swabian wonder world

[T0Mi]

After wading through several kneedeep swamps of excrement and drinking gallons of horse piss the last months, there must be a lucky day in my life somewhen. Or so I thought.

On sunday I've been underneath my truck, changing the engine starter.
(hey, it's a hobby, so it's ok to do it on sunday)

A G55 with Unimog axles I've seen several times already (always trying hard to avoid spontaneous ejaculation) stopped by, the driver got out and asked:

"I've seen you fixing your cars several times already, and also have seen your car on the parking place at the Daimler. Do you work for the Daimler?"

"yeah, at the MTC."

"So you're more of the theoretic kind?"

I showed him my arms, covered with oil and dirt from fingertips to elbows.

"I'm looking for people. I'm the owner of Letech. Come pay me a visit tomorrow"

So I visited him (it's just 2 miles from my home) the next morning and we had a talk. Another meeting in the afternoon was arranged, discussing details, me showing the stuff I do for a living.

They have massive overheating problems for their custom military vehicle LAPv7 as well as the ones made for MB used in the Paris Dakar and several other Rallies like the Steinbeißer Trophy. Under heavy load and crawling at low speed, the control units of the engine get so hot the tin solder of the eproms is melting. I offered him a CFD solution.

Well, to cut a long story short, today afternoon we will meet again, this time (and by lucky chance) Norbert Haug (chief of MB motorsports) will be with us to get the details sorted out.

I don't get it. I've screwed everything in almost every field of my daily life recently, yet I'm such a lucky swine.

There is no god.

Or maybe there is.

[beowuuf]

You have to be lucky sometime!

[Bit]

Congratz T0mi!
A week ago, I drove the boss of the only company in my town that could still be interesting to me. Now I have to write some description about me to his hands... I shouldn't wait any longer.
So - it's not swabian only, it's Wonder-Schland!

[Jan]

Oh, congratulations, Tomi! Keep us informed!

And, of course, the only solution to overheating problems is the TATRA air-cooled engine!

http://tatra.cz/web_cz/motor1_cz.htm

[Trantor]

Wie gut ist das denn?! Glückwunsch!!! Und den guten Norbert mochte ich immer schon.

(Sorry, had to congratulate T0mi in German...)

[T0Mi]

Thank you for the nice words! (auch und gerade die DEUTSCHEN ).

Just returned from the meeting. 3 hours in total of which 20 minutes belonged to me. Very shirtsleeved.

It's all good. I didn't screw it.

I will now start working, so there can be proof tomorrow morning that my solution will work.

[beowuuf]

O.O Very good news!

[Ameena]

Wooo cool, gratz .

[ian_scho]

Good luck, T0Mi!

[T0Mi]

YAY! I'm all in! And busy. Thanks again for the nice words.

It feels a bit wrong to work for military purposes, but the fact someone actually cares for what you do equals it somewhat.
(this is the major difference compared to a giant like Daimler)

Kehrwoche and hard work is what makes a swabian happy. And CFD-optimized bulletproof grilles.




(The LAPv7x I'm working on. The only prototype in existence so far. It feels... weird)

[Jan]

Wow! This looks pretty good (well - except the yellow parts that would be a bit too visible)!

Could you give us more details about the construction? The engine? The chassis? Provided it's not classified, of course.

And so you're working on the cooling of the engine, right?

[MasterWuuf]

YAY! I'm all in! And busy. Thanks again for the nice words.

It feels a bit wrong to work for military purposes, but the fact someone actually cares for what you do equals it somewhat.
(this is the major difference compared to a giant like Daimler)

Kehrwoche and hard work is what makes a swabian happy. And CFD-optimized bulletproof grilles.




(The LAPv7x I'm working on. The only prototype in existence so far. It feels... weird)

Luck? God? Karma? Whatever you think is the cause, I'm just very happy for you, TOMi.
All the best in this latest endeavor.

[T0Mi]

bluhh... so tired... must... work harder... some... more coffee... in head...

upload vid easy explain no words

sleep

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4DmfL4XKwo

[Jan]

Well, that really explained a lot of things to me.

[T0Mi]

Meh. It's just clicking on colourful buttons. The real work was done by a drunken Frenchman and a stoner Irish. Mr. Navie and Mr. Stokes. 150 years ago.

What you can see in the vid is the original bulletproof grille, which consists of overlapping "V" shaped elements. They made the grille based on 'feel', with the main goal of blocking bullets coming from any direction. Calculations show the air stream only covers about 50% of the radiator, guiding the air down and away from the engine chamber. Thats why the heat is gathering underneath the hood. I've just added fins to the "V"s to guide the air straight (second part of the vid). My next task will be calculating the shockwave of a anti-tank mine and the impact on the current underfloor design by clicking on buttons with even more colors.

Details on the construction:
(beware: boooring! )

It's still a "rolling chassis".

The axle body and the frame is taken from the Unimog, all the rest is taken from the G-Wagon, including the engine which is just a 3 litre Diesel with ~200 HP. (In normal cars we have problems heating up the passenger cabin in time, because those ultraefficient Diesel engines just don't produce enough heat.)

The portal transmissions are a custom design, as well as the mountings for springs and shockabsorbers. The resulting axles are what makes this thing unique. People tried different approaches; ring/pinion flip, intermediate transmission, aso. The problem of a high gear ratio resulting in low topspeed and insane torque on the shafts always remained. (Another thing comes with the combination of G-class transmission with Unimog axles: the reverse of the driving direction because of the portals)

Adding a third gear to the portal the ground clearance increases, the torque is highest close to the wheel and most of all the top speed is equal to a normal car (plus it's running forward). Now the oil sheikhs can have a turbo-charged Actros 14 litre V8 engine in a 7 ton expedition truck, measuring the power output in MW rather than KW. This world is insane. Yay the Technopanzer.

[Jan]

My next task will be calculating the shockwave of a anti-tank mine

Unimog has a conventional chassis? It doesn't have something like a V-hull, does it?

I mean, I was always astonished by vehicles like Leopard (see bellow) with huge capabilities of protecting the people inside against mines (sacrificing virtually the whole vehicle, of course):



Anyway - it's interesting to read about your progress! Keep going, and good luck in your job! We're expecting more news from you! You have a very interesting and creative job.

[T0Mi]

*LOL* What a great picture! Definitely gonna use it.
It shows an extreme of the compromise you'd have to make between a high mine protection class and cross country mobility. The Unimog (as well as the G) has a traditional frame design, so right now the protection layer is more or less flat and made of dummy plates from fibreglas.

I'm still amazed how far oily hands can take you. As long as I have to look at mines and all the military stuff in way to protect people instead of finding more effectiv ways of killing them, I'm all fine with the job. Browsing that stuff on wikipedia makes me feel nausious. Still, the axles are just plainly sexy.

[Jan]

Excellent! You're a true inheritor of the German engineering tradition!

Just to give you something to think about (although perhaps you already know this stuff, or maybe it's not important for you):

One of my friends did a research for Czech Ministry of Defence on mine-protection of army vehicles, and he really found that the V-hull was the best option. So finally the Czech MoD purchased the ATF Dingo vehicles for Afghanistan (I believe these machines have something to do with Unimog too). Their ability to withstand a mine blast was found excellent as far as I know; only the Dingo's engines were found too weak for the rough and mountanious Afghan terrain - but it's not that important.

Another of my friends works in Tatra (they produce heavy military trucks), and a few years ago they started an interesting joint-venture with an Israeli company, producing IMI Wildcat combat vehicles (see http://defense-update.com/products/w/wildcat.htm), based on the unique Tatra chassis (central backbone tube with independent swing-half axles - see http://tatra.cz/web_en/koncept_en.asp).

[T0Mi]

Wow! You're feeding me with good info here. Great links! Thank you! I'm sucking it up.
I'm just starting to collect knowledge on this field of human madness.
For the rest of the week I will be burried deep into the intestines of the Daimler and locked into Mophus's lair.
Two words: "golden shower" and "rain chamber". I will report back. May the fource be with you!

[T0Mi]

Rain chamber was fun! I didn't get... eh, wet. What's more important: this project (testing a cowl) is now finished and I can send a invoice. I didn't receive a single cent in 2010 yet, so it's quite welcome.

I'm ashamed to admit I didn't even know Tatra is still in business. That Tatra central tube design really is something. And alot better suited for a V-hull than a conventionell frame can ever be. I've seen an old Tatra truck in action years ago in Langenaltheim, taking a mud bath myself. (Note: that guy behind the steering wheel shitting his pants is me, and: 6 years younger, dammit! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRXiTNdnz_s) That car is still my daily drive since more than 100k kilometers now and I'm still finding stains of Langenaltheim mud here and there. Its oil-to-noise converter (it should not be called an engine) is one of the few things that didn't need replacement (yet). I plainly love this car.

As for your links: they also list the LAPv7!
http://www.defense-update.com/features/ ... 62010.html

Note the stock G-class grille and hood on the first picture. On the last picture you can see the bulletproof grille causing those overheating problems. Taking a closer look, it's all very simple and the need of a CFD calculations to see what a keen eye should already see, I certainly didn't. I would happily trade my 'knack' for engineering (which comes by birth to a German anyway) with just a little more of being a codehead. Coding is the next evolutionary step to engineering. We'll all end up floating in glass containers. And will likely grow tentacles.

What I do find frightning about these kind of sites: they advertise the next generations of weapon systems like it was a set of scented candles.

Very funny picture still:
http://www.defense-update.com/Images_ne ... satory.jpg
(Note the cotters... LOL!)

I've also uploaded a somewhat more catchy video. Chairman aerodynamics:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4MXU1f00cs

It's really wierd, thinking this car was designed 1979, now doing a CFD calculation for this ancient fossil. It would have been plainly impossible to do so when this car was first built. It was the year when the first supercomputer, the Cray-1 was set up in europe, sucking up something like 250kW of power and crunching numbers 1000 times slower than an average PC of today.

[Jan]

OK, Tomi, so what's new in the Swabian wonderland? Is your job progressing well?

In other development, Tatra is on the edge of bankruptcy. It still might survive, but the chance is not big. It's so sad for a company that made their first car in 1897 and was producing a "cutting edge" technology for the whole first half of the 20th century. The most stupid thing is that the most average (or even bellow-average) Czech car producer - Škoda Auto - survived well (mostly thanks to VW investments), whereas the most traditional and technologically progressive company Tatra is perhaps going to bankrupt. Oh, it breaks the heart. The communist mis-management (1948 - 90) is, of course, the main cause for this. Damn!

[Adamo]

Tatra is on the edge of bankruptcy. It still might survive, but the chance is not big.

I dodn`t know that. That`s sad The trucks are beautifull: http://tatra.cz/web_en/default_en.asp

[Jan]

The trucks are beautifull

Not talking about the cars:



(Tatra 87, produced 1936 - 1950, V8 rear-mounted air-cooled engine, 75 hp, max. speed between 160 and 180 km/h )

[T0Mi]

Got to love the Boattail design!

Following Adamos link, it seems they really are about to shut down production. Really sad. I love the design of their fire trucks. Very much like the old MAN KAT. ("Lick your car/favorite truck" contest anyone? )

As for work: everything is going just too fine. Work is the only thing right now making at least some sense in this fücked up world. No shockwaves from mines currently, but from nozzels filling airbags. Very similar technically, very different in every other way.

Now back to work. Busy week ahead.

[cowsmanaut]

Late Congrats. Sounds like a dream come true

[T0Mi]

Not been around for the last weeks. Very little time, lots of work. First free Saturday this month tough - will take part in the "fur-free Stuttgart" demo. Let's see how the ALF guys behave around their more liberal TiRS counterparts. No watercannons probably, so no eyballs hanging off anyones face.

[Bit]

Just a quick note T0mi:
Maybe you heard in the news today how the 'Bund der Steuerzahler' slapped them for wasting money by connecting the train station of Wiesbaden to the ICE-route for four trains only the day. After all in this town a 'Stadtbahn'-project was stopped - then again - in Mannheim that works pretty good... - well - there. Usually here nothing works

[T0Mi]

Wasting money? You got to be kidding!

This would be like building a multi-billion Euro underground train station while the worst problem of that particular city is constant traffic jam because the only way into town is a tunnel with a single tube and a single lane for each direction, while the rest of the town has 3 lanes for each direction. And roads which are pothole cartways at best. I mean, come on, who would be so stupid? It's like restoring a car and the first thing to do is chrome-plating the carburator, while frame and body is eaten by rust. Then again: you can try out if your all-new water cannon can cause major injuries on the vital organs of pupils and children who dared to throw chestnuts at you. And then finally you start realizing: democracy with 2 crosses every 4 years - it really, really works.
(*irony emitters depleted*)

The demo (eh, yay democracy! ) turned out to be very interesting, exhausting and... yet increasing my anxiety of clustered bipedally mammals. A demonstration against fur fashion isn't exactly excentric or extreme, yet almost all of the participants were vegans or punk style straight edge raw vegan weirdos, while their "Fuhrer" wore a suit and a tie. And they were young. I must have been one of the oldest of those taking part. Had some interesting conversations nonetheless. And bumperstickers for my Hillbilly truck.

I will now go to bed, hoping the sun decides to come up as she usually does, to shine upon a world in which a individual can always decide to move to a lonely farm in Oklahoma. Or bury oneself in work, which is just as effective.

[Jan]

all-new water cannon can cause major injuries on the vital organs of pupils and children

So the photo you sent me some time ago was genuine? (I mean the one with the

Spoiler

eye

- I mean without it) You must be kidding! Was it really really real? If yes, then yuck and double yuck! Even a mighty pirate wouldn't do that!

I must have been one of the oldest of those taking part

Welcome to the party.

[T0Mi]

This one?
(should be the same posted in the chat)
http://d1.stern.de/bilder/stern_5/panor ... 35_490.jpg
[Warning: graphic! Don't look at it, if seeing blood makes you faint.]

It is real. His name is Dietrich Wagner, retired engineer. He lost one of his eyes. The other will be restored to about 30%, good enough to still see basic shapes.

We now have our own Tankman. Swabian wonder world indeed.



Edit: Even if this is the informal forum, can you keep images like that behind a link and put a warning? - b.