Tokyo Tech News

Pipe Frame Car Race 2015

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Published: September 4, 2015

July 21 was another scorching day in Japan, but at Tokyo Tech, the real heat was on the racetrack. It was the day of the widely anticipated Tokyo Tech PFC Race, an annual event showcasing pipe frame cars built by 3rd-year undergraduate students in the Department of Metallurgical Engineering. The race is traditionally held on the deck in front of the Main Building on Ookayama Campus.

  • Team SUPERCUB50's compact trike-like design

    Team SUPERCUB50's compact
    trike-like design

  • Team Deca 4-Wheel Drive focus on comfort with an adjustable seat

    Team Deca 4-Wheel Drive
    focus on comfort
    with an adjustable seat

  • Team AOTULE steer back and front wheels with hands and feet

    Team AOTULE steer back and front wheels
    with hands and feet

Pipe frame cars are electric vehicles powered by lead batteries. Aluminum pipes, tires, electric motors, and lead batteries are provided to student teams who then design and build original vehicles. While providing entertainment and generating excitement and mirth among the audience, the race is also the final presentation of the undergraduate course, and running performance, design, and endurance of the cars are evaluated.

Grid line-up
Grid line-up

SUPERCUB50's smooth cornering

SUPERCUB50's smooth cornering

The PFC Race has two categories: a time trial involving one lap around the circuit, and a thirty-minute endurance race. This year, the five Tokyo Tech teams, made up of sixteen students, were joined by two pipe frame cars from SUS Co., Ltd.

  • Team 192 Racing: low center of gravity (5cm floor height) and the lightest of the cars

    Team 192 Racing: low center of
    gravity (5cm floor height)
    and the lightest of the cars

  • Team LAMPHUN (SUS Co. Ltd.)

    Team LAMPHUN (SUS Co. Ltd.)

  • Team YAMADA Motor's differential gear car (SUS Co. Ltd.)

    Team YAMADA Motor's differential gear car
    (SUS Co. Ltd.)

  • Cleanly around the bend

    Cleanly around the bend

  • Drivers making contact with other cars are penalized

    Drivers making contact
    with other cars are penalized

  • Test-driving SUS Co. Ltd. car

    Test-driving
    SUS Co. Ltd. car

Endurance race winners Team SUPERCUB 50

Endurance race winners Team SUPERCUB 50

In the time trial race, the corporate cars were too strong, with Team LAMPHUN taking first and the other SUS car coming in second place. However, in the endurance race, the student teams put up a great fight, with Team SUPERCUB 50 showing off its comprehensive strength by taking home the silverware.

Members of the public can test-drive pipe frame cars built by students at the Tokyo Tech Festival in October.

Group photo after the races
Group photo after the races

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