Fluid Powered Vehicle Challenge: Team Soulenoid Cycle

The National Fluid Power Association is a trade association that unifies customers and manufacturers within the hydraulics industry. Extending their partnership to universities, the annual Fluid Powered Vehicle Competition challenges college teams to design, build, and test a fluid-powered vehicle with the goal of educating students about the hydraulics industry and building career connections. Soulenoid Cycle produced the next iteration of Cal Poly’s fluid powered vehicle for the 2021 competition. This report summarizes research, ideation, component selection, initial and final design, manufacturing, and competition results conducted by Soulenoid Cycle. Relevant research includes successful current and past vehicles, the operation of a hydraulic propulsion system, and popular controller and sensor choices for hydraulic systems. Based on the requirements of the competition, performance of competitors, and guidance from a previous Cal Poly team, Soulenoid Cycle identified three major areas of improvement for this year’s competing vehicle: sprint time, hydraulic efficiency, and mechatronics. Development of the goals and objectives discussed in this report were critical to the success of this project. By solidifying a foundation of preliminary research, defining the scope of work, and making initial design and component selections, Soulenoid Cycle was successful when approaching final vehicle design and manufacturing, and the 2021 Fluid Powered Vehicle Competition