Problem Overview
The Northeast Regional Junior Solar Sprint Competition is being held on June 2, 2012 at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, PA. To participate, a model-size solar car must be designed and assembled soundly by a team of students while adhering to the many design constraints and rules and regulations of the competition. The competition itself will be a set of double elimination races run on a straight track which means two losses results in disqualification. The lane itself will be a hard, flat surface that is 60 centimeters wide and 20 meters long. The vehicle can be powered solely by the sun’s energy via a solar panel and must carry a detachable payload throughout the duration of each race heat. The first car to cross the finish line or get the farthest down the track with its payload wins the heat and thus moves on to the next round.
Design Constraints
According to the NESEA, the solar panel used on the vehicle may not be modified in any way, and it must be either Pitsco’s Ray Catcher solar panel or Solar Made’s JSS Solar Panel. The Mabuchi motors that come with these panels are the only ones allowed in the competition, and they too cannot be modified or disassembled. The vehicle is only allowed one solar panel and one motor, but any other materials can used to assemble the car as long as it stays within the dimensional constraints of 12 inches wide by 24 inches long by 12 inches high. There must be an attachment on the car for a small diameter guide wire. The car must be able to carry a 12 ounce aluminum soda can without the use of modifications to the can, adhesives, or other such materials. This can is known as the payload, and it must be easily removable at any time while being securely attached to a component of the vehicle known as the compartment. Neither the solar panel nor the payload may be used as some kind of structural support for the vehicle. The payload cannot have any other alternative function at all while the panel must be easily detachable from the rest of the vehicle and the motor. The car number must be visible on both sides of the car on a 2 centimeter by 2 centimeter surface. The car can only be powered purely by the sun; no energy storage devices may be used unless the sun’s power is judged as being insufficient. At this point, a battery pack will be supplied to each contestant. Therefore, power leads from the motor must be ready for attachment for such a situation.
Project Deliverables
Throughout the duration of the design and construction of the project, a group blog will be updated weekly with progress reports indicating what kind of research or development was accomplished that week. This blog will act as an Engineering Notebook and will include information, resources, images, equations, and prototype ideas. Besides this online blog, a complete and fully-functional, model-size solar car will be submitted by the end of the project. To accompany the vehicle, a general budget for the resources and work used to assemble the car will also be provided. Finally, a professional presentation detailing the research and development process of the solar sprint car will be submitted after the completion of the vehicle. It will also include the results of the Junior Solar Sprint Car competition as well.
Projected Budget
The required components for building the solar sprint car include a standardized motor and solar panel, which after shipping totaled at $43 (http://www.solarmade.com/JuniorSprint.htm). The kit purchased to get the panel and the motor included gears, wheels and axels, which may or may not be used in the final design of the sprint car. The remainder of the money to be spent will be used to get materials for building the chassis. The chassis will be designed with balsa wood, wood glue, and plastic. The predicted amount to be spent on balsa wood and plastic is around $40, and wood glue costs about $5. This brings the total for the project up to $88, which is a reasonable and manageable for this engineering project.
Prior Solutions
Every year, all over the nation, thousands of students across the nation participate in solar sprint car competitions. Teams of various ages assemble solar powered sprint cars from premade kits. Sometimes creative designs are used to improve the aesthetics of the cars; this can be seen in Figure 1.
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| Figure 1: Various Solar Sprint Car Designs. [1] |
Many designs presented online consist of the standardized and DC motor attached to a basic chassis, tilting the panel at an angle to improve aerodynamics. An example of this simple design can be seen in Figure 2.
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| Figure 2: Basic Solar Sprint Car Design [2] |
Design Goal
The overall project is to create a solar powered car in order to reach a certain distance at the fastest possible time. The design must be based off a solar panel kit with a motor, solar panel, and wheels. In order to solve the problem at hand, the car must minimize the time it takes go get from point A to point B. Similarly, the velocity and acceleration of the vehicle must be maximized in order to create the least time in between the points. This design will create much less wind resistance, which allows for more speed. It also will maximize the solar energy inputted into the solar panel to create the most power from the motor using gears to turn the wheels. Overall, this design differs from other designs due to it having a round shaped body instead of the majority of designs for this competition, which are based upon the shape of the solar panel. This design is also based upon creating the least amount of drag in order to get from point A to point B the fastest, as opposed to other designs whose design is based on the solar panel itself, which creates much drag and wind resistance. Overall, this design is engineered to be faster than the designs previous to it using the same constraints, such as the solar panel and the motor.
Project Schedule
Week 1
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Set up the initial website and label constraints that may be encountered.
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Week 2
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Order initial materials and compile an initial idea of the solar car and all of the materials needed.
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Week 3
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List the specific materials needed in order to build the car. Make a ProENGINEER drawing of the car with the solar panel and the wheels to scale.
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Week 4
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Acquire materials and work on assembling the vehicle. Work towards getting the initial shape chassis of the vehicle built.
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Week 5
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Focus on integrating the electrical circuits into the car as well as the wheels in order to complete the first design.
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Week 6
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Test how the car runs and think of ways in order to make efficient changes to the chassis or the overall design in order to make the car more efficient in its task.
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Week 7
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Make necessary modifications in order to make the car run faster and more efficient. Test different gear ratios.
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Week 8
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Test the car and how it runs then repeat the modification process if necessary. Also begin to prepare the car and make final modifications.
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Week 9
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COMPETITION
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Week 10
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Overall Design Report.
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References
[1] Smith, Justin. (2008). Junior Solar Sprint. [Online]. Available FTP: http://wp.shock-e.com/2008/06/junior-solar-sprint/
[2] Pitsco Education. (2012). Solar Sprint. [Online]. Available FTP:http://shop.pitsco.com/activities/item.aspx?act=131
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