Competition Results

The final design required side panels for affixing the number to the car. This is shown in the figures below. The day of the competition was sunny, however when clouds did cover the sun slightly, it significantly altered the performance of all cars. Battery packs did not need to be used for any of the cars, the sunlight was sufficient. The junior division of the competition consisted of over 130 teams from elementary and middle schools in the area. The open division consisted of five teams registered from Drexel, and one or two other teams that registered the day of the event. Our car performed exceedingly well beating all other cars by a hefty margin. The first race shown is the first heat of the open division, and the second is the final heat of the open division with the winners of the junior division.

Figure 1: Final design with sidepanels, orthogonal view.  

Figure 2: Final design with sidepanels and payload, side view. 

Figure 3: Final design with payload, posterior view. 

Photo 1: Team Lucky 13 at the Northeast Regional Junior Solar Sprint Competition.  *

Photo 2: Preparing the solar car for the Open Division race heat by attaching the payload, solar panel, and guidewire.  *

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Photo 3: Winners of the Junior Solar Sprint Open Division.  *

*: Photographs and videos courtesy of Rachel Cory

Lucky 13 in Action

Attached below is simply a basic demonstration of our solar car.  We tested it on the carpet inside our building, but even the small amount of sunlight passing through the windows was strong enough to power it until it reached the shade.  Also, the car accelerated at a noticeable rate.  So, we had rather high hopes for the competition.  We also tested the car on the patio of the Bossone Engineering Center.  Our vehicle actually accelerated at a rate far greater than we had originally assumed.  Needless to say, our car came out of the test somewhat damaged, but we managed to fix it rather easily with an even better structure supporting the solar panel.