Wayne White Custom F1 Prototype
Wayne White
July 30, 2003

As Posted on www.formula-rc.com

Innovation
I was highly involved in a club in high school known as the Technology Student Association. Every year, this club enters competitions at various levels including the annual state conference at Seven Springs, PA. This site, thanks to a local hobby shop, hosts a radio controlled car race. Points are awarded not only to strong finishes, but also for car modifications.

There are a variety of rules in this particular event. Two major rules: 1)the motor must remain stock and 2)the vehicle can only be two wheel drive. There is usually a field of forty teams with three members per team that compete. Of these numerous teams, only very few actually make any modifications. One of the more popular modifications seen, was making battery changes a quicker task. In most chassis, this is not a major problem and does not require a lot of work.

With the true meaning of technology, my brother Walter, decided to try to receive some sort of sponsorship from a company that would be willing to manufacture numerous chassis for us. Walter and I both had a pretty good understanding of many CAD programs so we decided to start emailing several companies that specialize in stereolithography and selective laser sintering.

F1 Technology
Stereolithography, also known as 3d layering or 3d printing, allows you to create solid, plastic, 3d objects from CAD drawings in a matter of hours. Whether you are a mechanical engineer(which is what I will pursue at Penn State), wanting to verify the fit of a part or an inventor looking to create a plastic prototype of an invention, stereolithography gives you a fast, easy way to turn CAD drawings into real objects. Stereolithography is quite an expensive process. The stereolithography machines themselves usually cost in excess of $750,000. They have to be vented because of fumes created by the polymer and the solvents. The polymer itself is extremely expensive. CibaTool SL5170 resin, a common photopolymer used in stereolithography, typically costs about $800/gallon. For these reasons, it is uncommon to find stereolithography machines anywhere but in large companies.

In 1986, 3D Systems founded the rapid prototyping industry and has since become the world leader in this area. Since 1999, 3D Systems has broadened their horizons into direct manufacturing. 3D Systems is a technical partner of various Formula 1 teams such as Renault, Jaguar, and Minardi. Rapid prototyping in Formula 1 is crucial to maintain the car's performance. Developing a winning car is much more feasible with this technology as labor times are considerably less. Producing and manufacturing various parts to be tested in a wind tunnel or structurally tested are much more expedient to these teams because of this technology. This cutting edge technology has been provided to me for the last two years.

WW Designs
Going solo this last year with the 3D Systems sponsorship saw me design two unique cars: the WW02I chassis and the WW03B, where "WW" stands for Wayne White, 02 stands for the year, and I stands for the last design month- this being the ninth. Anyway, the first chassis was to be a "gt" style racer, a wider car much like a pan car. It would have all the features of a simple pan car, but house the possibility for a rigid battery mount that would allow for quick changes under race conditions. The car was to be a true road racer; thus, I decided to mount the battery laterally with the chassis. Also, the rear end was totally redesigned featuring a three-shock concept with a much shortened t-bar. One shock would control the front to back motion while the other two would control the side to side movement. The rear portion of the chassis also housed radio and esc housing. The front of the chassis saw the servo centered in the vehicle and standing up. By doing this, I made a much stronger structure. The chassis itself really doesn't resemble a pan car at all because it is much more than a pan. All the vertices are connected and there are actually two distinct levels of the structure.

The next chassis was to be totally different than any other car ever designed. The WW03B chassis saw nearly 400 hours of design work in AutoCAD 2002/2004 and Rhinoceros V2/V3. I really wanted to test the advantages and disadvantages of mounting the battery longitudinally as well. Thus, with this in mind, I started developing rough sketches and ideas. I wanted the transmission to give me large amounts of torque, but in a controlled fashion. With the restriction of the battery lying parallel with the motion of the car, I found that I needed to save space in the steering department. I found a part at Towerhobbies made by EMS Jomar called a linear servo converter for Futaba S-148 servos. I was quick to snatch this and a couple other unique parts for my car including some Powerline mini shocks, an HPI 2 speed for RC10T2 trucks, some Novak electronics, and Tamiya F1 tires.

Everything else like the rims, the body, the wing set, chassis, and suspension parts were designed by myself and built by 3D Systems using stereolithography. This aspect of a sponsorship is really rewarding; to be able to use CAD is quite special, but to be able to actually see what you designed in a physical sense is very cool. The Formula 1 car houses a true gem in the transmission area. I used the Stealth transmission (the differential, the idle gear, and output shaft) as a template for my transmission, but mine was going to be for pure racing. The gears are virtually as low as possible bringing the weight of the vehicle lower and saving a lot of space vertically. The transmission also allows for a two speed- a feature I was quick to pounce on. Two gears gives the car so much more options - so much more quickness. The torque provided from this transmission is really amazing and the top end doesn't suffer at all.

The suspension work is ingenious as well. The full time independent suspension is just a precursor to the large innovation here. The suspension is actually a dynamic one-left and right shocks affected by each other. This assists in the cornering power enormously. Most conventional suspensions are static and don't guarantee that all four wheels will always have equal contact with the ground at all times. This suspension works on a central pivot point-a point where both shocks mount to. When making a turn, the pressure is quite extensive on the outside wheel. This brings much of the force back to the inside wheel as well, which allows for great stability. The battery is mounted as low as possible under the esc and radio pieces. It can be taken out by removing one of the two pins and pulling it out. It is very quick. All of these features help to create one great technical car.

From Design to the Real Thing
When I am done with all the CAD work, I would usually have various people review the files to make sure all the tolerances are within reason, etc. Then, I would email all the files in a compressed format to 3D Systems. From there, a technician would interpret all the data and verify that all the files can be built. Ecstasy arrived two weeks later when I would receive all my stereolithography manufactured parts. The first time opening the large boxes was like opening a Christmas present when you're a little kid. I would then analyze everything and make sure everything was going to work. Some pieces would take further modification due to incorrect measurements by myself. All the parts were always how I had designed them - this is extremely amazing since I had not even put any physical labor into the parts. Each part was built at least twice, using stereolithography, to allow for me to keep a complete car while building one for the company to keep as well. This speaks miles as well as the cars have traveled to Japan and Italy. The building would begin at this point.

The car just started undergoing some basic tests in the last week. It will continue to undergo various tests and then be sent back to the company for internal promotions. The car has great amounts of torque, a decent top end right now, and acceptable handling. After two more weeks, I will be sure to hit the "sweet spot" and then ship it back late July. I will definitely have high quality video footage and pictures galore.

I would like to thank John Murray, who is 3D Systems' senior director of business development for motorsports and Stewart Davis, the technical contact. A big thanks goes out to 3D Systems for making these cars possible.