I would like to take the oppurtunity to point out that the Waterloo record was not officially recognised, leaving Queen's with the longest official trip by a solar car. And I thought I read somewhere that a team in Asia (Japan?) beat Waterloo's record, also unofficially.
And in my opinion, Waterloo and Queen's are of the same calibre when it comes to engineering.
The teams need to have a vehicle in front of and behind their solar car, each easily visible with flashing amber lights on the roofs, and none are able to tow a trailer. The tow vehicle must be a minimum of 500m (I think) behind the car.
Plus, in addition to increasing exposure to the technology, by having the race go through many states and cities, it allows the technology to advance. Companies are much more willing to invest large amounts of money when their logo will be displayed throughout the country instead of at one single location.
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I would like to take the oppurtunity to point out that the Waterloo record was not officially recognised, leaving Queen's with the longest official trip by a solar car. And I thought I read somewhere that a team in Asia (Japan?) beat Waterloo's record, also unofficially. And in my opinion, Waterloo and Queen's are of the same calibre when it comes to engineering.
Youre completely right on both parts.
The teams need to have a vehicle in front of and behind their solar car, each easily visible with flashing amber lights on the roofs, and none are able to tow a trailer. The tow vehicle must be a minimum of 500m (I think) behind the car.
Plus, in addition to increasing exposure to the technology, by having the race go through many states and cities, it allows the technology to advance. Companies are much more willing to invest large amounts of money when their logo will be displayed throughout the country instead of at one single location.
If you go to the race website you can take a look at the directions the teams are given. I cant remember where the link is, but its there somewhere.
I guess I'll just have to follow the trend here and cheer on my team, Queen's. I just wish I was able to go on the actual race with the team.