Meeting the Clean Snowmobile Challenge

As spring fever hits many residents of Cache Valley this March, a group of Utah State University engineering students has nothing but snow on their minds. The students have designed and built an electric snowmobile that will compete in the seventh annual Clean Snowmobile Challenge in Michigan over spring break.

The Clean Snowmobile Challenge was started by the Society of Automotive Engineers as an effort to build environmentally friendly machines that will meet the 2012 federal emissions standards.

 

“We will compete against 15 other schools to see who has the greenest machine,” said Nathan Hansen, senior mechanical engineering student and team leader. “I think we have a great chance of winning.”

 

The USU team started with a snowmobile that Hansen and his father began tinkering on when he was in high school. As his senior year at USU approached, he thought it would make a great senior design project and enlisted the help of professor and department head Byard Wood.

 

After receiving approval from Wood, 11 other engineering students signed on to help with the project, including Paul Carpenter, senior, electrical and computer engineering; Scott Duhadway, freshman, mechanical and aerospace engineering; Steven Hanson, senior, mechanical and aerospace engineering; Nathaniel Hollingsworth, senior, mechanical and aerospace engineering; Jed Jenkins, senior, mechanical and aerospace engineering; Denton Johnson, senior, mechanical and aerospace engineering; Ashley Kelly, junior, mechanical and aerospace engineering; Justin Maughan, junior, civil and environmental engineering; Rob Silver, senior, electrical and computer engineering; Merin Swasey, senior, mechanical and aerospace engineering; and Ira Tibbits, junior, mechanical and aerospace engineering.

 

SAE challenged students to take a stock snowmobile and reengineer it to reduce emissions and noise while maintaining or improving performance. The USU team decided on an electric snowmobile because Hansen and his father had already started working in that direction. The snowmobile will be one of only three electric snowmobiles to compete in the competition. The other snowmobiles that compete will be gas powered.

 

Hansen said the advantages of an electric snowmobile include zero on-sight emissions as well as a considerably quieter motor than a conventional snowmobile.

 

“Our snowmobile is clean and quiet and could really help cut down on air and noise pollution in areas where snowmobile use is common, especially for utilitarian purposes,” said Hansen. “Our snowmobile could easily get around a snowy town in Michigan.”

 

In fact, the USU team’s snowmobile is so clean that the National Science Foundation plans to use the sled this summer in Greenland as a way to get around the polar ice caps without polluting the area.

 

As a recreational vehicle, the electric snowmobile isn’t favored — the USU sled tops out at a speed of 20 miles per hour. But Hansen said there is hope for the future and, as technology grows, an electric sled could easily compete with a conventional sled.

 

“When the technology improves and electric snowmobiles become more common, it could really make a big difference in cleaning up our nation’s backcountry areas that are popular with conventional snowmobilers,” said Hansen. “In fact, Yellowstone National Park donated the chassis of our snowmobile to us because it wanted to see where this research takes us.”

 

Hansen said working on the project with a group of classmates has made the sled what it is today.

 

“Collaborating with a group improved the snowmobile because so many different viewpoints and ideas were brought together,” said Hansen. “Hands-on projects are so much better than sitting in a classroom. I have learned so much, and as a group we are having so much fun.”

 

The group is excited to compete in Michigan, but is still working to raise funds for travel to the competition and to improve engineering of the snowmobile itself. Those interested in helping the team can email Hansen at ndhansen@cc.usu.edu or can contact Karen Zobell with USU’s department of mechanical and aerospace engineering at 435-797-0329.

 

For information on USU’s electric snowmobile, visit the project’s Web site. For information about the Clean Snowmobile Challenge, visit its Web site.

 

Contact: Nathan Hansen, ndhansen@cc.usu.edu

Writer: Maren Cartwright, (435) 797-1355, maren.cartwright@usu.edu