BlackboardEngineering Students Roll out Solar Car for National Race
To Students at the Florida A&M University-Florida State University College of Engineering who have spent months building a solar-powered car, a qualifying trip to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway June 13th might as well be the Indy 500.
If their creation--a steel and fiberglass model with 500 solar cells--passes final inspection, they will earn the right to compete June 19th in Sunrayce 97. Sunrayce is a challenging 1,200 mile collegiate competition from Indianapolis to Colorado Springs sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy.
"This is our first time to enter but everything looks pretty good," said senior electrical engineering major Dave Bryant. "Our frame was designed by a drag racer and our car is a lot strong than most of the other cars."
If they finish the race on their first try "they will have done a tremendous job," said electrical engineering Professor Tom Harrison, the project director. "This is not an easy competition by any measure." The race pushes the engineering students to address the major problem with solar-powered cars--their limited range, Harrison said. The engineering school's vehicle, which can go faster than 50 mph and has a cruising speed of about 35 mph, must complete the journey under its own power. The recharging of the batteries that run the car must be done using solar power alone. "With six batteries, it's very close to being an electric car," said Bryant.
In fact, the City of Tallahassee Electric Department, Ford Motor Company, the DOE and others contributed financial support to the project. FSU's Public Broadcast Center provided space to work on the car.
But the students say they could use additional support to refine a vehicle that is mechanically sound but a bit homely compared to the sleek cars from universities that have competed in Sunrayce for years and are backed by big bucks. "Ours is kind of boxy, not as aerodynamic as the others and we're hoping to improve it," said senior electrical engineering major Alvin Collins.
Whatever the results of the qualifying inspection and the race, the mechanical, industrial and electrical engineering students say it's one thing to learn principles from a book--and quite another to put them to work in the shop. "The learning experience was the biggest thing, working together as a team and trying to meet deadlines," said Bryant. "To build a car from scratch for a cross-country race is hard. But all the teams helped each other out."
For a couple of years, the University of Michigan won the Sunrayce. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology moved in and won last time. This year, there's a new kid on the block. According to Collins, the FAMU-FSU team is very determined and excited about getting to roll around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. "I've been working on this project for a long time," Collins said. "I've dedicated this summer to this race and I'm really looking forward to this opportunity."
