Today Feels Kind of Weird

Well I saw the first snow of the year today!  There was light dusting as we headed west toward Shrivenham.  Supposedly there is a possibility of snow here in MK this weekend, but it doesn't seem very certain.

The labs were good, except that our group didn't get to use the 4 post rig.  A rear shock mount broke while we were at lunch and the technicians were running a test to film and take pictures.

The Broken Formula Renault Suspension

Picture a car sitting on four platforms, and the platforms can apply forces and or motion to the wheels of the car.  It can be used to simulate a given track or road condition, or just to see how the suspension reacts throughout the whole travel range.

You can kind of see 2 of the platforms that the car was sitting on.

We also tested the lateral force capabilities of a tire at different slip angles, tested damper settings on a single wheel station, and tested the response of just a single damper.

The slip angle test

There is no assignment, but we are encouraged to try and analyze the data for ourselves.

At lunch we had been told there was a McDonalds, or we could bring our lunch.  I brought a sandwich, but walked over to McDonalds with most of the other guys.  Wasn't planning on buying anything, but then they had a Terry's Chocolate Orange McFlurry.  I had to try it.  The chocolate orange stuff is super popular over here, you can buy it just about anywhere.  It is sold as regular bars, in little slices, and as the whole orange like I'm used to seeing at home. It was pretty fantastic in the McFlurry too!

I'm watching the Pats/Lions now, getting my sweet potatoes ready for the casserole.  I also bought a small carrot cake for dessert tonight, it was as close as I could find to pumpkin pie unfortunately.