LifeTrac Construction Set

See 3 Month Prototyping Plan 2013 for prototyping plan of Q2, 2013.

Overview of Need

Affordable, user-centred equipment that can be manufactured wherever stock steel and parts can be obtained. The goal is to produce industrial machinery - such as tractors - which can be used to produce hundreds of thousands of horsepower hours per year at an operating cost of $500 per year, Fuel Included.*

Technology Concept

We are using square tubing and various plates as a route to creating a Universal Construction Set for heavy machinery. Together with interchangeable power units, wheel modules, and other modules - and by adding certain dedicated components - one can build just about any heavy machine. Conceptual examples are shown below.

We are transitioning the build of LifeTrac and related machines to fabrication with tbe CNC Torch Table to allow for 1-day builds of each machine. This utilizes primarily 1/2" steel and 4"x4" steel tubing for building out modular components. Allows for similarity in build out of tractor and variants, micro-tractor, bulldozer, truck, backhoe, power unit, hammer-mill, sawmill, iron-worker machine, micro-combine modules, backhoe with 360 degree rotation, pelletizer, car, trencher, universal rotor, universal seeder (with plow/disc/cultivator modules/rotary cutter (hay cutter), hay rake), well drilling rig, and CNC torch table/large Gantry Mill.

Rollout Sequence

The roll out sequencing for the second quarter of 2013 and beyond looks like this:

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Module Based Design

For the above, the Module Based Design strategy looks like this:

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Vehicle Frames

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Frames Allow Vairious Attachments

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Power Cube Construction Set

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Steps

• Build XYZ structure Power Cube, Prototype VIII
• Add wheels and control.
• Add Quick Attach module
• Add equipment modules

Stiff Joints

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Pivoting Joints

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Pivoting Joints 2

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Scalable, Open Source Car

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Strategy:

• Utilize suspension module from Team Wikispeed Car
• Build upon specs of 0.19 coefficient of drag 260 mpg Car

Pivot Joint Scalability

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Scalable Ironworker Machine

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Hydraulic Quick Couplers

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Resource Allocation

Machine Rollout and Budget rationale is such:

Strategic Partnerships

• iF Foundation - tractor pilot in Haiti
• College Catts Pressoir - tractor pilot in Haiti
• Guatemala Log - tractor pilot
• Berea College - tractor pilot for 500 acre farm
• Cornell University - agriculture equipment pilot; leader in agriculture on the East Coast, USA
• Olin College - engineering development; radical engineering school
• Global TIES - U.C. San Diego - on machine development
• Adabio - Universal Implement Mount, tractor drawn implements

Implementation Priorities

• Establish Communication Channels - IRC, email, stack overflow, Twitter handle, Facebook group, wiki team page, CiviCRM contact base, True Fans Network? Invite LifeTrac Construction Set moderator.
• Establish Technical Review Team

OSE intends to build out a 50 hp 1.6 Liter Air Cooled VW engine-based Power Cube, followed by either Joe's 150hp PowerCube with the most efficient Honda engine - but that engine is $8k with radiator - or a Modern Steam Engine powered Power Cube. We need up to 300 hp for larger power machines like bulldozer, or for 200kW of electrical power generation for producing local steel with a 200 kW Induction Furnace.

Tehnical Strategies

I have been thinking about 4x4 tubing as the industry standard for OSE, in 3/16-1/2" wall thickness. This allows us to do everything from microtractor to tractor to bulldozer frames, backhoes + truck bodies + CNC Torch Table frame + Power Cube frames. For the latter, the power cube itself become highly structural and you can use the Power Cube itself as part of the vehicle frame. To do this, I am considering welded nuts inside the frame member so one could impact wrench the corners quickly and easily, or we can do metal connectors.

Links

• See also Precision Machining Construction Set
• Tractor Construction Set Design Guide
• GVCS Rollout Sequencing - 2012-2013 concept
• Prototyping Plan 2013
• 3 Month Prototyping Plan 2013