xFair 2016 Recap

Finally managed to get something together in time for xFair!  With barely enough time for the black and red paint to dry, the new mountain board made it into the gym.  There wasn't enough time to wire the controllers and mount the battery pack, but at least the board was rolling with the full suspension and tilting ackermann steering in suitable demo condition.

After a rough outing the week before, there were a few necessary repairs to get the ATV in good enough shape to bring to the event.  The front end had been destroyed crashing through the snow, and I was scrambling to get the fairings back on at 6am that morning...

Hope to get some testing videos of the new board up in the next couple weeks,  stay tuned for updates!

More Testing/Crashing with the ATV

After another substantial snow storm, we had a great opportunity to take the four wheeler out and try it in the snow!  Got a bit carried away crashing into snowbanks with the gang, but it was a lot of fun.  The ATV held up fairly well...more to come regarding the necessary repairs...


Electric ATV Mud & Snow Crashes from Jarrod Smith on Vimeo.

To the tune of 99 Lights by Boaz van de Beatz

Snow Drifting with the ATV!

Had to fix up the ATV, but got it ready in time for the snowfall!  The slick roads made for some awesome drifting that was on par with the drift trike.

Here's the video recap from the night cruising session with the Simmons Hall sixth floor squad:


Electric ATV Snow Drifting from Jarrod Smith on Vimeo.

Mountain Board: TechX 2016 Progress

Already been a year since I built the ATV, and haven't said much about my TechX project for this IAP.  EVT work on the Opel has been taking up most of my time, so I haven't had as much free time to work on the Mountain Board, but it's looking like it'll finally come together.

Messing around with some video editing software, here's a quick rundown on the first work day:

EVT Junkyard run!

Had to go out to the junkyard yesterday on a hunt for some parts for the EVT Opel project.  GAW Used Auto Parts in Walpole turned out to be a gold mine, and we had a field day checking out their acres worth of cars.

I was up at sunrise to go out and hopefully get the parts back to the shop in time for the 11AM EVT meeting.  I recruited Nestor, a friend in the dorm, to help me out with the early trip...and he managed to make his presence known on the lot...

 We had a field day checking out their collection of old classic cars, as they had a huge collection.

Even a couple Opels out on the lot!  We'll have to go back if we ever need spare parts.

The miata rear subframe was a reasonable size and shape for what we wanted to do with the Opel drivetrain, so we were hoping to get the full rear assembly to size up and model with the rest of our components.

There were a couple miatas, and fortunately there was most of the rear wheel drive, independent suspension assembly laying on top of another car - missing only the lower control arms.

 It was in kinda rough shape, but perfectly fine for us to work with the geometry.  We took everything, and hauled it back through the mud to the truck.

 Made it back to the shop with plenty of time before the meeting, and as the rest of the gang showed up, we got right to tearing down, cleaning up, and CAD-ing the miata parts.

New Year's Motorcycle Cruising

Didn't get to put up the video earlier, but here's a view of my neighborhood, as seen from my motorcycle.  No snow through December made for quite possibly my one and only New Year's Day ride ever.  Pretty cold, but definitely a lot of fun.

Testing out a new Legazone action camera, much less expensive than the GoPro.  I wanted to see if the quality was comparable; tried out mounting it all over the bike for some different views.

Just started messing around with some video editing software, there it is to the tune of good old Colt Ford.

First Snowfall

The first snowfall came late this year, giving some extra time to get the vehicles in shape for winter!  I hope to make some more videos showing the ATV and other vehicles in action, so the first set of modifications lined up for IAP are intended to prepare everything for some off-roading in the snow.  More details coming soon.

In case you missed it, here's some footage from last year featuring the usual suspects:

Above, we got to do some cruising with the ATV and drift trike around the parking garage while gathering some preliminary data for my 2.671: Instrumentation and Measurement project. (April 2015)

Below, we got some new people to come try out the trike, testing how it handled while drifting on ice.  (March 2015)

Thanks to my roommate, Jon Morrell, for making the videos!  Check out his YouTube channel for some more crazy rides and stunts!