As part of the MEC E 360: Mechanical Design II course at the University of Alberta, students are tasked with group design project; in fall 2021, students were tasked with designing a manual transmission to race a go-kart around a track with a specified engine.
I was the lead member of the student group named "The Gear Turners". During the course of the term we had to submit a concept report, an analysis report and a final report paired with a final presentation of our concept. The transmission design project was limited to stock parts for the gears and bearings, and required analysis of the shafts, bearings, gears and splines or keys. Information to support the selection of the gear ratios was also required.
The scope of my responsibilities was to work closely with a team of 6 other students to design and analyze a manual transmission. As team lead, I was responsible for chairing semi-weekly meetings to keep the project moving forwards, while also taking on and delegating tasks.
The project was broken down into 10 steps:
Research different types of transmissions and their advantages/disadvantages
Evaluate the types of transmissions and decide on one to move forward with
Research types of gears and pick one to move forward with
Research splines vs keys
Research types of clutches
Research and optimize gear ratios - simulation
Select gears and calculate fatigue
Calculate shaft load
Iterate
Finalize design
The team passed the project with an A