident in saying I worked with some of the most talented people around on this project.”
For those interested, contact Burnett at bburnett5@murraystate.edu.