TEKNOFEST Electromobile — Door and Lock Mechanism Design
Door-lock subsystem development for the AGÜ Automotive Club's TEKNOFEST electromobile — specification compliance, mechanism selection, and CAD integration
Problem & Context
The door-lock subsystem has to translate the competition's written requirements into a mechanism that can be integrated into the team's existing door and body geometry. This work is one subsystem within a larger vehicle project — it does not include ownership of the complete vehicle or of the door-panel geometry created by teammates.
Process
Process
Ongoing · CAD/research stage · not physically validated
Context
The AGÜ Automotive Club is building a competition vehicle for the TEKNOFEST Electromobile category. The door-lock system is one of several subsystems developed by parallel teams (chassis, powertrain, body panels, door-lock, electronics), each with its own scope and shared interface points. The team prefers not to publish detailed CAD geometry or component-level dimensions, so this page documents the requirements, the selected mechanism approach, and the current status rather than full CAD data.
Requirements Interpreted
The relevant requirement set includes safe entry/exit geometry, inside and outside release, external mechanical locking, suitable attachment/interface geometry, and — critically — the requirement that the door remain openable from inside even when locked from outside. The portfolio summarizes only the requirements that materially explain the engineering problem; it does not reproduce the entire competition specification.
Selected Mechanism Approach
The current architecture uses a rotary latch + striker concept with linkage to an outside mechanical key-lock arrangement and an inside release path intended to remain functional regardless of the outside lock state. This is a design intent, not a verified physical result.
CAD Integration
The outer door-panel geometry already existed from earlier team work. The contribution here was to identify the geometry revisions required to accommodate the selected latch/lock approach and to guide integration of the relevant components into the assembly. Detailed CAD geometry, exact dimensions, and component-specific team choices are not published.
Current Status
- Requirements reviewed.
- Mechanism architecture selected.
- Candidate components researched.
- Required geometry revisions identified.
- CAD integration underway.
- No completed physical prototype.
- No completed functional validation.
- No completed structural validation.
Inside/outside release behavior, outside key-locking, inside-release-while-locked, push-to-close behavior, and hinge behavior in the open position are all design intents at this stage, not verified outcomes. Physical prototyping and functional testing are planned next.
Lessons Learned
- → Translating a competition specification's plain-language requirements — such as 'a locked door must still open from inside' — into a concrete mechanism logic is itself a major part of mechanical design, not a checkbox
- → Checking geometric compatibility in CAD is not the same as verifying physical function; that distinction shaped the plan for the next stage — prototype fitment and functional testing before any completion claim