The Mizzou Hydrogen Car Team has been working hard building TigerGen III. Each department has taken their part of the car and is working toward building a very fuel efficient car for the race this coming spring. Working forward, our team goal is to have a rolling chassis by end of Christmas break.
The team has also been busy with showing the car at public events! We drove in the Mizzou Homecoming Parade on October 15th, where an estimated 40,000 people were in attendance. We also showcased the car at the MU South Farm Showcase, to prospective high school students that are taking tours of the College of Engineering, and attended the Missouri Livestock Symposium on December 3rd, which was held in Kirksville, MO.
While working hard on the car, raising funds has been challenging for the team. We want to offer a big thank you to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Energy for donating $5,000 for TigerGen III. This money will support the purchase of one of our fuel cells. It is the support from our sponsors that really make this team possible!
The Hydrogen Car Team would like to thank you for your continued support. If you are not a current sponsor and are interested in becoming part of the team through a sponsorship, please e-mail me at president@mizzouhydrogen.org. –Victoria Hezel, President


Mechanical parts are coming in from all over to build the TIgergen III. We thank Advanced Pattern Works and Kay's Engineering for their gracious donations of parts and labor to the team. The body plug is finished and the team will be starting the mold process soon. Mechanical suspension components to get the car rolling on wheels are being purchased and added to the vehicle. The goal of putting Tigergen III on wheels is fast approaching but it proves promising with the many new mechanical members on the team. The next month will be an enormous push for mechanicals to reach this goal but I am confident with teamwork and determination we can meet this goal. –Nathan Park, Head Mechanical

The Chemical Design of the car is finally being completely fleshed out and as building of the car continues, the chemical department has been able to plan better for the building of the fuel system, including the placement of fuel cells and important chemical carrying components, among other items. The fuel cell has been tested numerous times as the team gathers data in preparation for implementation of the system. As for Tigergen II, it was up and running for the Homecoming Parade thanks to a rapid response from Swagelok in getting a high pressure braided hose to us just in time to fix the car. This time is key for the department, for the parts are all being ordered at the time of writing and money is going to be incredibly tight, as the parts necessary to accurately monitor and protect the flow of hydrogen to the fuel cells become more and more numerous and expensive. Building for the flow system should be able to commence around the Winter break, so that the team can finally focus on testing for the system. –Chad Able, Head Chemical

The Electrical Group is still making progress with the systems needed for TGIII. Currently, we are working writing the software that will run on our embedded computer, while making plans for the sensors and controllers that will feed it data about the car. One major change to this setup has been the decision to forgo using the serial data that the fuel cell provides. The reason for this being that the fuel cells don't provide a wide enough range of useful data that justifies reverse engineering the signals to work with our system. We will just be monitoring a few of those data points ourselves using our own sensors so we know exactly what to expect as far as how to process the data. On the high power side of things, a motor controller that meets our specifications has been chosen, and we are still working out exactly what we will need in terms of a ultra-capacitor bank, and DCDC converter for the drive train.-Alex Devilbiss, Head Electrical

The Mizzou Hydrogen Car Team is back in full swing with the start of a brand new school year. With a big win in the 2011 Shell Eco-Marathon, the team is more eager than ever to build TigerGen III, which we will be taking to Houston, TX once again to race in the 2012 Shell Eco-Marathon which is set for March 29 – April 1.
Our third generation vehicle, TigerGen III, has had some major upgrades from TigerGen II. The car has been designed to look more like a sports car, and has a more spacious design so even our tallest members of the team can fit in to take a spin around the block.
With the start of a new semester we also begin recruitment. The team has participated in college of engineering events as it has in the past in order to recruit more engineers. We also had our own recruitment event two weeks ago where we spoke to over 80 eager students about our team and the opportunities that it brings. Since then we have had meetings and workdays so they can jump right in with some hands-on work. It looks like it will be an exciting semester for our team!
The Hydrogen Car Team would like to thank you for your continued support. If you are not a current sponsor and are interested in becoming part of the team through a sponsorship, please e-mail me at president@mizzouhydrogen.org. –Victoria Hezel, President


The mechanicals are pushing full throttle this semester with the beginning of the build process for the TigerGen III. Parts have been coming in from a number of companies through the summer. Mizzou Hydrogen Car Team thanks the work of VersaTech, John at Advanced Pattern Works, Darrell at Simon Steel, and Ed Kays of Kays Engineering. Without the support of these companies, we could not be a successful team. The goal for the semester is to have a full suspension car on wheels by the holiday break. The team is currently laying up the rib structure for the chassis this weekend and starting on smaller projects to be ready the mechanical systems integration. This years design includes a rear swing arm suspension with the pivot points concentric to the motor shaft; this reduces play in the chain and eliminates the need for a tensioner. Another key modification is a flat-bottom chassis; this allows us to build both the bottom half and top half side by side. Stay posted on our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/mizzouhydrogen, for pictures of the build. - Nathan Park, Head Mechanical


The Chemical department is going to be in high gear following the construction of the car, and we’ve bolstered our ranks with at least fifteen new members to meet that
demand. The new fuel system for TigerGen III is going to be the safest and most efficient yet, with two high efficiency lightweight fuel cells and an added purge stream for emergency situations. We’ll be working closely with our Mechanical department to make sure that the fuel system will be laid out in the best way possible, with adequate space for every component and all safety considerations taken into account. We’ve kept Airgas as our supplier for hydrogen and Horizon has aided us with their fuel cell technology so that we can build the best car possible. The team has a lot to be proud of this year with this new car and everyone has been great with helping out. -Chad Able, Head Chemical


The electrical team has been working hard right out of the gate this semester designing the many electrical systems needed for TGIII. So far we have been working on designing a plethora of ambitious projects, mainly the telemetry system. The telemetry system is responsible for taking, and interpreting data gleaned from multiple sources and displaying it to the driver on a seven inch touch screen. We are currently working on implementing a FriendlyARM Mini2440 embedded device to accomplish this. While this has been a challenge, it has also been quite fun for all of us. I am sure that we are on the track to completing the necessary designs within the coming months for a safe and efficient electrical system to beat out the competition. -Alex Devilbiss, Head Electrical Engineer

Our first generation car, TigerGen I is up for auction! Check it out here: http://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?fa=Main.Item&itemid=1855&acctid=1992#.TmkdmGqd6Ls

If you know anyone who is interested, let them know about the link!!

Our last day was another success. We were again able to complete all three runs successfully. The day started with our first run at 11 where we were able to get 13.8 mi/kWh, which was a slight increase over the previous two runs. Then after finishing a quick lunch we were once again on the track to complete run number 5 where we were able to bump up our efficiency to 14.2 mi/kWh which equates to approximately 490 MPG equivalent to gasoline. For our final run, Andy went behind the wheel and tried to push the car to the max where it again achieved around 13 mi/kWh. Overall this year was a huge success and major stepping stone for our team since we were able to make all 6 possible runs without any major set backs.

After cleaning up and starting to pack up our pit, the team headed to the Awards Dinner. As the dinner ended the President of Shell Wind Energy Division went on stage to present the On and Off Track Awards. During the event, we received two team awards: Best Team Spirit (thanks to our cheers and the Tiger tail we had on the car again this year) and First Place for the Urban Concept Fuel Cell Division. It took a lot of time and effort of those that went on the race along with those that could not attend to get the team to this point and we must extend thanks to everyone that has worked on the car and those that have supported us. We must also thank our Sponsors since building the car would not be possible without their support.

After the Awards Ceremony, the team once again headed across to Discovery Green to take a few pictures with our Awards with the car and team. Then after a quick team meeting where we took time to discuss improvements for next year and some of the positives of this trip we finished packing and started the drive back towards Columbia.

Remember to look at the videos and pictures posted from our trip to see more about each day.

Today was a warm day in Houston, beautiful to be around Discovery Green, and a perfect day to race. The day began with the opening ceremonies for the Shell Eco-Marathon on Discovery green where we heard Bruce Culpepper (Vice-President of Human Resources for Shell), Dr. Flowers (C-STEM Founder), and Mayor Parker (Houston Mayor) speak words of encouragement for all of those competing in the 2011 Shell Eco-Marathon. After a few team pictures the team returned to the pit to quickly finish up the last of technical inspection so we could get out on the track for the first run of the weekend.

After passing technical inspection we were ready to hit the track and it was a perfect day. The first run started shortly after 11 and went smoothly. We easily completed the run achieving 11 miles/kilowatt hours (mi/kWh). The car had no major issues handling the course and we were able to pass multiple cars. Several teams had issues getting a qualifying run during this session and broke down around the track or had not passed technical inspection yet meaning there were very few cars out on the track at any given time. We then took the car back inside to fix a few minor items and talk about ways to improve our strategy to increase out mi/kWh value.

Later in the afternoon around 3, we once again went out to try another race and again we were able to complete a valid run. However, this time we were able to get 13 mi/kWh which equates to about 445 MPG equivalent to Gasoline. Through the simple optimizations of driving strategy we were able to increase the efficiency of the fuel cell. While we were able to get a valid run we hit a few more road bumps on this run than the first one so some time in the pit working on the car was required.

After creating a solution to the problem we were then able to return to the track and race again for the 6:00 run. The solution seemed to work well and the fuel cell remained on for the entire duration of the race. This run also resulted in 13 mi/kWh so more optimization was required afterwards to find ways we can have a better result tomorrow. During the last two runs of the day several more teams were making their way out onto the track and working on completing valid runs.

The remainder of the evening was spent in a couple of different ways after eating dinner as a team. Everyone was working together to continue brainstorming ways to increase our efficiency and working on the car. Once the work was done it was time for some well-earned relaxation.

Look at the videos to see our day and watch for more information to come each day.