Western Front - 1992 July 1

              President's deeds don't live
up to his promise
Students provide a summer
of entertainment
Mostly sunny with tempera­tures
in the 50s to 70s
The Western Front
July 1,1992/Volume 84, Number 55 Western Washington University please recycle
VRI builds Viking XXI with commuter appeal
Michael Seal, director of Western's Vehicle Research Insti­tute,
with the frame of the Viking XXI which will be completed
early this summer.
Troy Schauls
staff reporter
and
Chong Kim
photo co-editor
Following in the "tire tracks" of
Viking XX, Western's most suc­cessful
alternative-fuel car to date,
the nearly completed Viking XXI
"solar electric parallel hybrid car" is
the next generation in a long line of
innovative automotive designs built
by Western's Vehicle Research In­stitute
(VRI) not only for competition,
but for the marketplace and roads of
the future.
The $250,000 Viking XXI is the
manifestation of an automotive vision
created by Michael Seal, director of
VRI. The Washington State Depart­ment
of Ecology donated $200,000,
and Bonneville Power Administration
and Puget Power each donated
$25,000 to the research project.
The Viking XXI is a sporty two-seater
powered by a combination of
solar panels which create electricity
and an internal-combustion engine
thatruns on natural gas; it is designed
to have a maximum range of more
than 300 miles and achieve a top
speed of 120 mph.
Brian Haines Jr., an industrial
technologies engineering major, said
the car has been in the design stage
since the fall of 1990 when the Viking
XX returned from Australia. Haines
is currently working at the VRI build­ing
a prototype frame out of steel. He
said if the steel prototype frame fits
the shell, the measurements used to
build the prototype will be used to
build the monocoque (one-piece)
frame from carbon fiber.
The Viking XX, lastyear'sproject
(now on its way to Seattle's Museum
of Science and Natural History for
display), took fifth place in the In­ternational
World Solar Challenge in
Australia in Nov. 1990.
"Viking XX was built to win
contests, and race across Australia...
it is hard to get in and out of, and
vision out of it isn't really good— in
short, as an [everyday] car it's not
very satisfactory," Seal said.
However, the 1,400 pound Vi­king
XXI was designed as a "real car"
that could be used every day. Its sleek
looks, extreme fuel economy, "zero
emissions" in the solar/electric mode,
and its ease of driving make this car
far more desirable and practical for
consumer applications than the Viking
XX.
John Arbak, senior, industrial
design major, is in charge of making
the interior of the car acceptable to the
general public. Arbak is currently
using a full-size mock-up made from
plywood as a model to design and
build the interior. Arbak said he and
three other students did preliminary
design work spring quarter and he is
pulling all the concepts together and
building the interior. He is using the
ergonomics concepts to help make
the car more comfortable. Arbak said
ergonomics is "a combination of
making it (the car) comfortable and
making thecontrols easily accessible."
He is looking at little things, such
as making a part of the dashboard
swing open with the door to make
getting in the car easier, and making
the steering wheel flat on the bottom
to increase leg room. Arbak is also
planning to put a control panel on the
ceiling of theinterior between the two
seats so that it will be reachable and
visible to both the passenger and the
driver.
For short distance, in city driving,
the Viking XXI uses two electric
motors powered by solar cells fixed
to the skyward facing surfaces of the
car's body or by nickel hydride bat­teries,
which can be recharged by the
solar cells or a standard wall outlet, to
power thefront wheels. An additional
electric motor drives the rear wheels,
when engaged, to provide improved
traction and additional power.
When longer distance and/or
higher speed driving is required, a
high performance, natural-gas burn­ing,
1200cc V4 Yamaha motorcycle
engine mated to a five-speed trans­mission
can be utilized additionally.
The Viking XXTs carbon-fiber
body will be fixed to a monocoque
chassis.
According to the technology
department's specification sheet for
the Viking XX, it will feature four-wheel
drive, four-wheel steering, fully
independent suspension, a regenera­tive
braking system that actually re­turns
up to 80 percent of the power
used by the motor back to thebatteries,
and a unique wheel-and-tire system
composed of carbon-fiber wheels that
each of which hold two separate tires.
The inner, high-pressure tires that
are in continuous contact with the
road provide stability and low-rolling
resistance while the outer, softer tires
grip the road during hard cornering
and hard braking.
"(Ergonomics is) a
combination of mak­ing
it (the car) com­fortable
and making
the controls easily
accessible."
-John Arbak,
Western Senior
The car will automatically switch
back and forth between the electric
and the internal combustion engine
using a program being written by
Steve Lacer Sr., an electrical technol­ogy
major. Lacer said the program
will be designed to sense how the car
is running and make a decision on
which engine to use.
Seal predicts the Viking XXI will
be able to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph
in less than ten seconds, which is
faster than most cars out on the road
today, and with very little or no pollu­tion.
The Viking XXI will also feature
many amenities that one might ex­pect
to find in a luxury-sports coupe,
which is what this car was designed to
be, Seal said. The conveniences of air
conditioning, a stereo system with a
CD-player and even a cellular phone
would also make this car a much
better place to potentially spend those
long commuting hours.
The Viking XXI was designed
with the commuter inmind. On cloudy
days, the car can travel about 200
miles at city speeds on natural gas,
causing a minimum of ecological
impact, since the Yamahamotor bums
fuel extremely efficiently, Seal said.
Onsunnydays, or on a full-battery
charge, it can travel a minimum of
100 miles or about three hours of city
driving. According to the technology
department's specification sheet, the
Viking XXI, like all electric cars, is
excellent for city driving because
when the car is at a stoplight, no
energy is used, except for internal
electronics such as a stereo. And the
batteries are also being charged by
the sun while the car is not moving.
Additionally, the "regenerative"
power-return system works when the
brakes are applied or when it is rolling
downhill, turning the motor into an
electric generator that sends power
back to the batteries, much like the
alternator recharges the battery on a
car of today.
Please see car, page 4
On-campus repaving temporarily reroutes pedestrian traffic
AmyWold
staff reporter
Getting into the Viking Union
this summer might require more in­genuity
than usual, but after the dust
of construction settles, a trip through
campus will be a little smoother and
greener.
Pedestrian traffic will bererouted
at various times, at Carriage Walk
(the walkway in front of Old Main),
Haggard Plaza and the Viking Union
Plaza due to construction andrepaving
of these areas from June 22 through
Sept. 11.
These areas posed tripping haz­ards
due to uneven bricks and loose
gravel and made some areas less ac­cessible.
Impact on students will be noise
from equipment, construction dust and
truck traffic at all sites according to
the Western's Facilities and Master
Planning Office newsletter. The cost
of the construction will be around
$312,000 and will come from capital
funds that are being used for Western's
Master Plan Program.
Construction plans also include
eliminating the stairs and ramp to the
north of the Viking Union. This will
become a one-level walkway.
New seating and landscaping
will be added to make these areas
more attractive, comfortable and
provide students with more places to
gather outdoors.
The concrete blocks that once
formed the walkway to the Viking
Union's main entrance will be re-
Construction work being done in front of the Viking Union
Plaza will cause traffic to be rerouted for several weeks this
summer.
placed by the more familiar brick to
aid accessibility.
"The brick paving should make
it much easier for wheelchairs and
walkers to get to Viking Union," Ed
Simpson said, facilities project offi­cer.
Haggard Plaza, between Wilson
Library and Haggard Hall, will also
be repaved and will include a planter
and irrigation system for the Empress
Tree. This tree's roots have been
pushing through the existing pave­ment
damaging its roots as well as
buckling the walkway.
Access will be maintained to
Wilson Library, Haggard Hall, the
Viking Union, Viking Commons and
the Student Co-op Bookstore
throughout the summer.