Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/298092
C G W M a r ch / A p r i l 2 014 ■ 37 design a bobsled in a virtual environment and actually see how it would move down a run. Once we built it, there were a few minor adjustments that needed to be made, but overall there were very few. It was absolutely amazing." Once everyone was pleased with the design, the bobsled was fabricated in real time with the actual materials, but without any of the guesswork, Bodine points out. "It's great to see it all work so smoothly. Years ago, that wasn't how it worked – you had to re-machine if something was just slightly off," he says. All the components were manufactured directly from the 3D CAD models. Hans Debot at Debotech used the data to create a "repair kit," including a new piece of the bobsled after the team's crash in Germany at the Winterberg Bobsled World Cup in early January, when part of the sled was damaged and needed repair. Once the sled was designed, it was put through its test paces, which included time in a wind tunnel. Even so, the team sees the design phase for Night Train 2 as a shorter pro- cess than for previous designs. As a result, the team was able to spend more time with the sled and in the wind tunnel tests, which is always a plus. "It's unbelievable what they have been able to do in just one year," noted Brakeman Curtis Tomasevicz prior to the games. The software was so instrumental to the Night Train 2 athletes that those who travel with the team are trained on the applica- tion to facilitate quick repairs or to collaborate on adjustments to sled components. "He makes changes on the road. He calls back to Bob Cuneo and works with Bob's company to make it happen," says pusher Chris Fogt. How important is that relationship with the engineer? "Extremely important," says Holcomb. "I am constantly giving feedback to Cheech [Garde] on how to make this thing faster, what I am feeling on the track, and how we can make the changes that I need in order to maintain control of the sled. He has been essential in our victories this year." The group members who were unfamiliar with the software were able to get up to speed quickly, and that included Garde, who built the chassis and serves as the team's mechanic. Another pusher, Steve Langton, sums it up by saying, "I've learned that Cheech knows exactly what he is doing. And [Steve Holcomb] can drive just about anything. Cheech has been instrumental in this whole process. This is a big win for us but also for the program and the mechanics who do all the hard work." Cool Runnings Even though the 2014 Olympics are over and USA Team-1 walked away with bronze medals, there are still plenty of bobsled World Cup competitions remaining until the next Winter Olympics. And plenty of technical challenges that have to be overcome. Looking back, one of the biggest challenges going into Sochi was in reducing the development and test- ing phases for Night Train 2, and no doubt that challenge will remain. That's because the design process itself has become so technical and complex. "The amount of trial and error required to design and opti- mize each piece of the bobsled and ensure that all the parts work seamlessly together is a feat that can't be accomplished using the hand calculations and physical prototypes of the past," Therrien points out. It almost seems ironic that technology plays such a vital role in creating a machine that appears basic in its fundamental parts but extremely complex in the design of those components. "In bobsledding, they measure each run to the hundredths of a second. NASCAR actually goes a bit further and often comes down to thousandths of a second. You can be ex- tremely close, and it sounds easy to get those thousandths of a second, but it's a huge challenge to improve your time and to be the best," Bodine explains. "Every click of time is important, and it's extremely difficult to eliminate those clicks. The same is true for bobsledding – it is so important to have everything from the weight of the sled to the weight distribution and steering optimized in order to get that thou- sandth of a second. Every little thing is critical to get that little tick of the clock." Cuneo agrees. "There's no such thing as light-years better. We tried to make it a little better," Cuneo has said about the new sled. "In this sport, as in auto racing, there are no giant breakthroughs. You work hard to find a little bit more time. If you don't upgrade, you will fall behind." According to Bodine, the engineering team – namely Cuneo and Garde – could use every ounce of material and design every part to be strong, but also as light and functional as possible. "Without using digital technology to build Night Train 2, there's no question in my mind that it would have been extremely difficult, as close as the competition ended up being in Sochi, for Steve Holcomb and the team to finish where they did. With SolidWorks, we really did end up with the ultimate driving machine." ■ CGW Karen Moltenbrey is the chief editor of CGW. ■ BO-DYN APPLIED NASCAR know-how to build an Olympic bobsled that recently earned USA Team-1 a bronze medal.