Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Initial Design Brainstorming

Overall objectives are to minimize drag, rolling resistance, and mass (of car and wheels).  Must be able to integrate the addition of the solar panel and the payload without reducing the aerodynamic design of the car.  Basic ideas are to use lightweight materials, keep design simple yet efficient, and maintain stability of the chassis.
We talked about small aspects such as the angle of the solar panel which cannot be modified in any other way, the material/mass of the wheels to reduce moment of inertia, and the overall integration of the panel with the motor.
We also began looking at other solar sprint car designs such as the one shown below.

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