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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!"
I win!
... 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..."
word?
The fiscal party was lovely while it lasted: fat revenue surpluses for the state, rebate checks and tax cuts for taxpayers, and for workers, rising wages -- a byproduct of record low unemployment. For eight years, the state's biggest problem was how much extra money to hand out and to whom. Now comes the hangover. The 2002-03 budget, just four months old, has a hole that may be between $600 million and $1 billion deep. The state has taken in $152 million less than projected since July, and revenues are expected to fall short by an additional $50 million in November. The problem is not Minnesota's alone. About 44 states now project budget shortfalls. Of those, 28 either have ordered emergency budget cuts, such as spending and hiring freezes, or are crafting such measures. Special legislative sessions have been called by the governors of Iowa, Nebraska, Connecticut, Alabama, Arizona, Florida and Hawaii. Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura hasn't ordered any emergency budget actions, nor is he said to be considering a special session. And that, former Gov. Arne Carlson said, may be a mistake. "I'm surprised we haven't taken even those elementary budget measures," said Carlson, a veteran of the last recession that hit the state, in 1991, just as he was taking office. "I would do it right now. They've already lost nearly six months -- one-fourth of the budget cycle. The longer you wait, the worse it will be. The governor has got to show some leadership. This is where you start to earn your pay." Others not waiting "Most states are doing this on their own -- they're not waiting for their legislatures to go into session," said Robin Prunty, a director in the public finance department of Standard and Poor's who has researched financial trends in the 50 states. Prunty said that Minnesota, with $1 billion in budget reserves, is in a relatively strong fiscal position compared with other states. However, Minnesota can't rely on its reserves alone. "If you spend down your reserves to solve what might be ongoing budget problems, the implication is you're just sending the bill to the next governor and Legislature," Carlson said. . "And it sends a signal of instability to bond houses." Action taken in some states has been dramatic, even among those with sizable budget reserves. Georgia's governor has asked agencies to trim 2002 budgets by 2.5 percent and 2003 budgets by 5 percent, despite the state's $1.8 billion reserve. Colorado, Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia have delayed or canceled capital projects. California, Illinois, Kansas, North Carolina and Virginia all have instituted hiring freezes or other budgetary restrictions, according to a budget report by the National Conference of State Legislatures. To deal with a $600 million shortfall, Ohio's governor has ordered across-the-board cutbacks and said the state may have to close at least one prison. Iowa's governor has proposed a 4.3 percent across-the-board cut. Minnesota Finance Commissioner Pam Wheelock said the administration is considering a range of options, but hasn't directed agencies to take any action. She said that, "at some point," Ventura may want to order agencies to limit purchases and freeze hiring. The problem, she said, is that the bulk of the state's expenditures -- such as K-12 expenses -- are mandated by law and cannot be altered at the discretion of the governor alone. Measures that are within Ventura's discretion -- hiring freezes, agency spending freezes, travel restrictions -- wouldn't be enough to solve the state's projected shortfall, Wheelock said, although they continue to be evaluated. "The easy solutions are gone," she said. "We need permanent adjustments to the budget, and that requires legislative action." Ventura spokesman John Wodele said discussions on emergency budget measures are "very, very preliminary. It would be prudent on the part of [department] managers to look at what could be trimmed, but we have not gone into any detail yet." State Planning Director Dean Barkley said Minnesota is better prepared than other states. "We don't think we need to do [budget cuts] yet. We're trying to be thoughtful rather than just react," he said. Pressures mounting The fiscal pressures are real and mounting almost by the day. The October revenue report showed a $53 million drop in tax revenues below what had been forecast. Most troubling, State Economist Tom Stinson said, is that income tax revenues had dropped in October. That, coupled with a national unemployment rate of 5.4 percent, he said, paints a picture that is "absolutely depressing." State unemployment figures won't be out until midweek, he said, but Minnesota has lost 19,000 jobs since May -- 8,000 of those in August alone. He said he wouldn't be surprised if the figure for September were even higher. If such trends continue, "we're facing a lot more serious change to the forecast and a deeper recession than most people were thinking even at the first of October," Stinson said. Art Rolnick, research director at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and a member of the governor's Council of Economic Advisors, said the economy probably will remain sluggish until the nation's war against terrorism is resolved. While several fundamental indicators look good -- worker productivity was up nationally in the third quarter and the banking industry remains strong -- business investment might lag until terrorism fears are eased, he said. In the meantime, "what to do now becomes a political question more than an economic one," Rolnick said. The state's leaders must make value judgments about where to cut, how much to tap state reserve funds and even what taxes to increase to cover any shortfalls. Prunty said that as far as bond houses are concerned, "one path is not more desirable than another. We are indifferent to whether it's spending cuts or revenue enhancers. What we want is some sense that there is attention to the forecast. The longer you wait to implement fiscal restrictions, the less effective they are." Keeping bond raters happy is a major concern for states like Minnesota, which doesn't want to jeopardize the triple-A rating that allows it to borrow at the lowest rates. Those states that rely on a combination of cuts, possible tax increases and a prudent use of cash reserves will weather the economic storm best, Prunty said. Carlson said Ventura should try to put a package together soon -- but not on his own. "We made a lot of mistakes in '91," Carlson said, referring to early budget cuts he attempted that legislators resisted. Instead, he recommended bringing legislative leaders together as soon as the state's November budget forecast is in and the size of the projected shortfall known. "I would tell them, 'You approved this budget as well as I did, so we're all in this soup together.' Get a pre-agreement on spending cuts, tax increases and some judicious use of the reserve -- maybe a couple of hundred million -- and call a special session for next month." The regular legislative session doesn't start until Jan. 29 and can run into May -- too long, Carlson contends, to wait for budgetary action and too close to next year's elections. By then, nearly half of the two-year budget cycle will have elapsed, he said, necessitating even more painful cuts for the second half. "Ultimately, the responsibility rests with the governor," Carlson said. "He's got the staff, the resources and the ability to marshall public opinion. He's got to lead." earl / nexabit says hi
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 !!
First Survivor and now this! It's good to see people taking up an interest in Australia again. Anyway, is this going to be broadcast anywhere? I would love to see those solar cars crash into each other live and I know there'll be plenty of that happening with drunken college students and newly licensed high school students at the wheels.
You die too easily.
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?)
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
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.....
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...
Last night I dreamt of Natalie Portman. She was eating hot grits.
Thank you.
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
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
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
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.