{"id":2424,"date":"2016-05-17T16:43:59","date_gmt":"2016-05-17T16:43:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fictiv.com\/?post_type=cpt_blog&#038;p=2424"},"modified":"2020-11-12T23:24:15","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T23:24:15","slug":"power-racing-series-build-part-1","status":"publish","type":"cpt_blog","link":"https:\/\/www.fictiv.com\/articles\/power-racing-series-build-part-1","title":{"rendered":"Power Racing Series Build Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Before the 2016 <a href=\"http:\/\/makerfaire.com\/bay-area\/\">Bay Area Maker Faire<\/a>, my inner-child set out on a goal to re-live the freedom I felt when I got my first car\u2014a 25lb plastic, electric blue, Power Wheels Jeep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Those of you who have attended the Bay Area Maker Faire may have seen the awesome PPPRS races. PPPRS stands for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.powerracingseries.org\/\">Pow-Pow Power Racing Series<\/a>\u2014a fun\/competitive racing circuit for makers, builders, and hardware enthusiasts that challenges teams to take those children\u2019s Power Wheel toys meant for children, and hack them until grown adults are squeezing in to fly around a track at 20+ MPH.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The result is a race that showcases great engineering and creativity, mixed in with <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/84550345\">a whole lot of road rage<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"660\" height=\"370\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.fictiv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/powerracingseries-image01.jpg\" alt=\"Bay Area Maker Faire Power Racing Series contestant\" class=\"wp-image-2426 lazyload\"\/><figcaption><em>A Power Racing Series contestant at the Bay Area Maker Faire<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Fictiv readers may recall the <a href=\"\/teardowns\/lamborghini-aventador-teardown\">teardown we did of the Rastar Lamborghini Aventador<\/a> a little while back. Since then, the body of the Lamborghini has been collecting dust in our office just waiting for a good project. The stars aligned!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"950\" height=\"633\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.fictiv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Lambo-teardown.jpg\" alt=\"Lambo teardown\" class=\"wp-image-2427 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fictiv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Lambo-teardown.jpg 950w, https:\/\/www.fictiv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Lambo-teardown-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 950px) 100vw, 950px\" \/><figcaption><em>Our Lambo teardown in progress<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>To get started, I reached out to San Francisco based product development consultancy, <a href=\"https:\/\/mindtribe.com\/\">Mindtribe<\/a>, hoping their engineers would donate some time and build space to help make it happen. Luckily for me, they jumped on board before I even had a chance to get into my sales pitch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jerry Ryle, VP of Engineering at Mindtribe, helped organize a group of 8 engineers, and I quickly threw a schedule together. We had four weeks and no time to waste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe class=\"lazyload\" loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Maker Faire Power Racing Series Electric Car Build: Part 1 | Fictiv\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/agLjSYCk5L8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption><em>Watch Fictiv and Mindtribe team members collaborate on our project for the Power Racing Series<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Primary Race Rules<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s the low-down on race rules:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Must be battery powered\u2014no more than 36v<\/li><li>Car build can cost no more than $500 (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.powerracingseries.org\/rules\">some exceptions<\/a>)<\/li><li>Car must go from top speed to full stop in less than 18\u2019<\/li><li>Vehicle must be smaller than 62\u201d long and 36\u201d wide<\/li><li>Must have padded front and rear bumpers 4 to 6 inches off the ground<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>You can see the full set of race rules <a href=\"http:\/\/www.powerracingseries.org\/rules\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Project Kickoff &amp; PRD<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"950\" height=\"633\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.fictiv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Power-racing-series-image02.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2428 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fictiv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Power-racing-series-image02.jpg 950w, https:\/\/www.fictiv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Power-racing-series-image02-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 950px) 100vw, 950px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Before we started anything, it was important to align on project goals. With just 4 weeks before race weekend and only having access to a build space for a few hours a week, we needed to prioritize what was critical to the success of our Power Wheels racing car and set realistic expectations for how it would perform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To do this, we started a rough Product Requirements Document (PRD), which outlined all the agreed-upon features and served as our guiding source of truth as we encountered forks in the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Essentially, all decisions we made from this point forward would need to work toward the features established in the PRD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since we were working with such a short timeline, we all agreed that we wouldn\u2019t be able to design and weld a new frame. This meant we needed to source an existing frame that could be heavy, forcing us to improve other areas of the car that would mitigate the added weight. After a long brainstorming session (and lots of googling), we decided on these features:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Acceleration is more important than top speed<\/li><li>48\u201d turning radius<\/li><li>Batteries must last 40 minutes before replacing<\/li><li>Batteries must take less than 1 minute to change<\/li><li>Car must stop within 18\u2019<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What\u2019s Next?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Since we were running on a tight deadline and a tight budget, purchasing the right components the first time was critical. The PRD allowed us to break into teams and have each team take on the responsibility of researching, calculating and choosing the right components for different systems of the car. In our case, we divided into three teams that were each responsible for the drivetrain, steering, and braking systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img class=\"lazyload\" decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/daks2k3a4ib2z.cloudfront.net\/5654e7207deb65b23ea76b73\/573b5b9e6eb537014285770d_Power%20racing%20series-.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>We knew we&#8217;d need to push hard to test everything before the big race and leave enough time to choose the perfect moxie-point-worthy race outfits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the <a href=\"\/articles\/power-racing-series-build-part-2\">next post in the series<\/a>, we share some tips on sourcing the right components (including some helpful calculators that can be applied to a variety of engineering problems), challenges we ran into during the build, and how we let our hacker spirits out for some creative problem solving.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Before the 2016 Bay Area Maker Faire, my inner-child set out on a goal to re-live the freedom I felt when I got my first car\u2014a 25lb plastic, electric blue, Power Wheels Jeep. Those of you who have attended the Bay Area Maker Faire may have seen the awesome PPPRS races. PPPRS stands for Pow-Pow [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":2429,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","fictiv_role":[29],"fictiv_topic":[57],"fictiv_industry":[63,40],"fictiv_manufacturing_process":[],"coauthors":[75],"class_list":["post-2424","cpt_blog","type-cpt_blog","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","fictiv_topic-fictiv-updates"],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.2 (Yoast SEO v24.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Power Racing Series Build Part 1 - Fictiv<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn how we are building a $500 miniature electric car with Mindtribe for the crazy and awesome Power Racing Series at Maker Faire.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fictiv.com\/articles\/power-racing-series-build-part-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Power Racing Series Build Part 1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn how we are building a $500 miniature electric car with Mindtribe for the crazy and awesome Power Racing Series at Maker Faire.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.fictiv.com\/articles\/power-racing-series-build-part-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fictiv\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-11-12T23:24:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.fictiv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Power-racing-series-hero.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"950\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"633\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"Sunny Sahota\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fictiv.com\/articles\/power-racing-series-build-part-1\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.fictiv.com\/articles\/power-racing-series-build-part-1\",\"name\":\"Power Racing Series Build Part 1 - Fictiv\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fictiv.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fictiv.com\/articles\/power-racing-series-build-part-1#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fictiv.com\/articles\/power-racing-series-build-part-1#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.fictiv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Power-racing-series-hero.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-05-17T16:43:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-11-12T23:24:15+00:00\",\"description\":\"Learn how we are building a $500 miniature electric car with Mindtribe for the crazy and awesome Power Racing Series at Maker Faire.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fictiv.com\/articles\/power-racing-series-build-part-1#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.fictiv.com\/articles\/power-racing-series-build-part-1\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fictiv.com\/articles\/power-racing-series-build-part-1#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.fictiv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Power-racing-series-hero.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.fictiv.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Power-racing-series-hero.jpg\",\"width\":950,\"height\":633},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fictiv.com\/articles\/power-racing-series-build-part-1#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.fictiv.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Articles\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.fictiv.com\/articles\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Power Racing Series Build Part 1\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fictiv.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.fictiv.com\/\",\"name\":\"Fictiv\",\"description\":\"On-Demand Manufacturing, CNC Machining &amp; 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