rubber band-powered cirin RC car fuses mechanical design + sculpture

rubber band-powered cirin RC car fuses mechanical design + sculpture
all images courtesy of max greenberg

the team of max greenberg, sameer yeleswarapu, ian cullimore developed the ‘cirin’ RC car as part of the formula E race at art center college of design. the car is powered by a 16-foot rubber band that propels it at upwards of 30 mph for a few hundred feet. two servos enable braking and steering.

the vehicle is capable of reaching 30 mph

‘we focused on creating a vehicle that would combine all of our past engineering education with the sculpture and industrial design skills we have acquired at art center,’ says greenberg. ‘we drew inspiration from mid 1950’s formula 1 cars as well as the truss structures found inside the bones of a birds wing. these structure are both light and rigid, ideal properties for the car we wanted to design.’

side three-quarter view

the mechanical layout was arranged in solidworks, and prototyped through several iterations. once the mechanisms were finalized, a combination of rhino and T-splines was used to develop the biologically-influenced truss form.

front view of cirin

the manufacturing of the body was sponsored by advanced 3D printing company, solidconcepts. utilizing selective laser sintering of a proprietary nylon powder formulation, the form was freed of all geometric constraints, without compromising engineering grade material properties. a single unibody construction ensured highly controlled tolerance of mechanical components and a nearly complete elimination of fasteners. the bio-truss structure is built to withstand the immense torsional stress put on the frame by the wound band.

machined aluminum bevel gears transfer power from the rubber band to the rear axle

rotationally balanced voronoi patter created for the rims

the rubber band before it has been secured in the carbon fiber tube

exploded rendering

the mechanical layout was arranged in solidworks, and prototyped through several iterations

process sketch compilation

max greenberg and ian cullimore working on an early prototype of the car

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.