VECTOR
Vector was a critical step in creating a reliable and exiciting car. This version drastically increased the features and complexity of F0. We finally added dedicated steering, since the method of steering used on Gladiator only worked at high speeds and had an unnaceptably low turning radius. We also added cooling through the addition of a hood scoop, as well as a custom CNC machined baseplate to attach everything to, rather than the frame that Gladiator used.
First project with steering
Unlike Gladiator, we finally added steering to this version of F0. Although it was very rudimentary and prone to locking up, the development of Vector's steering column was a critical learning experience in the journey of developing a reliable mechanism
New cooling methods
The prominent hood scoop on the top of Vector was meant to cool the powerful NEO motors. Gladiator has issues with overheating, which was resolved in this iteration. The hood scoop gave us significant results, though we still needed more cooling.
Geared drive
As this development photo shows, Vector's motors were geared up to be faster while using less power, which we hoped would also resolve some of the cooling issues. This also resulted in a powerful sound as the gears meshed and moved the car at up to 80mph. This did, however, result in decreased torque, which was generally not a problem since the NEO motors already had much more torque than we needed.
