OSE-Wikispeed Hybrid Overview

Overview + Past Work

Updated May 23, 2013.

Wikispeed is an extremely promising project, and progress is steady by Team Wikispeed. Joe Justice is the leader of the effort. However, Joe has a full time job, and technical documentation available to the public is limited. OSE intends to address the latter via its build of the Wikispeed car.

OSE's version of the car is intended to be a Wikispeed-OSE hybrid. We intend to use th Complete Frame, Steering, Suspension, interior, and body modules. However, to make the Wikispeed car fit withing the OSE Product Ecology, we will use a hydraulic, 50 hp Power Cube. Currently, the Wikispeed car uses a 100 or 150 hp engine for racecar performance, but we will use the super-efficient VW bug Air-Cooled Engine to eliminate the radiator and simplify design, while potentially increasing the mileage.

Joe Justice's track record in simulations indicates 100 mpg performance. Given that a hydraulic drive train is 85% efficient, we are likely to get 85mpg if we design the car for superior aerodynamics.

We intend to use our under-development CNC Torch/Router Table to mill out foam cores for fiber body layout, resulting in state-of-art composite shell. We will aslo explore the feasibility of 3D printed bodies with our army of TAZ - similar to what has been done with Urbee. OSE has 1 working 3D printer right now, and 3 are expected within a week. We will be building other ones to complete our quest for HydraFabber.

Strategic Brief

It appears that the best route to developing the OSE-Wikispeed Hybrid is to:

• Invite a key Wikispeed builder to Factor e Farm. Spend 3 weeks preparing and 1 week for the build at Factor e Farm - for Frame, Suspension, Steering, Brakes, Wheels, Interior, and Body Mount modules.
• Tom Griffing is working on 50hp Power Cube, and Factor e Farm will build out 2 more of these at Factor e Farm. Need to buy engines now.
• Have OSE's Rob Kirk document the process so that Team Wikispeed retains its agile practices
• Develop car body from foam milling with OSE's CNC Torch/Router Table, currently under development
• Prototypy OSE's 3D printer as a larger-size machine that can print interlocking car body panels

Links

• Wikispeed TEDx Talk
• Report on Extreme Manufacturing in an external source - [1]
• Press Release - OSE-Wikispeed Collaboration
• Wikispeed Website
• Wikispeed YouTube Channel
• Wikispeed Facebook Page
• OSE YouTube Footage of Wikispeed
• Overview of Wikispeed Modular Design Method - Team Wikispeed Modularity
• CAD files of frame and wheels - Wikispeed CAD and Assembly
• Is there a file repository (Dropbox, Google Docs folder?)
• Link to direct wheel drive system on LifeTrac - on GrabCAD - [2]

OSE-Wikispeed Team

• The Joe Justice
• Rob Kirk - documentation and negotiation
• Matt Maier - open source technology transfer. He transfered files from Joe to the Wikispeed CAD and Assembly page.