ARIZONA UNIVERSITY SOLAR RACING TEAM

The Arizona Solar Racing Team was established in the Summer of 1997 at the University of Arizona, with the goals of enhancing engineering education and renewable energy at the University. The team’s first project was building a competitive solar car for Sunrayce 99, the fifth iteration of a biennial solar vehicle competition open to Colleges and Universities across North America. After recruiting several students as team members and developing funding over the next several months, the Arizona Solar Racing Team began designing and constructing its first solar powered vehicle early in 1998.

Arizona University Solar Car Team - Daedalus

The University is getting the project rolling once again for 2006. There are hundreds of things to do to get Drifter ready for the 2006 race. Check out their "How to Help" section link below if you'd like to be a part of this exciting project.  All majors are always welcome. If you want to work on a high-tech racecar, this is the place to be, regardless of your level of training.

The team are especially seeking members for our business team, which is responsible for managing finances, organizing events, and keeping the engineers on track. If you're a business or engineering management major looking for experience on a real-world project, they'd love to meet you!

1999 DAEDALUS PROJECT LESSONS

To avoid the problems of most rookie teams, the Arizona Solar Racing Team (then called the Daedalus Project) began by extensively researching previous successful solar vehicle designs, especially low-effort and low-cost engineering solutions that could be successfully implemented by a small team. The concept for Daedalus was to build as robust and reliable a solarcar as possible.

As a result of this philosophy, Daedalus, as completed in late March of 1999, was approximately 100 pounds heavier than the Sunrayce-average but proved surprisingly robust and reliable in initial testing. This success carried over to the Sunrayce 99 Qualifiers, an event in which the total number of miles that could be driven in one day determined the starting order for Sunrayce. Held at GM’s Milford Proving Grounds in Milford, MI, Daedalus managed to run the 6th greatest number of miles with impeccable reliability, beating out many more established teams in the process. Although not the 6th most efficient car in the field, this was a testament to the design strategy of Daedalus, as it was one of the only cars to run flawlessly for all 8 hours. This placed the Arizona Solar Racing Team as the best-qualified rookie team in the history of Sunrayce.

Arizona University Solar Car - Monsoon

Sunrayce 99 quickly proved to be a race where strategy, not overall speed, determined finishing position. With cloudy conditions on 8 of the 9 race days, and rain for most of those days, no team was able to gather enough energy with their solar array to drive all 1423 miles of the race. Those miles not completed were driven with the solarcar in a trailer, with a system of penalties attached to the number of miles trailered each day.

An integral part of race strategy is an electrical telemetry system on the car which provides accurate measurements of battery state-of-charge, allowing a team to make important race decisions, such as when and where to trailer. Unfortunately, the telemetry system for Daedalus was not ready by the time of the race, and the team was limited to making strategy decisions based on incomplete information.

The lessons of Sunrayce 99 (Rainrayce) and Daedalus were incorporated into the design of the team’s second car, Monsoon, named partly in homage to the experience of Sunrayce 99. With the additional manpower and greater financial investment afforded by a more experienced team, Monsoon was able to incorporate better-optimized engineering solutions that allowed the team to be more competitive against the best that other University teams have to offer. However, no one will forget the experience of Daedalus and the team's first solar racing opportunity in Sunrayce.

Car Name: Turbulence
Car Number: 8
Project Time: 24 months
Team Size: 15 members
Testing Miles: 50 miles
Project Cost: $250,000

Length: 4.99 m (196.5 in)
Width: 1.79 m (70.5 in)
Height: 0.9 m (35.4 in)
Wheelbase: 2.29 m (90.0 in)
Front Track: 1.27 m (50.0 in)
Rear Track: Single rear wheel
Ground Clearance: 0.1 m (9.3 in) minimum at body

Weight: 233.6 kg (515 lb) without driver
Weight Distribution: 63 % front / 37 % rear

Vehicle shape: Integrated Canopy Design with Splined Array Shape and Rounded Wheel Fairings
Frontal Area: 1.01 m^2
Cd: estimated 0.125

Structural Construction/Materials: Pre-fabricated Carbon Fiber/Aluminum Honeycomb composite sandwich boards, adhesively bonded with fiberglass and epoxy reinforcement. Welded steel tube roll cage structure adhesively bonded to frame.

Body Construction/Materials: Pre-preg Carbon Fiber/Polyurethane foam composite sandwich. Moldless construction using body plug to form inner foam sandwich.

Tires: Michelin 65/80, 85 psi
Wheels: Custom Machined Aluminum by Raytheon

Front Brakes: MCP hydraulic calipers on steel cross-drilled disc
Actuation Method: MCP hydraulic master cylinder and foot pedal

Rear Brake: Magura hydraulic rim brake on motor wheel
Actuation Method: Magura hydraulic hand lever actuated by front brake pedal

Front Suspension: Machined aluminum A-Arms and suspension upright, Yarnell air spring/shock.
Rear Suspension: Semi trailing A-arm design, geometry identical to front suspension, Yarnell air spring/shock.

Steering: Steering wheel, Yarnell rack and pinion, Ackermann steering geometry.

Motor/Controller: New Generation Motors EV-C200-092 Controller, SC-M150 Brushless DC Motor
Power: Maximum power output of 6.4 kW (8.6 hp)
Efficiency: Maximum system efficiency of 94%
Controls: Separate pedals/potentiometers for throttle and regenerative braking

Battery Data: Brusa BCM400 Watt-Hour Meter
Speed Data: Garmin GPS Receiver

Battery Type: Saft HE-41 Li-ion
# of Batteries: 27
Mass: 30 kg (66.1 lb)
Pack voltage: 94.5 volts nominal
W-hr capacity: 3.93 kW-hr

Solar Cell type: 550 RWE Schott monocrystalline silicon and 660 Emcore triple-junction GaAs
Active Solar Array area: 8 m^2
Construction/encapsulation technique:

736.5 solar cells in 5 series strings
Tefcel / Tedlar / EVA laminate modules adhesively bonded to body
Laminate construction by SunWise Solar

Normalized array output: 1200 watts
Measured array efficiency: 16% silicon, 23% GaAs
Maximum measured output: 1030 watts
Peak Power trackers: 5 Biel School MPPTnG A0401, Boost Type
Average Power Tracker Efficiency: 99%

Maximum Speed: 120.7 kph (75 mph)
Maximum Speed on Solar Power: 72.4 kph (45 mph)

Administrative Team

Mechanical Team

Team Leader

Arizona University Solar Car Team - Test rig

Car Name: Daedalus
Car Number: 8
Project Time: 22 months
Team Size: 12 members
Testing Miles: 630 miles
Project Cost: $128,000

Length: 5.23 m (205.9 in)
Width: 1.97 m (77.6 in)
Height: 0.92 m (36.2 in)
Wheelbase: 2.16 m (85.0 in)
Front Track: 1.49 m (58.5 in)
Rear Track: 0.21 m (8.4 in)
Min. Ground Clearance: 0.18 m (7 in) at tail
Weight: 363 kg (800 lb) without driver
Weight Distribution: 57 % front / 43 % rear

Vehicle shape: Flat bottom wing-section with bubble canopy.
Frontal Area: 1.03 m^2
Cd: estimated 0.19

Structural Construction/Materials: Pre-fabricated Fiberglass/Honeycomb composite sandwich boards, adhesively bonded with fiberglass and epoxy reinforcement. Welded steel tube roll cage structure with integrated rear shock mount adhesively bonded to frame.

Body Construction/Materials: Moldless construction with Fiberglass/Honeycomb flat composite board structure, and wet-layup fiberglass weave over shaped styrofoam for outer aerodynamic surfaces.

Tires: Bridgestone Ecopia EP80, 115 psi
Wheels: NGM Machined Aluminum
Wheel Bearings: Champion 6205 Deep Groove, Ceramic Ball
Rolling Resistance: Crr: 0.003 to 0.008 over speed range

Primary Brakes: MCP hydraulic calipers on steel cross-drilled disc
Actuation Method: MCP hydraulic master cylinder and foot pedal

Secondary Brakes: Shimano bicycle brake on left rear wheel
Actuation Method: Shimano bicycle handbrake

Front Suspension: Steel A-Arms with aluminum upright, Yarnell air spring/shock.
Rear Suspension: Single centrally-mounted aluminum trailing arm, Yarnell air spring/shock.

Steering: Steering wheel, Yarnell rack and pinion, Ackermann steering geometry.

Motor/Controller: New Generation Motors EV-C200-092 Controller, SC-M150-08 Brushless DC Motor
Power: Maximum power output of 6.05 kW (8.1 hp)
Efficiency: Maximum system efficiency of 94%
Controls: Integrated throttle / regenerative braking system with single accelerator pedal / potentiometer

Battery Data: Brusa Watt-Hour Meter
Speed Data: Schwinn Bicycle Speedometer

Battery Type: Delphi Lead Acid AGM / SLI, 12 volts
# of Batteries: 9
Mass: 146 kg (324 lb)
Pack voltage: 108 volts nominal
W-hr capacity: 4950 W-hr at C/3 discharge rate

Solar Cell type: Siemens Type II, 14.1 % nominal efficiency
Active Solar Array area: 7.70 m^2
Construction/encapsulation technique:

726 solar cells in 4 series strings
Tedlar / EVA laminate modules adhesively bonded to body
Laminate construction by SunCat Solar

Normalized array output: 1120 watts at 1000 watts/m^2, AM1.5, 25 deg. C
Measured array efficiency: 14.5 %
Maximum measured output: 1230 watts
Peak Power trackers: 4 Solectria MPT-150N, Boost Type
Average Power Tracker Efficiency: 96%

Maximum Speed: 113 kph (70 mph)
Maximum Speed on Solar Power: 61 kph (38 mph)

LINKS:

Home | Project Updates | Sponsorship Info | Our Sponsors | Adopt-A-Cell
How to Join | How to Help | Pictures | Meeting Schedule | Members | Technical

CONTACTS: 

ON CAMPUS:

Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering Building, Room N213. A map to the AME Building is located to the right.  For directions to the AME Building from outside the University of Arizona, please check your favorite online map maker.

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North American Solar Challenge

Phaethon 2004

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Sunrayce

SunRace 2003 - Australia

World Solar Car Rally - Japan

World Solar Rallye - Japan

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