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The University of Southampton
Engineering

Project quad bike. Engineering students provide a sustainable solution

Published: 2 May 2016
The group with their quad bike
The group with their quad bike

Can an ordinary quad bike be converted from petrol to electric power to make it more environmentally friendly?

Eight University of Southampton fourth year mechanical engineering students are working on the concept as part of their Group Design Project. “It’s a real technical challenge of course but it’s more than just engineering,” explains MEng undergraduate Chris Mansbridge. “We had to convince the quad bike’s owners that we could successfully manage the conversion and now we have to make it work – no pressure!

“Electric power is going to be very important in years to come and ‘hands on’ projects such as ours could be a step on the road to help engineers develop sustainable ways of transport to replace vehicles that use fossil fuels.”

The 4x4 bike belongs to the University’s Science Park and Chilworth Conservation Ltd and is used in an area of ecological importance with ancient woodland, grassland, meadow and an arboretum. Supervisor Professor Suleiman Sharkh suggested the team approach the bike’s owners about the project. “They asked us to present a case for the conversion, explaining what we planned to do and how we would achieve the task,” adds Chris. “As they agreed it wasn’t the greenest of vehicles to use in the Chilworth Manor Estate, they were happy for us to carry out the work.”

The GDP – EVC Soton, worth 30 percent of the group’s final year marks, began in September with the negotiations and now takes up a great deal of their time as the deadline nears. The students work in two groups to tackle the mechanical and electronic elements of the project and use the University’s world-class facilities including state-of-the-art manufacturing workshops and an electromechanical laboratory. They have secured valuable assistance from REAP Systems which has donated the 16 lithium ion batteries and provided a battery management system to power the bike.

Fellow group member Mikas Urbsas adds: “This is an excellent project because we have a real client and a challenging real world problem. We have to work together to succeed and failure isn’t an option.” Earlier in his time at Southampton he was part of the University’s team in the Formula Student motorsport competition, working on the suspension, steering and brakes. Mikas says that helped him develop many valuable skills both for the GDP and his future career.

“It’s really valuable to take part in real life projects like this, putting all the theory we have learned over the years into practice,” says Chris. “In addition, we have learned to work well as a team and it has certainly improved our project and time management skills. This is a great way to end our studies at the University of Southampton.”

Also in the team are Nikesh Patel, Yew Jin Toh, Hong Ye Chew, Wei Yang Alvin Lau, Miguel Angel Plaza Molina and Yik Tsun Shiu.

Find out more about our engineering design projects on the Design Show blog

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