Solar Team Runs Indy Speedway!
After several weeks of hectic activity, the COE solar car team arrived in Indianapolis on June 14th as a "rookie team" in Sunrayce97, an intercollegiate cross-country race from Indy to Colorado Springs in cars fueled by the sun! Sunrayce97 is sponsored nationally by General Motors, Department of Energy, and Electronic Data Systems. (http://www.sunrayce.com/). A number of local and national organizations and companies provided support for the design and construction of the COE car, named "Reality".
After some last minute engineering and construction in the famous garages of Gasoline Alley, the car underwent five rigorous design reviews and dynamic performance tests. It passed with flying colors and was certified for a qualifier run on the Indy track.
The object was to run a minimum of 40 laps (100 miles) at a minimum average speed per lap of 25 mph. Unfortunately for the team, it was an overcast day and we ran out of a sufficient quantity of photons about midday. A total mileage of 70 miles was all that we could squeeze out of the batteries and solar cells, despite several hour-long rest periods for recharging. The thrill of running on the Indy track ameliorated the disappointment of not qualifying in our first Sunrayce attempt.
The team returned to Tallahassee on June 20th, totally enthused and ready to start the design of a new car for the next race. The plan is to start a Solar Racing Club that will provide opportunities for students from all departments to participate. The first step is to do a post-race design review and establish the objectives for the new car. It is clear that, among other things, the car must be made lighter through the use of composite structures (Industrial Engineering will help here!), we need an aerodynamic body and, possibly, a new chassis (Mechanical Engineering and Civil Engineering will be our primary resources), almost twice as many solar cells will be needed with more sophisticated load balancing controls (Electrical Engineering will take on this responsibility), and a better means of fastening and coating the cells with an optically clear material (Chemical Engineering can help here).
The present car was designed under the guidance of Dr. Steve Durbin, Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering, who was a key participant in the Purdue solar club before joining the college. More than 50 students and many faculty have participated in the project since its initiation about two years ago. Some of the students, staff, and faculty participating in the last phase of the project are shown in the photograph. They are (back row, left to right) Tim Baker, Rich Havens, and John Weaver of the College Machine Shop, Larry Grimes (M.E. student), Alvin Collins (E.E. student), Dr. Tom Harrison (E.E. Professor and current advisor) and (front row, left to right) Larry Sartori (M.E. Student), and Dave Bryant (E.E. student). The person in the driver's seat is, of course, Dean Chen, who congratulated the team during a send-off news conference.
