{"630107":{"#nid":"630107","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Building A Drivable Couch","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIt all started out as a bit of a challenge \u0026mdash; linked to the Grassroots Motorsports Magazine $2000 Challenge.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We\u0026rsquo;ve always taken a couch with us to racing competitions. It just gives us somewhere to sit comfortably,\u0026rdquo; explained Thomas Barone, press secretary of Wreck Racing.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWreck Racing typically spends their season building a high-powered race car from leftover car parts. When they were jokingly asked to race their couch, team members rallied to make it happen.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It sort of embodies that catchphrase, \u0026lsquo;We\u0026rsquo;re Georgia Tech \u0026mdash; we can do that,\u0026rdquo; Barone says.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe team had received a collection of salvaged parts from Lime, the company that provides electric scooters in dozens of major metropolitan areas across the U.S.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThose recycled parts were used as the base for motorizing the couch. The wheels, braking components, and speed and braking switches were all repurposed for powering the couch cruiser.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This allowed many of our new members the chance to practice design and construction on a side project while we work on our car.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWorking here and there between projects, the team assembled the couch in just a couple of months.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It tops out at about 25-30 miles per hour,\u0026rdquo; Barone says. \u0026ldquo;It was so cool when we finally got it rolling.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe team tested the speedy sofa on an autocross course at their last competition, and the couch navigated the course in just under 3 minutes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENot too shabby for off-loaded scooter parts.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENow the team is giving out rides on their fast piece of furniture.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;People definitely love it when they see it,\u0026rdquo; Barone smirked.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELearn more about Wreck Racing\u0026rsquo;s full-time project here: \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.wreckracing.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003Ewreckracing.gatech.edu\/\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech students motorized a piece of living room furniture with the help of some old electric scooter parts.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech Students Motorize Living Room Furniture With Old Scooter Parts "}],"uid":"28058","created_gmt":"2019-12-16 22:46:15","changed_gmt":"2019-12-18 17:29:07","author":"Steven Norris","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-12-16T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2019-12-16T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"630109":{"id":"630109","type":"image","title":"Building A Drivable Couch","body":null,"created":"1576536718","gmt_created":"2019-12-16 22:51:58","changed":"1576536718","gmt_changed":"2019-12-16 22:51:58","alt":"driveable counch made by georgia tech students","file":{"fid":"239948","name":"Screen Shot 2019-12-16 at 5.39.40 PM.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202019-12-16%20at%205.39.40%20PM.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202019-12-16%20at%205.39.40%20PM.png","mime":"image\/png","size":2024762,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202019-12-16%20at%205.39.40%20PM.png?itok=GwdCN42K"}}},"media_ids":["630109"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESteven Norris\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nInstitute Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Tech Social Media\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["snorris@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}