Advanced BioFuels USA

by Dave Schenker (Greenspeed Research)  The major happenings in 2015 that you might remember:

1. In March, Greenspeed Research became a federally recognized 501(c)(3) charitable organization, with a mission to create learning opportunities for the STEM disciplines and renewable energy sources. This was a HUGE step in the development of the GsR legacy, and definitely legitimatizes our efforts over the last few years. In addition, it brings another avenue of support and fundraising to GsR.

1. In May, Dave finally joined the ranks of all original members of the Greenspeed student club by graduating from Boise State University. …

His Senior Design project consisted of working with four other students to build a water-brake style engine dyno for GsR, with fairly massive power absorption potential. This device will put many new capabilities in the GsR “toolshed”.

2. In July, GsR got the first annual GsR High-school Solar Go-Kart Challenge (SGKC) off the ground, in partnership with Boise State University, Painless Performance, Dagley Solar, Treasure Valley Clean Cities Coalition, and the Reuseum! This program put a gas powered go-kart and all the parts needed for converting to 100% solar power in the hands of high school students. We worked closely with the teams, getting everybody to the start line. 50% of the Challenge was their Design Presentation. Each team had to get up in front of a panel of four working engineers, explaining their design choices, the challenges they overcame, and the skills they learned (teamwork and problem solving were at the top of everybody’s list). The next day, everybody was able to participate in the Sprint and Relay races around a closed course on the Boise State University campus. Fun was had by all, and we are working hard to grow this program into something much bigger. We need your help to do this, so please expect a phone call at some point in the near future!

3. Right after the SGKC wrapped up, we found out the Bonneville Salt Flats were in no condition to support even one car, let alone the 600 entered in 2015 Speed Week. This was heart breaking news to the entire team, especially the GsR interns who had been working hard on updating the National Instruments data logging system. But what can you do?? Well, one thing you can do is get involved with www.savethesalt.org! They are a group of folks who have been working tirelessly for years to protect the salt flats. They get our support (only our moral support for now) and deserve yours as well.

4. In August, GsR sent out a press release introducing the Convergence Bio-diesel Trophy Truck (CTT)project. We had big plans to get the build done quickly and make the starting line of the SCORE International BAJA1000 race in mid-November. Well, as you might have noticed, we didn’t make that deadline. With massive delays in sourcing the raw material needed to even get the chassis going, we basically started two months behind. This extra time did allow for a few refinements to the design, but overall was a huge setback and blow to the project. As those of you who have been following us for a while know well, we didn’t/couldn’t/wouldn’t let it get us down. The last few months have been some of the hardest yet for GsR, but we are more determined than ever to see this truck to the finish line of many off-road courses in the near (and distant) future!! With many of the chassis and drivetrain components either in the shop or on the way here, some of our biggest hurdles left are shocks, tires, navigation, seats, and comms. The guys have some pretty innovative ideas to tackle these areas, but need partners to bring those ideas to life.

5. In September, the GsR crew had one helluva road trip. We went to El Mirage for the September meet, with a detour to the “other” middle of nowhere desert, the Johnson Valley. In Johnson Valley, Patrick had the opportunity to co-drive a Class 9 buggy in the KC-Lites Midnight Special race. 3 laps staring in the late afternoon meant for a long race into the night. On the second lap, Patrick was shoved into the driver seat, successfully and safely piloting the car while driver 1 (Paul Robinson-9 Lives Racing, car owner) recovered from overheating (it was about 900* out there). A great time was had by all, and a new chapter of GsR had officially begun. Hours after that race ended, Dave, Patrick, and Ed headed across the freeway to El Mirage for what would end up the only GsR landspeed record attempt of 2015. With a handful of the new Green Energy Education Club (GEECs for short) members on hand, the team was prepped and ready for the run. With the truck running the 12-valve engine Northwest Motor Machine had just wrapped up especially for El Mirage and 100% food grade vegetable oil, it was decided the truck would have visible flames coming off it before turning off course. Well, no visible flames, but the truck completely lost power at about the halfway mark. Dave coasted the rest of the waythrough the lights, and GsR still upped the old veggie oil record (even if it was only by about 1 mph…). Upon tearing the engine down, a lost freeze plug was found on the back of the block. One of these days we’ll make it…

After those few days of fun, Dave and Patrick made a quick trip into the LA basin to pick up the laser cut tubes and swing by CP-Carrillo for a pic of the truck in front of HQ before heading back to Idaho.

6. December brought the first GsR visit to PRI. It was a great time, and we are planning to be back as much as possible. As always, it was great visiting with many of our sponsors, and making some new friends!

7. December also brought the number selection for the Convergence TT. A comparison of the numbers available for both SCORE International and Best in the Desert narrowed the selection to two choices, Patrick’s birth year and a number very special to one of our very special sponsors, FK Rod Ends. With the flip of a grinding disc, the number “49” became the official number of the first bio-diesel powered trophy truck!! (HINT, 49 is not Patrick’s birth year…) Keep your eyes peeled for a lot more news about TT49!!

New Sponsors and Donors:

2015 saw an influx of new sources of support. On the CTT side of things, Idaho Mountain Builders stepped in to make the tube chassis material possible, JD Squared donated a die for our borrowed tubing bender so we could bend that chassis material, Bend-Tech provided software to make bending those tubes an easy task, Superior Steel took us under their wing and used their massive plate brakes to bend all the chassis sheetmetal components, bringing very intricate, refined designs to life. We have partnered with Adrenaline Truck Performance and Custom Auto for the engine build for this vehicle. Custom Auto will handle the hard parts and ATP will be tuning the truck. Both of these companies have extensive experience with the Duramax platform and are committed to building ground-breaking engine. ARP has come on board to handle the engine fasteners. The ECCO Safety Group right here in Boise is providing all lighting (through their X-Ray Vision brand) and noisemaking (best part of a trophy truck?? Rulebook requires a siren!!) for the race vehicle and support vehicles. Patrick spent a year leading a team of volunteers building this truck in Solidworks (big thanks to RJ, Jonathan, Phil, and Gabe!), all to exacting tolerances, attainable only through high-performace laser cutting. Two local companies have donated extensive laser-cutting to GsR, JB Laser and Metalcraft in order for this thing to come to life. Once the truck is rolling, it will be covered with a FiberwerX fiberglass body that we are enjoying jockeying around the shop. READ MORE