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World Solar Challenge Set To Begin
Mdog writes: "The world championship of solar car racing is about (Nov. 18...ok so I can't wait :) ) to begin Down Under.
World Solar Challenge pits high school, university, and corporate teams against each other in a race across Australia's Outback, from Darwin to Adelaide." Mdog supplies some more (ahem) non-partisan information about the race below.
"My Alma Mater's
team (which took second in the
American Solar Challenge...go UMR!) is looking to take sweet
revenge on the evil (*g*) that is the U-Michigan Solar
Car team (which won
ASC.) Some other North American heavyweights will be
Queen's University
and U-Waterloo from the frigid north. I'll defer to Ozzies post links to their favoUrite college teams, which, along with the Japanese teams,
are often
very good. Lastly, watch out for team Solar Motions;
out for blood after
major technical problems two years ago. Their array is worth...how should I put this...a lot :)
I went two years ago, and this year I'll just be looking forward to this article getting posted on /. *sigh* Good luck and good sun to all the teams. No worries!"
... lived in Australia..
;)
Unfortunately the 2 weeks of Sun we get in the UK doesn't quite enable us to do such activities
"Never let the truth get in the way of a good story..."
The dutch entrance for this race looks really serious, the even got help from ESA. They are testing a new type of solarcell which is to be used on communication satelites. Most of the competitors in the WSR are universities (so it this one) but this is proffesional material !!
Could it be that the big oil interests have no interest in a cheap efficient environmentally friendly source of power ?
You have to wonder sometimes when good technology is ignored, is there some sort of hidden oil-company aganda ?
I wonder if a solar car is ever going to be a reality, after all, the potential market includes southern USA and a lot of developing and third-world countries. With OPEC controlling oil prices so it doesn't loose control of the energy market by making alternative energies cheap enough, I doubt that we'll ever see a solar power aided car (fueled by solar+gas) anytime in the next 30 years.
OTOH, I wonder if a plane wouldn't be an interesting use. After all they have a lot of area on top, they can fly over clouds, and the industry is always looking for ways to cut costs.
..a cluster of these bai'owoof's...or not.
How many years now have these things been gathering and we still haven't seen any kind of breakout designs, while airborne versions have leapt forward with true innovation. I think it's time we faced the fact that solar powered ground vehicles are nothing more than expensive soapbox derby cars, with the emphasis on grad papers and group photos.
More importantly, how does this traumatize the local kangaroo population?
I used to be with Sunswift (and now work for CPVE at UNSW, where I'll be helping to cover the race). From what I've heard from the guys still with the team, they've got a very nice car put together. While I won't say who my money would be on, Sunswift is a strong contender..
- - -
giftedu
Personally, I think that solar power, while a great power source, should be considered a secondary form of power. An electric car that could be run in the daytime by solar panels would be incredibly fuel-efficient.
-Evan
Besides which, everything in these solar vehicles, including the aerodynamics, efficient electric motors, the power management, and so on, is directly applicable to future fuel cell vehicles anyway.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo
--Andy Finkel (J. Klass?)
It's good to see people taking up an interest in Australia again.
"Good" is relative. Here are the dirty little secrets the Australian media conspiracy "neglected" to mention:
"Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup." --/usr/games/fortune
I have a friend that uses a solar-powered boat to go up and down the Thames and it works even in cloudy weather. Hence it's still possible even if you won't get the same ooomph.
Phillip.
Property for sale in Nice, France
This is an academic race, not a spectator sport... they don't go that fast, and it's more like a science fair versus a fashion show at the giddy speeds averaging upto 120 km/h... One vehicle will out class it's competitors and simply 'own' the race.
Speaking as a person who has seen the racers silently slink by, I don't think that watching them crash would be very satisfying, some guy jumping out of a crumpled solar car and running around screaming "It burns... it burns!!!"... battery acid after all isn't as much fun as gasoline when it comes to spectacular crashes.
-- Why do all the women in my life make 'common' sense seem an 'exceptional' quality?
Sun runs cars? I thought they only did servers and that Java stuff. I wonder if they can port this stuff to lawnmowers. I hope Microsoft doesn't get wind of this.....
Actually, they're safer than that..
Usually the battery packs are kept compartmentalised from the rest of the shell so that they can't spill onto the driver. There is also usually at least two driver's egresses built into each car (even if that egress means kicking out the bottom of the car).
The crashes that do happen are usually brought under control very quickly. The brakes on these things are usually quite good, and the cars are usually able to be salvaged (and of course the drivers are generally safe).
As long as the team is aware and treats their drivers nicely (there are some horror stories about, for example, seatbelts being tied to the chassis of the vehicle bit a couple of bits of wire), then the cars are actually quite safe.
- - -
giftedu
People are already doing this of course - the Helios project is one that comes to mind, as an unmanned craft intended to be capable of flying for six months without landing - a cheap atmospheric alternative to satellites. not particularly informative link
Medium-size oil, without the massive R&D budgets of big oil but lacking the nimbleness of startups, would likely be in big trouble if we shifted to hydrogen fuel cells.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo
--Andy Finkel (J. Klass?)
... I'm guessing the cost of transporation was a bit much for a small private school. What school? Rose Hulman, with the Solar Phantom. They've done fairly well, in my opinion, for a school that's only got the population of a large high school.
Just noticed that the name of the university isn't spelled out in the text, not even in the "Related Links" sidebar.
And, by the way: GO UMR!
Good to see what is indeed a fine engineering university getting some press. Not that I'm biased...my spouse is an alum: BSEE, 1983. And I'm a "townie:" my dad taught Physics at UMR up until his retirement in 1981.
Good luck!
Consigned to flames of woe.
It's pretty amazing what you can do with the solar vehicles considering the truly poor energy density available even in a 1 meter x 3 meter area. The amount of energy it takes to move those vehicles is extremely small. For the high power stuff you need to go to Nedra.com or for the day to day usable electric cars, trikes, motorcycles, and bicycles check out EV Album. Many of these were hand built.
I happen to be a member of the Yale Solar Car team - Team Lux. So needless to say I've studied solar cars quite a bit. So...
NO: Solar cars today are an experiment in engineering, not a solution to your everyday commuting needs. We can get relatively high speeds and drive all day, but the cars are very wide and long, flat, only hold one medium-to-small person (barely) and are limited by the environment.
YES: Any electric car could easily be supplemented by the addition of a high efficiency array. It wouldn't provide enough power to drive the car all day like we do with the current crop of cars, but since most people only drive their cars about 2-4 hours a day it could help a lot, and could be a real lifesaver if you ran out of power. OTOH, even a well designed commuter car is going to be much heavier than our solar cars and have much less array area. What would make the most sense is for all carports to have arrays on top that could store and transfer energy to the cars parked under them.
MAYBE: I don't know that electrical cars or fuel cells are the (near) future. Chemically propelled cars can potentially be much simpler and more efficient, since they aren't losing power through the extra electrical storage/transformation. And you can make fuel using solar power (you already were with the fuel cells). And until efficiency actually matters and the big-ass SUVs get off the road, it just won't be safe for extra-lightweight cars.
BTW, the plane thing has already been done with the Helios project. And you're right, it has a lot of potential.
---If you can't trust a nerd, who can you trust?
2 Years ago I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to get involved in 1999 solar cycle event, which runs parallel to the World Solar Challenge (Alice/Adelaide).
These solar car's really hoot. Pedaling our guts out in the 40 degree heat (45km/h max) these million dollar machines cruised at over 110km/h often over taking normal road vehicles.
Many of the big budget international teams struggled with the harsh conditions. Even the smallest of problems, are logistical nightmares, as vast legs of the race are held in remote areas, 1000kms from major cities.
Even though entering WSC event requires $100,000's, money alone will not win the event and more often than not, the simplest design wins.
Nerveless I wish all the international and local teams the best of luck.
For anyone living in Adelaide, I highly recommend making the trip over to Victoria race course for the finish of the event and look at the sheer level of skilled engineering that goes into these vehicles.
Rob.
Area51 - We are watching...
Refer 3 stories earlier.
Now every can lie in the middle of the Nullabor plain and watch funny looking cars during the day and pretty patterns in the sky at night. (Meteor showers).
Hmmmm, I wonder whether meteor-powered cars are legal?
(Meteor-powered? Oh no, sounds like another slashdot poll on powers again....)
Thanks to the events on 9/11 the administration of Houston, MS High School...the team that *won* the US competition (by a good 230 miles!!) won't be travelling to australia to the world championship.
Damn terrorists.
I patented screwing your mom. But it got revoked for "prior art."
Check out the first ever team from West Australia, Sungroper who have put together their entry on a comparitive shoestring. Designed and built by geeks in their part time, and mostly financed by them as well.
Not likely to be a winner, as its going up against industrial prototypes worth millions. But an inspiring example of what geeks can do when they put their mind to it.
One of the team founders is a very well known Macintosh programmer, Peter Lewis.
Regards
David
Mirage is going to win for sure.
Why? Because I worked on it!
If so, I'm game.
We are the best!!!!! Let's get first place this year.
One of my professors here at the U. of Oklahoma was telling us about the great times from last year's competition. The best part were the Japanese. They were always dressed in spotless white uniforms. Never got dirty. Plus they were fierce competitors. They were dogging the team the entire way, so one night when both teams were camping out together and had a little friendly fireside chat. And copious amounts of alcohol courtesy of the Americans. Well, let's just say the Japanese weren't such a problem the next day. A little American intuition and some big American bellies won the day. :)
I am on the University of Virginia solar car team, and I remember some of these teams from the American Solar Challenge this summer. I have a few comments on the teams:
Arizona University:
If memory serves, these are the guys whose car spun out during qualifiers and flew through the air, tearing off the suspension when it landed. When I saw it happen, I thought they were finished. They had it up and running for the race and did quite well, much better than we did.
Futura:
I see they've withdrawn. They had some problems during the ASC. I can't really say what, but they were very far back in the pack despite what should have been a very high-performing solar array.
Kansas State University:
It's sad to see these guys are out of it, because we worked with them during the ASC getting our car and their car to pass scrutineering.
Queens University:
Wow. That car is nice. That's all I can say.
South Bank University:
These guys did pretty well in the ASC. They had an accident during the race and severely damaged their body, but duct tape kept them going and competitive.
University of Michigan:
They rebuilt their car 17 days before the ASC because it was destroyed during testing. They have a GaAs solar array, Lithium Ion or Lithium Polymer batteries, a very sleek design, and 4-wheel steering. Apparently when they redid the 4-wheel steering, they replaced the mechanical linkage with an electronic control. It's the most advanced solar car I've ever seen.
University of Missouri-Rolla:
These guys nearly won the ASC despite only having a 14% efficient array. For reference, some teams had up to 26% efficient arrays. Their car is incredibly light and efficient. Nobody in the race was even close to them on mechanical efficiency.
University of Toronto:
Good car. Nothing much comes to mind. Didn't see them much because they stayed ahead of us.
University of Waterloo:
Yet another very good car. They did a very good job of integrating the wheel farings with the body to keep aerodynamic drag very low.
That's about all I have to say about that. If you want to see how the ASC went, check out their website at http://www.formulasun.org/asc/.
WARNING: there is a trojan on your
1. Vegemite is owned by an overseas company.
2. How about getting Dick Smith to sponser & MC it???
/* FUCK - The F-word is here so that you can grep for it */
How large a solar array do you think would be needed to power a small air-conditing unit, sufficient to keep 2-3 cubic metres of air cool on a hot day?
It's a project I'd love to see done, but i don't have anything approaching the electrical know-how to do it myself. What I'd like is a something to keep my car cool on a hot day, and if it can be powered by solar power, then it's plausible. The hotter the day, the more light you have for the photovoltaics - but is it enough?
Politas
My eyes! The goggles do nothing!
My joke got modded as Insightful and my insight got modded as Funny.
I'm a member of the Principia College Team (7th ASC) and I'm leaving for WSC tommorrow. Our team is just scouting this race, so hopefully i'll have time to post a thing two to /.
Ash nazg durbatuluk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thraktuluk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul.
Go Waterloo! UoW is where it's at.. u guys down there kick some ass!
"Caffeine is not an option. Caffeine is a way of life."
Far from evil corporates trying to supress green tech they're investing in it so that if it does displace fossil fuel, their income streams continue. Right now, they just provision their manufacturing capacity to meet demand.
So, the real conspiracy then is you, conspiring not to buy solar water heating, and photvoltaics for your roof. (Sorry, I got carried away with the rank, unsupported speculation bug!)
Kangaroos are daytime critters, but are sometimes active at night, and get squished by cars (or cars squished by the big ones).
Marsupial possums are often nocturnal.
Regular cars are more likely to disturb wildlife than solar cars.
wanna know more about em? australianwildlife.com.au
the route taken by the solar challenge is (I presume) chosen for maximum sun. a lot of the places on the map are incredibly dry and have little wildlife due to the lack of water. Coober Pedy is like a moonscape, Alice Springs is a lot more hospitable, as is Tennant Creek.
Water is not always easy to come by in the desert, which can have an unusual effect on wildlife.
Truck road trains and tour buses use these roads, so solar cars should be a nice change of pace.
If you're (physically) going to watch the challenge, don't miss some of the amazing places out there.
australian, geeky and Mac-friendly... *jealous of the WA girls*
One of the top local entrants (and my Uni's entrants) have their page at:
:).
http://www.unisa.edu.au/solarcar/default.htm
They came 2nd in the 2001 sunrace from Sydney to Adelaide. I get to see their car drive past my office some days...
-- This post is about truth, beauty, freedom, and above all things, Karma
Well there was the time when Sunswift nearly ran over Ingo and Stuart................
As has been pointed out elsewhere, this isn't really about making a solar powered commuting vehical. It's worth noting how much additional benefits came out of the fundamental research going into the entries in the race. A GM team built a car that stormed in to win the first race, and little wonder since they had millions of dollars to play with and bought the entire world's terrestrial supply of galium arsenide solar cells at the time (the rest being bound for space).
A lot of fundamental research was done on improving the efficiency of electric motors, their drive electronics and simulations as to the most efficient way to drive these vehicals. Hell, even the telemetry to the support vehical was something pretty new for the time!
There ought to be many more of these sort of worldwide research challenges. Especially in areas that really will become important soon such as fuel cells as others have pointed out. I see now they have difference classes in this race for battery as it is - little wonder, my god we would have died for Lithium Ion batteries in 1987!
It's just a bit of a shame that the organisation of the race itself is fairly poor and that the web sites get dumped with each new event and hence sponsor. It could have made for a wonderful web site with all that archive material.
Just as well NTU has done a fab site of their own.
P.S. You can't imagine my elation at seeing NTU's car come second in the 2000 race, not to mention claiming the world record for fastest long distance solar car!
Should there be a total cost of materials limitation? Perhaps this could equalize the competition - a less financially sound operation could perhaps compete with major universities... it might be wise.