Project Eclipse: Nov 10 to Nov 17 Update

Back in the Car Club, the challenging process of design and construction continues on our BR Spirit Car.

Mr. Mule's senior level Design Technology students have accepted the task of designing the general layout for the subwoofers, amplifiers and TV in the back of the Eclipse. This is not an easy task, as the interior space of the sports car must be taken into consideration, as well as the positioning of the high power speakers in relation to the delicate computer monitor.

Mr. Da Silva visited room 206 to check on their progress and found some incredible designs!

From the design tech submissions, we will narrow down a final design to accommodate all the components of the audio video system and start construction quite soon.

Meanwhile, at the front of the vehicle, we removed the passenger side airbag, as the vehicle will not be driven on the roads. We will use the airbag cavity to mold a holder for the ten inch Android tablet that will be used to send music and slideshows through the sound system and onto the rear display.

With the cavity empty, we wrapped the cavity in foil tape and fibreglassed it to take an impression of the cavity. We then shaped the new fibreglass shell for our next step.

While the mold continued to harden, some SHSM students helped remove the rear seat belts from the vehicle, as the rear seats will be ditched in order to make room for the sound system.

The small tablet plate was designed on AutoCad and plotted out on the CNC machine in the woodshop so that it could hold the tablet while concealing all of its wiring, including the HDMI, power and USB cables.

We sanded down the final example of the tablet bracket, after some minor adjustments. The bracket will be molded in front of the airbag cavity.

With a lot of fibreglass work, some shaping, and a little paint, the idea is to make the tablet look as though it belongs in the vehicle's dashboard, ready for action!

The final thing Car Club worked on was building a false floor into the rear of the Eclipse. By using tape and foil paper, we transferred a rough shape of the trunk floor onto plywood and cut it out with a jigsaw. We then calculated and cut an opening which will house two high power batteries to help deliver the current required to power the Kicker Audio system.

By next Car Club, students should be further in the design and construction of the first fibreglassed components for the audio system. We also hope to get our hands on a mobile PC computer and double din video deck for the Eclipse by then. The hard work continues and Mr. DaSilva remains proud of the dedication of the various Car Club and SHSM students who volunteer their time to building a custom work of art to represent tech achievement at BR for years to come!

See you next week!

Project Eclipse: Oct 27 - Nov 3 Update

Welcome back to Car Club!

Mr. Da Silva has been updating the blog every two weeks since we have slowed the rebuild for a short period of time while we transition from the Eclipse's interior system design to layout and construction.

Here's the status of the rebuild over the last two weeks...

While newbie Car Club students were being taught automotive maintenance by the veteran members of senior grades, a few SHSM students spent time trying to diagnose why the Eclipse developed a small water leak in the hatch area while it sat outside on a rainy day. 

Two students stayed in the vehicle and marked off a source of water entry while another student sprayed the vehicle with a garden  hose. We noted the area in need of sealing and soaked up the water with sawdust. We also discovered a small leak from the driver's window weather stripping as it leaked onto the driver's floor. We will have to figure out a way to seal out both sources of leaks.

Students also had time to set up a promo banner to acknowledge Gemsen's generous donation of more audio equipment for our project.

Back at the rear of the vehicle, students helped remove the spare tire bracket from the tire well so we could free up enough space for the installation of a special Absorbed Glass Mat battery, which will safely power the sound system when it is on location. We need to install this special type of battery in the vehicle so that it will not create dangerous gases like normal lead-acid car batteries do under the hood.

Another Car Club member helped remove the passenger side Air Bag so that we could add a special feature to the vehicle. In it's place, we intend to mould a special pod for an Android tablet. It will be hooked up to the rear main video screen and used for music broadcasting as well as real-time on board engine diagnostics.

Mr. Mule's Wood Shop club members were able to assist in the creation and routering of special subwoofer rings, which will serve as mounting points for the four ten inch subs.

Finally, as Project Eclipse continues, Mr. Mule's Tech Design students accept the challenge to design the interior structure for the sound system of the Eclipse. The job is far from easy, and we continue to experiment with various design layouts, eventually determining the optimum placement for all the cool components of the audio/video system before we begin the custom fibreglass work!

Car Club will continue its efforts throughout the winter to create an exciting model of teamwork and student success for the Bishop Reding community!

Stay tuned for the next update!