Latest News and Progress
The design of SSII body shell has been rattified by managers and now the cad files will go to the plug manufacturer.
When we receive the plug our pre-vocational Mechanical Engineering students will make moulds and shell components over the next few months
0 Comment » Last week the management and tech groups met to confirm both the TAFE SA Solar Car Strategic plan and the new shell design. A big week and a very big mile stone for the project.
The solarspiritaustralia.com web site continues to attract interest and income, thanks to work by WallCann and sponsors, so keep an eye on that space.
Over the next few weeks we will see our new vehicle take on some physical form with the manufacture of the plug, followed by the creation of moulds and shell components by our Engineering Pre-Vocational students.
The Design, Technical and Management teams have been very busy in recent weeks.
Several shell design proposals are being assessed and the choice will be settled mid June. When computer analysis and aerodynamic testing has been achieved and any adjustments made to the shape, students in Mechanical Engineering will create the new shell using select composite materials.
This first stage of build will be in second semester 2010.
We have been focussing on integrating the solar car project as part of our main stream delivery of our engineering teaching programs.
The management group is responsible for the integration of the project into educational programs involving pre-apprentice, apprentice and para-professional students, in accord with the original project intent.
The other decision making group has the responsibility for the design, development, construction and commissioning of prototype vehicles. This group includes lecturing staff, students and targeted volunteers for specific skills. The volunteer group bring additional skills, knowledge and experiences to the project.
In recent months, we have continued to refine certain aspects of the prototype with a major focus on the electronics installation. Significant work was completed with tuning the motor followed by lab and track testing. While we were aware of the narrow efficient angle of required sunlight to the array, we have discovered that the panels operate to a much broader range of angles. This to some degree, negates the need of the array to be angled directly towards the sun during vehicle operation. This has significant influence on prototype design aspects.
During the testing phase, it was identified that the vehicles weight was also excessive. Our plan specifications required the vehicle to weigh in at 200 kg. However, it’s operational weight comes in around 340 kg plus driver. This will have significant impact on the rolling resistance which in turn affects the range and top speed.
While we have identified some negative aspects of the prototype, there are many positive areas being identified. These include the excellent results achieved from the drive train. The motor tuning appears to be successful at this point and the motor controller, battery pack and drive motor are proving to be an excellent combination. Track testing revealed surprisingly good stability with positive steering, road holding and general stability at moderate speeds. One significant concern is the vehicles corning ability in that the centre of gravity is placed high in the vehicle due to the position of the array. Our assessment, given the greater efficiency of the solar cells, is that the present configuration of the array will no longer be needed. This will resolve the issue of cornering as well as rolling resistance and reducing weight while not reducing the power available from the array.
To partially fund the prototype development, WallCann has developed a website for the purpose of fundraising through the sale of many products at the Solar Spirit Shop page. We thank those many sponsors who are currently part of the website and commend you for participating. We strongly encourage you all to promote this website and hence increase your sales and our fundraising for our race effort.
We have now reached some major decision points regarding planning for the race in October 2011. The prototype is an excellent vehicle for testing and confirming our design strategies as well as assessing the drive train components.
In the next newsletter, we will be able to inform you of the outcomes of several meetings confirming new design directions.
This week we welcomed Discount Camping (discountcamping.com.au) as a valued supporter.
As a result we’ve been able to join them at the Wayville showgrounds selling our very handy 8Zed Jump Packs and Inverter ranges which campers love for power sources when out and about. These are part of the range of products we sell at solarspiritaustralia.com/shop to contribute funds to the SolarSpirit project.
Please tell your friends. Support our sponsors and our shop. Excellent value for money!
Delegates from ‘clean tech’ businesses and government departments arriving at Adelaide Convention Center for the CleaverGreen conference in February encountered the SolarSpirit prototype on display in the foyer.
This was prime positioning where all delegates needed to pass by multiple times in the day providing excellent exposure for our sponsors and wonderful opportunities for Geoff and others on the stand to inform many interested people about our project.
Also on display we had the 8 in 1 Portable Power Station, which is our lead product at the Solar Spirit Shop. Sales made through this online shop provide an essential revenue stream for our project so check out http://solarspiritaustralia.com/shop. There’s a lot of interest in the 8 in 1 as it’s a very versatile unit for power backup in camping, fishing and vehicle maintenance.
SolarSpirit and attendants were on display recently at the Convention Center, Adelaide, for the Transport Technology Forum. This provided another venue for networking and showing off the new prototype. Several of our valued sponsors and other dignitaries enjoyed the opportunity to mix with a wide cross-section of transport industry and support personnel.
SolarSpirit also provided and excellent location for the Advertiser to photograph the key speakers.
Work continues in the shed with tune up procedures on the motor, door preparation and wiring connections.
The new prototype was recently unveiled to sponsors in beautiful sunshine at Regency International Center, TAFE SA. In fresh livery the car proudly displayed the extensive sponsors list as it did a few laps of the car park.
On Friday and Saturday SolarSpirit was on display at the race finish at Victoria Square through the invitation of race Event Director, Chris Selwood. Gerry, Mark and several team members kept very busy answering queries from the public, discussing courses with prospective students and swapping technical information with teams from around the globe. This networking has been a real high point after months of very hard work and will inform directions for SolarSpirit in the coming months.
Solar Spirit team members observed media reports and data feeds with mixed emotions as starters left Darwin this weekend.
Sadly, Solar Spirit is not ready for racing in the current event having major setbacks in preparing the solar array.
Over the last couple of days the array body has been trial fitted to the mounts on the vehicle and the tilt mechanism put through it’s paces. These tests have been very positive allowing us to proceed with surfacing and wiring.
The shell has been fitted to the final position and windows and doors are being fitted in the next couple of days.
Early October: Teams of voluntary and staff solderers, engineers, electronic specialists and sponsoring businesses have worked around the clock for weeks to prepare Solar Spirit of TAFE SA for unveiling.
Solar module construction has required some heavy research and development but is now proving very worth while. The cells are testing at higher outputs than we expected so it’s very exciting.
Today the body shell is receiving it’s top coats and the “wing” is being prepared to receive the solar modules
Chasis is at the rolling stage; bearings are super slick so just a little push makes it role for ages. and the motor has been assembled and tested. Battery pack is assembled.
Instrument wiring is under way.