Fuel cell-powered Chem-E-Car tears its way through the halls of Cooper Union

If you've been near Astor Place in Manhattan lately you might've noticed the absolutely stunning bit of architecture that comprises the new Cooper Union building, and we had a visit the other day to check out a few end-of-year projects by students. One that particularly caught our eye was the competitive Chem-E-Car, from a team lead by Anthony Tantuccio. The team won the national competition in 2007, is advancing to nationals again this year, and has sunk quite a bit of tech into its vehicle. At the competition the contestants are given a distance and a payload on the spot and given an hour to prep their vehicle -- through the tweaking of gears and the shuffling of chemical reactions -- to hit that distance. Follow after the break to see how they do with about 15 minutes to work out some Engadget-prepped figures.

Fuel cell-powered Chem-E-Car tears its way through the halls of Cooper Union

[kluesman Posted Jun 4th 2010 11:23AM]

That's cool! This technology would be awesome to replace batteries in toys. And possibly real cars.

[NikAmi Posted Jun 4th 2010 2:51PM]

@kluesman If I understood the guy correctly, the car isn't powered by the chemicals, they just use the chemicals to time when to stop the car. So, I really don't see the point to this as any number of digital sensors that exists can perform this at a much higher degree of precision.

[NikAmi Posted Jun 4th 2010 2:53PM]

@NikAmi OK, my bad...I just re-watched the video and he does specifically say "power the car and stop the car by chemical reaction" so...cool beans guys.

[boe Posted Jun 4th 2010 11:25AM]

I guess I'm missing the point of this. If it ran for 5 days on the 4AA cells that would impress me but I didn't see it stop in time, I didn't see it maintain a straight line, I didn't see in mix the liquid solution. Was the whole point that it didn't use a computer for accuracy? Batteries run on a chemical reaction, so why not just control the capacity on the batteries so they meet the demands of the payload vs distance equation.

[antuccio Posted Jun 5th 2010 10:52PM]

The point is to use a chemical reaction to control when the car will stop. You can use your own man made chemical batteries, but good luck trying to calibrate when they should run out.

[Zaro27 Posted Jun 4th 2010 11:25AM]

This is interesting and everything, but how viable is it for anything more than just scooting a little toy across the floor?

[paper1337 Posted Jun 4th 2010 11:39AM]

@Zaro27 Never underestimate the value of scooting a little toy across the floor.

[nikescar Posted Jun 4th 2010 11:38AM]

Very cool. Trying to accurately predict a chemical reaction in this circumstance can't be very easy.

[tikigawd Posted Jun 4th 2010 12:23PM]

Ahh, college days playing with robots. Good times

[Timerider Posted Jun 4th 2010 12:26PM]

That just looks cool.
Also, isn't that the same fuel cell as this:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/25/horizons-h-cell-2-0-hydrogen-fuel-cell-for-r-c-cars-now-shippin/

[antuccio Posted Jun 5th 2010 10:53PM]

Same company different model.

[sparky25890 Posted Jun 4th 2010 12:45PM]

I think Toyota has been featuring this technology…

[Vaughanabe13 Posted Jun 4th 2010 1:29PM]

I love my MSI Wind. Such a great netbook, and highly upgradeable.