Cleveland State, Iowa State are champs at 2022 Fluid Power Vehicle Challenge

Iowa State University and Cleveland State University took Overall Champion in the 2022 Fluid Power Vehicle Challenge events hosted by Danfoss Power Solutions and Norgren. This year’s program held two separate Fluid Power Vehicle Challenge competitions in an effort to reach more students and industry members. The events took place April 20-22 and April 27-29, 2022 and was the largest attended to date, with nearly 250 university and industry participants involved for the duration of this eight-month program.

The Vehicle Challenge is a competition that combines two technology platforms that are not normally associated with one another—human-powered vehicles and fluid power. Teams are tasked with designing and building their own fluid power vehicles and then they demonstrate their entries in three races with the help of NFPA industry sponsors, judges, and mentors. During the final events, students give a presentation on their vehicle construction, testing, and lessons learned. Each team also meets individually with all of the industry judges who assess their vehicle design.

The champions of the Danfoss-hosted event are:

Overall Champion: Iowa State University
2nd Place: Murray State University
3rd Place: University of Cincinnati

The champions of the Norgren-hosted event are:

Overall Champion: Cleveland State University
2nd Place: University of Akron
3rd Place: Arizona State University

Click here for the full list of universities were recognized for exemplary performance this year.

This year’s events also highlighted the use of pneumatics and electronics in addition to the traditional hydraulic systems in teams’ designs. The prize for Best Use of Pneumatics, sponsored by Norgren, was taken home by Murray State University and California Polytechnic State University. The prize for Innovative Use of Electronics, sponsored by IFP Motion Solutions Inc., was taken home by the University of Cincinnati and Purdue University.

For further information on the Fluid Power Vehicle Challenge, contact Stephanie Scaccianoce, Director University Programs, at sscaccianoce@nfpa.com.