Car

OSCar Concept

Overview

The Open Source Car is an automobile designed solely for transporting passengers.

Detailed Description

The OS Car will be a lightweight and aerodynamic two passenger long range car that will be fueled with ethanol biodiesel. The current plan is for the car to have a reverse trike configuration: two front wheels and one rear wheel which is the only driven wheel. The two main benefits of the reverse trike design are lower cost and weight due to one less wheel, and lower wind drag due to the rain drop shape of the body. The construction of the car will be a steel space frame covered with non-structural polymer or composite panels. The proposed powertrain is a hybrid hydraulic system which includes a single cylinder engine that runs a hydraulic pump which directly powers a hydraulic wheel motor used to drive the car and which compresses a gas in an accumulator to store energy. Gas in the accumulator will also be compressed via regenerative braking when the hydraulic motor is run in reverse to slow the car down. Cost control and quick development will be maintained by using donor vehicle parts and off-the-shelf parts. Components that cannot be easily manufactured such as brake calipers, steering knuckles, and rims will be sourced from a donor vehicle and components such as instruments, wiring, and hydraulic components will be off-the-shelf components.

As the car design matures, some components from donor vehicles and off-the-shelf components can be replaced by scratch-built open source components. If desired, forks can be spawned from the original project for variants such a four or five passenger car, or perhaps a car with a hybrid electric powertrain.

Product Ecology

Uses

• Furnace - Steel
• Industrial Robot - Fabrication
• Welder - Fabrication
• Torch Table - Fabrication
• 3D Printer - Body, castings
• Multimachine - Engine, axles
• Power Cube - Lightweight variant
• Hydraulic Motor - Powertrain

Works with

• CEB - Brick roads
• Concrete Mixer - Concrete roads

Components

• Wheels
• Windows
• Frame
• Engine
• Drivetrain
• Suspension
• Controls
• Steering Column
• AC
• Brakes
• Lights

Status

The Open Source Car is currently in the Research Phase of product development.

See Also

• River Simple Urban Car
• UEV Zero - a brazilian project
• OSCar Project - German project]
• OSCar UK - UK project
• OSCar - Netherlands project
• The Rally Fighter - a completed open-source car
• HyrBan, an open-source, hydrogen-powered car. In prototype phase.

The Global Village Construction Set
Habitat	CEB Press	Cement Mixer	Sawmill	Bulldozer	Backhoe
Agriculture	Tractor	Seeder	Hay Rake	Well-Drilling Rig
	Microtractor	Soil Pulverizer	Spader	Hay Cutter	Trencher
	Bakery Oven	Dairy Milker	Microcombine	Baler
Industry	Multimachine	Ironworker	Laser Cutter	Welder	Plasma Cutter
	CNC Torch Table	Metal Roller	Rod and Wire Mill	Press Forge	Universal Rotor
	3D Printer	3D Scanner	CNC Circuit Mill	Industrial Robot	Chipper Hammermill
	Drill Press	Induction Furnace
Energy	Power Cube	Gasifier Burner	Solar Concentrator	Electric Motor Generator	Hydraulic Motor
	Steam Engine	Heat Exchanger	Wind Turbine	Pelletizer	Universal Power Supply
	Nickel-Iron Battery
Materials	Aluminum Extractor	Bioplastic Extruder
Transportation	Car	Truck
Key	Design	Planning	Prototype	Almost done	Full Release