V45 in one of it's earliest stages. Here we see students spending time over their winter break from school to assemble some of the lightweight carbon fiber panels to form the high strength monocoque chassis.
June 9, 2010
Baby Pictures
Before it was even born, a lot of ideas were thrown about on what Viking 45 should look like. Here are some of the concept drawings from students in our very own Industrial Design program.
V45 in one of it's earliest stages. Here we see students spending time over their winter break from school to assemble some of the lightweight carbon fiber panels to form the high strength monocoque chassis.
V45 in one of it's earliest stages. Here we see students spending time over their winter break from school to assemble some of the lightweight carbon fiber panels to form the high strength monocoque chassis.
March 26, 2010
Blast from the Past
A little history behind the VRI at WWU:
When Dr. Michael Seal, “Doc,” founded the Vehicle Research Institute (VRI) at Western Washington University in 1975, he had a simple goal: make cars that are lighter, faster, and more efficient in every way. Since then, over 40 vehicles have been designed and built by undergraduate students and faculty that do just that.
As one of the leading schools for automotive design in the region, the WWU VRI has a long track record of excellence both in competition and in the media. The VRI has been awarded the EPA's P3 Award for vehicle emissions, displayed a vehicle at NASA Ames research labs in California, been mentioned at the Los Angeles International Auto Show and published in Seattle Metropolitan, Automotive Magazine, and on Wired.com.
The WWU X PRIZE Team works along side the WWU Mini Baja Team, Formula FSAE Team, and Hybrid Bus Team within the VRI. Over the years, more than $7,000,000 has been raised by the VRI in grants from government, industry and private individuals to complete the various projects in the VRI.
When Dr. Michael Seal, “Doc,” founded the Vehicle Research Institute (VRI) at Western Washington University in 1975, he had a simple goal: make cars that are lighter, faster, and more efficient in every way. Since then, over 40 vehicles have been designed and built by undergraduate students and faculty that do just that.
As one of the leading schools for automotive design in the region, the WWU VRI has a long track record of excellence both in competition and in the media. The VRI has been awarded the EPA's P3 Award for vehicle emissions, displayed a vehicle at NASA Ames research labs in California, been mentioned at the Los Angeles International Auto Show and published in Seattle Metropolitan, Automotive Magazine, and on Wired.com.
The WWU X PRIZE Team works along side the WWU Mini Baja Team, Formula FSAE Team, and Hybrid Bus Team within the VRI. Over the years, more than $7,000,000 has been raised by the VRI in grants from government, industry and private individuals to complete the various projects in the VRI.
March 25, 2010
What's in a Name?
Of all the car names out there right now, ours is probably one of the more interesting: Viking 45. But where did it come from? And what does it mean? It’s a simple answer, really.
The fierce Viking is the mascot for Western Washington University. Since its founding in 1979, each vehicle from WWU’s Vehicle Research Institute has been given the name “Viking” followed by the successive number.
To see past vehicles, visit the VRI site: http://vri.etec.wwu.edu/cars.html
January 31, 2010
Vroooom Vrooooom!
After spending hours in the shop away from homework, loved ones, and beds, the team crossed one of their larges milestones of the project: getting Viking 45 running. Team members cheered as their creation emerged from the VRI into the wide-open world.
January 29, 2010
IT'S AAALLIIIIIVEEEE!!!!!
Team members were all smiles today as Viking 45 set sailed on her maiden voyage.
After months of planning and construction, the WWU X PRIZE Team entry car, V45, successfully propelled herself out into the world (she even had fully functional brakes!). The trip was short but sweet and gave team members new hope and plenty of things to work on!
A link for the video will be up soon!
After months of planning and construction, the WWU X PRIZE Team entry car, V45, successfully propelled herself out into the world (she even had fully functional brakes!). The trip was short but sweet and gave team members new hope and plenty of things to work on!
A link for the video will be up soon!
January 14, 2010
Germany's Auto Mobil visit the WWU X PRIZE Team and V40's make over
Viking 40 receives a make-over to show off our sponsors and to thank all of those who helped make it possible.
The boys from Auto Mobil have come all the way from Germany to interview X PRIZE Teams across the country. While visiting us, Doc Seal (the founder of WWU's VRI) was more than happy to drive them around in Viking 7.
And once the rain let up, we took Viking 40 out for a spin to try out it's new skin.
December 6, 2009
New websites and updates
Hello everyone!
The team has been working away on both the vehicles. Since our last post:
There are now officially one of 43 teams in the race for $10 million dollars, of which, only 2 are universities.
We are currently in the final stages of assembling Viking 45 into a rolling chassis as well as mounting the hybrid drivetrain in the engine bay, so we are looking forward to seeing it rolling around the shop soon!
We are beginning dynamic testing on Viking 40's drivetrain using our in house chassis dynamometer and we will have video up as soon as we can.
Also, we have a few more sites for you to check out more updates and pictures on how the team is doing:
On Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/WWU-X-Prize-Team/193528425235?ref=ts
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=55321532151&ref=ts
On Twitter:
http://twitter.com/WWUXPRIZETEAM
And if you haven't seen our official site yet, be sure to check it out at:
http://vri.etec.wwu.edu/xprize/xprize.html
The team has been working away on both the vehicles. Since our last post:
There are now officially one of 43 teams in the race for $10 million dollars, of which, only 2 are universities.
We are currently in the final stages of assembling Viking 45 into a rolling chassis as well as mounting the hybrid drivetrain in the engine bay, so we are looking forward to seeing it rolling around the shop soon!
We are beginning dynamic testing on Viking 40's drivetrain using our in house chassis dynamometer and we will have video up as soon as we can.
Also, we have a few more sites for you to check out more updates and pictures on how the team is doing:
On Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/WWU-X-Prize-Team/193528425235?ref=ts
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=55321532151&ref=ts
On Twitter:
http://twitter.com/WWUXPRIZETEAM
And if you haven't seen our official site yet, be sure to check it out at:
http://vri.etec.wwu.edu/xprize/xprize.html
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