Honeycomb

What happens when you can't find core materials in the size, density, and material you want? Why, manufacture them yourself! A mold-in-process from yesterday's shop hours:

ANSYS, molds, and CFRP

You've heard the plans from Julia: we race next in the 2014 American Solar Challenge and shortly afterward the 2015 World Solar Challenge! We're taking this extra time for development that we have been wanting to do for a while but haven't had the manpower, time, or money. We'll be running in the 2014 ASC with a new motor, giving us a noticeable bonus in power - the equivalent of eight to twelve additional solar cells. Our array encapsulation and modularization is maturing aggressively, but I can't talk about that just yet . . .

Valkyrie, as we are referring to the ASC 2014 vehicle, will be the first of our solar cars with an all-composite chassis. This was a decision made with a great deal of consideration. Working with steel as a primary structural material has given us a great deal of flexibility in design and freedom in construction while meeting a high standard of crash protection. What we hope to achieve with a composite and largely CFRP (carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic) structure is even greater design freedom, even greater crash protection - CFRP can have an order of magnitude greater specific energy absorption than steel - at the expense of slightly less leeway and forgiveness in construction. Our toolmaking has improved to the standard we require for a composite/CFRP car and we are excited about improving those methods even further. 

Speaking of molds: we are looking for a new home for Chopper del Sol's molds! The molds reflect the 2012 ASC version, with straight front fairings. Taker will have to arrange shipping but otherwise they are likely free of cost. For more information, contact gosolar@mit.edu.

I'd like to welcome our newest sponsor, ANSYS. ANSYS' FLUENT package will be the principal fluid simulation suite for the development of Valkyrie. Without well-packaged, flexible, and relatively computationally inexpensive modeling tools like FLUENT, the things we do would be significantly less tractable, more expensive, and more time consuming.

George

Starting Anew

Hello everyone!

Sorry for the lack of updates, our team has been busy designing our next solar cars! After much consideration, the MIT SEVT has decided to compete in the 2014 American Solar Challenge with a three wheel vehicle. In conjunction, we will also be designing and constructing a four wheel vehicle in preparation for the 2015 World Solar Challenge. There will be plenty of work, but we want to race competitively and still be prepared for future races. With the change in design from 3 wheels to 4, there has been a lot of discussion about the overall structure and design. Currently, the aerodynamics team is working on simulations and designing the car shape. Here are some cool pictures of what they've been up to:

Simulation performed by Alastair Gregory.

Simulation performed by Alastair Gregory.

On the electrical front, a motor change is in order. Currently, our team is looking into Mitsuba and CSIRO as viable options. However, we won't know for sure which motor to use until we perform some dyno testing.  On the mechanical front, the team is currently designing the suspension system to be improved from the last system. Overall, the team is excited to begin fresh and hunker down to build two vehicles in three years!

WOO!

Thanks to Our Sponsors!!

Now that we're at the beginning of another design cycle, we would like to give all our sponsors a big thanks to show them our appreciation. We wouldn't be able to compete in solar car races if it wasn't for the time, material, and donations given to us by our sponsors. These companies are kind enough to help out with molds, composite materials, PCBs, electronic equipment, batteries, and software - to name only a few things. On top of that they are truly interested in our team, and offer advice and encouragement whenever they can. Our sponsors are all great companies that excel at what they do, and are generous enough to help student teams like us build something as interesting and exciting as a solar-powered car. Check them out below!

Thanks Genasun and EMA Services!

Now that things have settled down a bit and Chopper is back in Boston, we would like to thank Genasun and EMA Services for all the invaluable help they gave us in constructing our battery pack.

First, a huge thanks to Genasun! Alex MeVay and Alexander Hayman of Genasun ( also alums of the team) designed our pack and battery protection system. They were also kind enough to offer us a place to construct the pack as well, and we spent several long days putting together all the batteries, PCBs, and wire cabling. Check out some pictures from the assembly party below!

David screws hardware into some of the PCBs 

 Kelly checks the alignment of the battery tabs before placing the top PCB 

Close-up of the batteries

Julia cuts zip ties holding the two PCB panels together. Almost done!

And of course, another huge thanks to EMA Services. who assembled our BMS boards free of charge. Thanks for helping us out, even during your vacation time!

The team is ready to get started designing again, and we look forward to working with Genasun and EMA Services, as well as all our other sponsors, for our next build cycle. Keep checking the blog, as we'll be posting updates about our progress. 

More 2012 ASC Photos

Chopper del Sol's top basks in the sun to get a nice morning charge.

Chopper del Sol in action during dynamic scrutineering.

Team members quickly push the car to the beginning position.

An official looks over the car before dynamic scrutineering.

The insides of Chopper del Sol.

Dillon practices the driver egress test.

The electrical team works on the battery pack.

The team prepares for the afternoon charge.

Officials look over the car as Chopper undergoes a morning charge.

The team poses at some farmland near Normal, IL.  

Our awesome America sticker on the nose of Chopper.

The team prepares to load the car into the trailer.

Sweet MIT logo on our fairings.

Dillon prepares to undertake dynamic scrutineering.

The team checks out the car at the finish line in St. Paul, MN.

Fashionably Late

After arriving in Goshen, IN, the next stage stop was Normal, IL. Day 5 began alright, but about half an hour later, the car's motor shut off and would not restart. The electrical team began to debug the problem in a nearby grass lot. However, to make the situation even worse, a thunderstorm poured down rain and created an unsuitable working environment. With no other options, the team decided to trailer Chopper del Sol to Normal, IL and try to debug the problem there.

The last and final day of ASC required teams to cross the finish line at St. Paul, MN. After arriving in Normal, IL, the electrical team spent all night fixing a battery pack issue and successfully had Chopper del Sol driving around....at least they thought so. About forty-five minutes into our drive to St. Paul, MN, the car's motor shut off again and would not restart. Since the last stage stop closed at 4PM, the team had two options: push the car across the finish line or try to debug the problem and drive in with pride. True to the MIT spirit, the team decided to fix the issue and try to make the stage stop before 4PM.

Since it was raining heavily yet again, the team trailered Chopper once more to a parking lot about 20 miles from the finish line. At 2PM, the electrical team quickly got to work. After an hour and a half, the electrical team had successfully fixed the issue! With only thirty minutes to spare, the team sprang into action! By 3:55PM, we had driven 17 miles and only had 3 miles left to reach the finish line. Thanks to a MIT alumni at the finish line, the officials extended the finish line closing to 4:10PM. With only a few minutes to spare, the MIT team rushed forward to reach the finish line. At exactly 4:08PM, Chopper del Sol finished the 2012 American Solar Challenge.

The team is all smiles as MIT officially finished ASC in St. Paul, MN.

Despite all the setbacks, the MIT team never gave up. Even with all the late nights of work and despair, every minute of the journey was a valuable and fun experience for all the members. The 2012 American Solar Challenge was an underdog story that will never be forgotten. 

We would like to thank all our sponsors and fans for making 2012 ASC possible! Without your support, none of this amazing journey would have been possible. More pictures of the race and team will be uploaded to the blog shortly.