Home : Volume 28 : Winter 2002 :
sNOw LIMIT: Building a cleaner snowmobile

ME students (from left) Dave Trettin, Ethan Brodsky, Jake Allen and Chris Martinek spent a portion of finals week gearing up for next spring's Clean Snowmobile Challenge. (34K JPG)

The snowmobile trails may be a little less congested this winter, as 15 mechanical engineering students trade snow boots for work gloves. These students are joining 16 universities in the Clean Snowmobile Challenge, another collegiate design competition from the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).

The contest challenges students to reengineer an existing snowmobile for reduced emissions and noise while maintaining or improving the performance characteristics of the original snowmobile. The modified snowmobiles are also expected to be cost-effective.

The first step in modifying the new Polaris snowmobile will be adding a motorcycle engine. "Snowmobiles usually have two-stroke engines, which are less efficient than four-stroke motorcycle engines," said Glenn Bower, the team's faculty advisor. "While this engine is more environmentally friendly, it adds weight to the snowmobile. To compensate, the students selected a 110 horsepower engine."

Team leader and mechanical engineering student Dave Trettin explained this tactic will make the UW-Madison team stand out in competition. "As far as we are aware, no other team is using an engine control unit for control of emissions," said Trettin. Using a Mototron control system, UW-Madison's snowmobile will convert the original carbureted engine into a closed-loop port-injection engine. Using exhaust catalysts, this snowmobile will be cleaner, quieter and more fuel-efficient than commercial sleds.

"ME students learn about these techniques in their classes, and projects like this allow them to apply their engineering theory," said Bower. "They have to design the new snowmobile, build what they've designed, then test what they've built. If it doesn't work the first time, they do it again."

The third annual competition will be held in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, during the last week of March.

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Date last modified: Thursday, 14-Feb-2002 14:07:00 CST
Date created: 14-Feb-2002

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