2005 North American Solar Challenge

 

July 28, 2005

Hi everyone,

Our hotel's internet was not working yesterday, but today we have a good connection and I will take advantage of it to send pictures from the last day of the race.

The day started out with some clouds in Medicine Hat but they quickly dissipated with the morning sun. All the teams had a chance to charge the batteries to their maximum capacity on Tuesday afternoon. The result was a very fast finish for the teams that could run at the speed limit. Sunseeker started in a solid 6th position with roughly 2 hours behind Waterloo and 2 hours ahead of Principia. We stayed well ahead of all the teams behind us as we were able to run close to the speed limit all the way to Calgary. Some large hills during the last 50 kilometers and an increase in altitude to well over 3000 feet were no deterrent to driving fast. The Sunseeker finished the 188 mile leg in about 4 hours, arriving in Calgary just after noon with energy left to spare. As we in the support vehicles were listening to the radio communications between the solar car and the lead and chase vehicles, we heard Steve Yurk, our driver, exclaim "Wow, that was fun!"

It was a great finishing run. All along the route from Medicine hat to Calgary, at every crossroad and pull-out and gas station there were people waitng to see the solar cars drive by. The enthusiasm was unbelievable! As we came closer to Calgary, more and more people were lining the streets along the race route. At the finish line, the crowd must have been 10 to 15 people deep on both sides of the street. There were thousands and thousands of people. As soon as the cars arrived they were driven into the Olympic Ice skating oval. People were shoulder to shoulder trying to get into the Oval to see the cars. I have never experienced such an excited reception anywhere! The city of Calgary did a fantastic job promoting this race. Their hospitality was outstanding. What a wonderful finish to this exciting race!

Abe

Medicine Hat Start	On the Road to Calgary	Ian checking telemetry data
Speed limit 100 kph	Cars displayed on Olympic oval	Winners at Olympic flame
The crowd at Calgary

 

 

July 26, 2005

Hi everyone,

The sunseeker arrived Monday afternoon in Medicine Hat. We were the 6th team to arrive. We made good time both Sunday and Monday. The trip on Sunday included a checkpoint stop in Brandon where there were hundreds of people to see the solar cars. We stopped Sunday evening in Regina after a total drive of over 300 miles in one day. The trip to Medicine Hat was another 188 miles. We were met by another large crowd and received a free bar-b-que dinner.

The car is performing perfectly. There have been no breakdowns of any sort to slow our progress. Only one very short error was made in following the route. It cost us perhaps two minutes at most. Weather has been a consistent factor in this race. Rain and clouds in Texas, more clouds through the midwest, two realy sunny days in Kansas and Nebraska with a tail wind, and a strong headwind from Winnipeg to Brandon and Regina. We had expected a sunny day for our trip yesterday but instead experienced about 50% sunshine with lots of puffy white clouds causing us to keep our speed down to 50 mph most of the way.

Tomorrow is the last day of the race. It will be a short race to the finish line in Calgary and very few changes will occur in the standings that are posted after today. Michigan and Minnesota are battling it out for first place with about 20 minutes separating them. We expect to remain in 6th place unless there are some major breakdowns for any teams ahead of us.

Abe Poot

 

Arriving in Brandon	Brandon Spectators	Display at Medicine Hat College
Driving to Medicine Hat	Pictures from Medicine Hat	Pictures from Medicine Hat

July 22, 2005

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to send a quick note about the last few days.

We have not stayed at a hotel with internet access since I sent the last update.

We are currently in a small hotel in Cavalier, North Dakota. On both Tuesday and Wednesday we had great runs in the sunshine and gained time on the leaders. At one point on Wednesday we were cruising at 60 mph and were still sending 3 amps into the battery to charge. Our array is amazing! Thursday did not go as well. We started out with a good charge on the battery and arrived at the Fargo checkpoint less than 2 hours after the leader Minnesota. We passed Columbia and Principia. After we left Fargo, We were trying to beat out a weather front that put us just under the edge of a cloud. We tried all afternoon to pass the edge and get some sun, but when a route detour took us further under the cloud it was apparent we would not get enough sun to continue to Winnipeg. We stopped a little way past Cavalier and picked up some sun as the clouds broke up somewhat before sunset. It is hard to say just where our position is at this time since we don't know if the times include penalties. The ASC website indicates us being in 5th place. We will be up early on Friday morning to pick up as much sun as possible before our scheduled departure time of 7:45. The border crossing comes first with a 30 minute time allowance, then we will arrive in Winnipeg and we will have a day to catch up on tasks related to the car, email, pictures, and laundry. We might even be able to catch up on some much needed sleep as you can tell by the time I am writing this note.

Send lots of sunshine our way!

Thanks for the good wishes and notes you are sending to us. I will be able to read all of them in Winnipeg.

Abe Poot

Video clips of race

Start of race (4.2Mb Movie)
On the road in Texas (1004K Movie)

 

July 18, 2005

Hi everyone,

We finally have some great internet access at Red River College in Winnipeg. I am going to take advantage of it and send some photos of the last few days.

We arrived in Winnipeg this morning at 10:40, closely following Principia and Missouri-Columbia. MIT, Michigan, and Missouri-Rolla arrived late yesterday afternoon having been in a good location to continue getting sunliight. Waterloo arrived at about 8:50 this morning. They were not quite able to make it in time last night before the checkpoint closed. Principia, Columbia, and WMU were caught under clouds yesterday afternoon and did not have enough energy to drive fast enough to escape the overcast. We collected a little energy last evening and this morning to start driving at 7:45, our designated starting time today. The sky was perfectly clear and once we were under way, the sun kept us going all the way to Winnipeg. The car is on display this afternoon while we and the other teams are charging batteries. We will have no problem getting a full charge today. The car has been great mechanically and electrically. The team is functioning well. If the sun stays out, the rest of the race will be fast!

Our current position is hard to determine because the posted times do not take into account any of the penalties that will be assessed. We are doing better than it appears because WMU has had NO penalties while several of the leading teams have had several. I believe the standings that are posted after arrival in Medicine Hat will be the most accurate.

Tomorrow, teams will be displaying the cars for the public at Red River College from 11:00 until 3:00. Then we will have a bar-b-que and later an all team meeting. Sunday will be a staged start as we begin the next leg of the race to Medicine Hat. Hopefully, we will have internet access along the way so that we can send updates and photos.

Wish us continued luck.

Abe

 

Preparing for the start	Start line activity	Team photo
CJ adjusting wheel alignment	Day end maintenance	Bedtime for sunseeker
"But I wasn't speeding"	"I wasn't either!"	Checkpoint Maintenance
End of day Lake Benton	John, Gaston and Jim	Lake Benton windmills at sunset
Arrival at Winnipeg	Friday Charging	Lunch break at Winnipeg

Saturday morning, July 16, 2005

We woke up to a dreary day in College Station. We packed up quickly and drove to Austin. the solar cars were to be displayed in front of the history museum from 9 to 3:30. On the way to Austin we ran into some heavy rain. We expected to have a poor day for showing the cars and for charging the battery. In Austin the weather was better. The rain had stopped but it was still overcast. The array was getting only 2 Amps of current from the sun. By around noon, the sun was breaking through and charging of the battery improved quickly. Now we were getting 13 to 14 Amps. By the time we needed to pack the car into the trailer we had charged the battery to about 112 volts out of 115 maximum.

There were lots of interested visitors including our ex-Dean, Dr. Michael Atkins. He asked us to say hello to everyone at Western and wished us luck in the race.

I have no photos to include at this time. The race will begin at 9:00 am central time. I hope to send pictures tomorrow.

Abe Poot

July 15, 2005

Hi Everyone.

Today the Sunseeker went onto the track at Texas World Speedway in College Station, Texas.

CJ, Jim and Steve took turns driving. Each driver is required to drive a minimum of 20 miles to be qualified. By noon, all three drivers had qualified and we were just a few laps away from finishing the required number of laps. The unionized workers at the track have a manditory lunch break so all track activity ceased for half an hour. We took the opportunity to change some tires and perform some minor electrical work on the car. After the lunch break we finished qualifying the car at 3:30 pm. We will be racing Sunday!

It was a cooler day today after the Texas sized deluge we experienced late Thursday. After the lunch break, we were back on the track. We were experiencing some minor annoyances with the battery protection system shutting off the car batteries. We determined what was causing them and we will be making some corrections to the code to prevent this from happening again.

Some of our team was on the track today to help the driver restart the car when Missouri - Rolla came past and blew a tire on one of the curves and nearly flipped the car. Luckily, he was not hurt, but the car needed a new rear tire, and the right front suspension was damaged. They were able to repair the damage in short order and get back on the track, but it reminded us how careful we need to be as we drive these experimental cars. The driver of the Missouri-Rolla car was driving too fast in the curve.

Several pictures are attached showing some of the Sunseeker team members in our hot pit area and pictures of the Sunseeker driving the road course. The U of M team raised their flag on one of the poles around the track. WMU was not to be outdone and we raised our flag on a nearby pole.

We should be able to send more photos on Saturday.

We will be back in Austin displaying the Sunseeker at the Bob Bullock history museum, then attending a bar-b-que in the afternoon, and attending an all team meeting in the evening.

Abe Poot

July 14, 2005

Hi everyone,

On Wednesday afternoon, the ASC chief electrical inspector allowed WMU to do the dynamic testing of the solar car even though we had not yet passed the battery protection system test. As noted previously, the Sunseeker drivers did very well in the completion of the dynamic tests.

Thursday would be a crucial day for the team. They had to pass the battery protection tests before the end of the day or they would not be allowed to go on to the track to drive the required 140 miles. John Kapenga had so far been unable to develop the program that allows the master control board to talk to the slave boards that monitor the status of the battery module. John got a good night's sleep and started a fresh program at 5:00 a.m. this morning. This program was going to be simple. By noon, all the team members were getting very nervous about John's ability to complete the program in time. We knew we had to show the system to the inspectors by 4 pm or we would be too late to qualify. At 3:30 pm we finally packed the battery and John in the vans and went to the Texas World Speedway.

Everything was connected into the car and the inspector stood by to test our system. Right at that time we received warnings of heavy thunderstorms with possible hail. We were in a covered pit area, but there were no sides to the shelter. The storm came very quickly and teams were scrambling to put up tarps and park vans along the outside of the pits to prevent rain from coming in. The wind was so strong that a lot of spray still came in around and over the tarps. We had to wait out the storm.

About an hour later it had mostly subsided. The wind was gone but it was still raining lightly. We found some paper towels and dried the inside of the car as best we could and proceeded with the test. Twenty minutes later we had finally passed the test. We now had all green stickers on our inspection sheets and were cleared to enter the track on Friday. There was one very happy and relieved team of students and advisors.

We will be up early Friday to get to the track and get prepared to drive the required miles to qualify for the race. Friday night's email should include some more photos along with the day's results. Thank you to all who sent us well wishes.

Abe (a much relieved advisor)

Abe Poot

July 13, 2005

Hi everyone,

The WMU Sunseeker team has made it to College Station, TX for track qualifying.
College Station is home of Texas A & M which unfortunately does not have a solar car team entered in this year's race.

WMU has passed all of the scrutineering requirements with the exception of the battery protection system.
The inspectors have generously allowed us to do the dynamic testing of scrutineering even though they require passing the battery protection system before doing the dynamic testing. The inspectors have seen our car run in ASC2003 and have confidence that we will be able to have our protection system working before the end of the day Thursday. That will allow us to enter the track and drive the required 140 miles before being fully qualified for the race.

Here are some results of the scrutineering:

The car has gained about 25 lbs since 2003. This is a result of steel trailing arms replacing aluminum, a stronger redesigned canopy, a stronger and more aerodynamic nose, a better rear vision system, a new battery protection system, and additional solar cells. The added weight is not desirable aspect but the improved reliability outweighs the weight factor. The total weight of the car with driver is 650 lbs.

The solar cell arry is the same one used in 2003. Its offiial, normalized output power is 1550 Watts. This means that if the sunlight falling on the earth is measured to have a solar insolation of 1.00, then the array will be producing 1550 Watts.
The results of the dynamic testing showed the competitiveness of the Sunseeker and its drivers. In the figure 8 test, the Sunseeker, driven by Steve Yurk, completed the required course in 14.1 seconds out of an allowed 18 seconds. This was done on the first attempt of the couse. Other teams took numerous tries before they were able to achieve the required 18 second maximum time. The inspector's comment on our scrutineering sheet was "Fast!"

The braking test course proved to be difficult for many teams because of its downhill slope and slight curve on somewhat rough pavement. The inspectors decided to allow an additional 1 second of time to the stopping requirement so that the teams could pass the braking test. The Sunseeker stopped within the alotted time used prior to the addition of the 1 second allowance. It was the only car to do so.It stopped in 3.26 seconds from 35 mph. Under the old rules, we would have had 3.5 seconds to stop the car, under the new rules, we would have been allowed 4.5 seconds.

Each of our drivers had to complete the slalom course in a maximum time of 11.5 seconds. CJ Hawkins did the test in 10.97 seconds, Jim Plocinik in 9.71 seconds, and Steve Yurk in 9.71 seconds. The official noted on our scrutineering sheet "Excellent slalom performance!"

Wish us luck in passing the required testing of the battery protection system on Thursday.

We will send the results at the end of the day.

Abe

July 12, 2005

Hi Everyone,

Today was another hot 100 degree day in Austin. The Sunseeker passed through four inspection stations today with some minor problems to correct.

The first station weighed the driver and the car, tested the drivers' visibility, their safety systems and their ability to egress the car within 10 seconds.

At the electrical inspection, the car was checked for conformance to the requirements in the regulations. Most of the regulations are concerned with safety of the vehicle and its driver. We were asked to make some minor changes here and returned later for a quick re-inspection and approval.

The mechanical inspector makes sure that the car has been designed to be strong enough and safe enough to travel the 2500 miles of the race. Bolts have to be lock wired or pinned so they will not come loose and cause a breakdown and possible harm to the driver.

In the body and sizing station, the car is measured in length, width and height. It has to fit in a 1.8 meter wide, by 5 meter long, by 1.5 meter high box. It is also checked for the brightness of the turn signals, the brake lights and the loudness of the horn. The driver's rear vision is also tested.

After we have fixed the small problems, we should have green stickesrs in each of these inspections. Tomorrow we will be testing the array and the safety equipment and procedures followed by the team members in case we have to stop along the road to fix the car.

On Wednesday we expect to be going through the dynamic testing of the car. This will include braking, figure 8, and slalom testing.

I will keep you updated on the results.

There are a few photos attached of today's inspections. Fortunately the testing is done mostly inside an air conditioned exposition hall. The photo taken at the body and sizing station shows Steve Hunt doing the inspection. He is a Sunseeker 95 member who now volunteers for the American Solar Challenge.

Abe

Teams at inspection stations.	WMU at mechanical inspection	WMU at body and sizing station.

July 11, 2005

Hi everyone,

It has been a hot day here in Austin. Temperatures hit 100 in the afternoon. Thankfully we are in a huge showbarn out of the direct sun and it is open enough for breezes to blow through. We are drinking lots of water and trying not to work too hard.

Today was registration. We turned in emergency medical information, signed liability release forms and received our badges. All the teams were here today. At roll call, I counted 22 teams. Fewer than I had expected. But I think most of them will qualify for the race. Everyone was working on their cars. Some are still working on bodies. We had some wiring problems to correct on the array, but we found the problems and tested the array. It was working well again.

An all-team meeting took two hours of the evening. Richard King of the Department of Energy made a nice visual presentation of some of the history of the leaders of the organization. All have been on solar car teams in the past and most have stayed on with the organization since 1990. The inspectors spoke to us about their plans for us and what was expected of us at the various stations. During the next three days we will have the cars inspected and tested and then we will take them to College Station for the track qualifier. We will be sending photos as it progresses.

Abe

 

Steve Ian and John programming some telemetry.	The Sunseeker Guys	Teams working on cars.
SolarCity

February 9, 2005

Western Michigan University's solar racecar, Sunseeker, will be participating in the 2005 North American Solar Challenge. The biennial cross-country race will take place July 17 - 27. Previously known as the American Solar Challenge, the name has been changed to reflect the change of the race route. This summer the race will start in Austin, Texas, but will finish in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Past races have usually included 5 or 6 entries from Canadian universities. These participants have been asking for a route change to allow them to drive in their own country for a portion of the race.

This year's race will cover approximately 2500 miles, generally following US-75 north from Texas to the Canadian border and continue to Winnipeg, Manitoba. From Winnipeg the route follows Canadian Highway 1 west to Calgary, Alberta. So far, 41 solar car teams have signed up to participate in this event. The cities that are on the route as checkpoints or stage stops are: Austin, TX, Plano, TX, Tulsa, OK, Topeka, KS, Omaha, NB, Pipestone, MN, Fargo, ND, Winnipeg, MB, Brandon, MB, Regina, SK, Medicine Hat, AB, and Calgary, AB.

All North American solar car teams are required to attend the Pre-Qualifying event in Topeka, KS the week of May 15. Cars will be inspected for compliance with all the mechanical, electrical and safety regulations. The last two days of the week the qualified cars may be driven on the track to accumulate test miles. Recorded driven miles count toward gaining the starting position for the race in July.

A Final-Qualifier will take place the week before the race to allow teams from other continents to qualify for the race. It also provides another opportunity for teams that were not able to qualify in May.

The U.S. Department of Energy, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Natural Resources Canada are primary sponsors of the race.