You Tube "World Solar Challenge 1993"
6 parts, it is a 1 hour docco made by GM about the 1993 WSC, the 3rd ever event.
Note 3 cars in part 6, from 7:08, first S0lar Kiwi, then later Tokai, and Ashiya! Yip, Solar Kiwi bet Tokai and Ashiya way back in 1993!
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Day 4 - Wednessday 19 October
Don't Stop Us Now!
Teams have been barrelling down the highway today, at least until near Glendambo for the 3 top teams. There is a strong tail wind which has been keeping speeds up, even though the cloud rolled in later in the day.
By the end of Day 4 Tokia had slowed considerably, and Nuon was catching up fast. Michigan would also have caught up more if it were not for some bodywork coming off their car in the wind, which cost them almost 40 minutes, but of course they still got the charge. Tokia is now just south of Pimba, the turnoff to Woomera, Nuon is just on the other side, 17km from Tokai. There is some speculation that Nuon may have stopped a few minutes after 5pm to make them look closer. We'll see if the gap increases after they start tomorrow. Michigan is at Glendambo ready to start at 8am sharp (arrived 4:30 - SA has daylight saving, but the race runs on NT time, no daylight saving, still 3.5 hours behind NZ). Tokai have 520km to go, and should manage that tomorrow even at a slower speed.
Aurora, Ashiya Sky Ace, and Twente continue to battle it out with the lead changing several times today. But there is still about 250km between them and the front pack.
Umicore and Twente have made gains today, while Aurora and Sunswift have slipped back and slowed down. Sunswift had some motor trouble today, Aurora are probably just saving energy. Istanbul Socrat and Stanford have picked up the pace today, while Apollo and Okinawa have slipped back.
From Umicore's blog "Umicore Solar Team today have only one goal: attack", and they did, flying past Sunswift, catching Aurora, and are now within 15km of Ashiya Sky Ace. They covered almost as much ground as Tokia today, only Nuna has been more agressive today. Umicore reckon their batteries are well charged from a conservative strategy to date.
The weather forcast for tomorrow is not good. Cloud and even a few showers right up to Coober Pedy later in the day. Also the wind may turn south west closer to Adelaide, which is more a side wind with a bit of head wind - sailing potential - at least south of Glendambo. The bad weather continues on Friday, with more southerlies, cloud and rain from North of Coober Pedy down. Forecast is for partly clearing weather on Saturday, but still some rain and probably plenty of cloud.
Tomorrow we find out who has good battery reserves!
Even based on the speeds up to now, it looks doubtful that any cars past Sunswift will make it all the way to Adelaide by the end of Friday, and with 2 more days of bad weather even they look doubtful.
A few more cars look capable of reaching Port Augusta by mid day Saturday. The officials may (should!) extend the closing time due to the delay at Tennant creek. Lets hope so! If they do I would hope Socrat, Stanford, Okinawa, and Apollo will make it.
As for the other teams - make the most of the good weather north of Coober pedy! It will only get worse! Once the batteries go down it will be on the trailer all the way to Adelaide.
For daily solar insolation check out http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/awap/solar/index.jsp
For 4 day weather maps: http://www.bom.gov.au/australia/charts/4day_col.shtml
For actual forecasts in SA: http://www.bom.gov.au/sa/forecasts/map.shtml
Teams have been barrelling down the highway today, at least until near Glendambo for the 3 top teams. There is a strong tail wind which has been keeping speeds up, even though the cloud rolled in later in the day.
By the end of Day 4 Tokia had slowed considerably, and Nuon was catching up fast. Michigan would also have caught up more if it were not for some bodywork coming off their car in the wind, which cost them almost 40 minutes, but of course they still got the charge. Tokia is now just south of Pimba, the turnoff to Woomera, Nuon is just on the other side, 17km from Tokai. There is some speculation that Nuon may have stopped a few minutes after 5pm to make them look closer. We'll see if the gap increases after they start tomorrow. Michigan is at Glendambo ready to start at 8am sharp (arrived 4:30 - SA has daylight saving, but the race runs on NT time, no daylight saving, still 3.5 hours behind NZ). Tokai have 520km to go, and should manage that tomorrow even at a slower speed.
Aurora, Ashiya Sky Ace, and Twente continue to battle it out with the lead changing several times today. But there is still about 250km between them and the front pack.
Umicore and Twente have made gains today, while Aurora and Sunswift have slipped back and slowed down. Sunswift had some motor trouble today, Aurora are probably just saving energy. Istanbul Socrat and Stanford have picked up the pace today, while Apollo and Okinawa have slipped back.
From Umicore's blog "Umicore Solar Team today have only one goal: attack", and they did, flying past Sunswift, catching Aurora, and are now within 15km of Ashiya Sky Ace. They covered almost as much ground as Tokia today, only Nuna has been more agressive today. Umicore reckon their batteries are well charged from a conservative strategy to date.
The weather forcast for tomorrow is not good. Cloud and even a few showers right up to Coober Pedy later in the day. Also the wind may turn south west closer to Adelaide, which is more a side wind with a bit of head wind - sailing potential - at least south of Glendambo. The bad weather continues on Friday, with more southerlies, cloud and rain from North of Coober Pedy down. Forecast is for partly clearing weather on Saturday, but still some rain and probably plenty of cloud.
Tomorrow we find out who has good battery reserves!
Even based on the speeds up to now, it looks doubtful that any cars past Sunswift will make it all the way to Adelaide by the end of Friday, and with 2 more days of bad weather even they look doubtful.
A few more cars look capable of reaching Port Augusta by mid day Saturday. The officials may (should!) extend the closing time due to the delay at Tennant creek. Lets hope so! If they do I would hope Socrat, Stanford, Okinawa, and Apollo will make it.
As for the other teams - make the most of the good weather north of Coober pedy! It will only get worse! Once the batteries go down it will be on the trailer all the way to Adelaide.
For daily solar insolation check out http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/awap/solar/index.jsp
For 4 day weather maps: http://www.bom.gov.au/australia/charts/4day_col.shtml
For actual forecasts in SA: http://www.bom.gov.au/sa/forecasts/map.shtml
Solar Website . NL
http://www.solarwebsite.nl
This is a very good website following the race, with bits from team blogs, weather and lots of interesting insights.
Go SolarWebsite!
This is a very good website following the race, with bits from team blogs, weather and lots of interesting insights.
Go SolarWebsite!
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Day 3: Smoke, Fire and Tennant Creek
Day 3 was domniated by FIRE!
Large bush fires at Barrow Breek closed the Stuart Highway on day 2, about 4 hours before the end of the day. As a result all teams have been delayed about 4 hours to maintain race position, with all but the top 3 being delayed at Tennant creek. Many teams arrived at Tennant creek on day 2 after the road closure, and didn't set off until this morning according to the time they came in. More arrived this morning, also being delayed 4 hours before they could set off again. As a result most teams spent much of the day in Tennant creek charging their batteries, blogging, and seeing the sights.
One team that was charging was the Philippines team, and after 2 hours it seems at least one of their cells became overcharged and the battery pack caught fire! Fortunately they were working on the car at the time, and were able to save the car. By the start of day 4 they had repaired the battery pack and were ready to start racing again.
NT news reports that the hotel at Barrow creek has narrowly survived the fires - good news!
The smoke was a huge factor for teams travelling past Tennant creek, greatly reducing solar power. Michigan reported that the fire was lapping up against the edge of the road with smoke blowing across the road in places, so they had to drive on the other side of the road for a bit to pass the fire!
Tokia has taken a commanding lead now being the only one past Kulgera near the border at the end of the day. Nuon and Michigan are both at Kulgura control stop at the end of the day, about 40 minutes behind Tokai. Tokai has been travelling at around 105kph, and pulling ahead.
Aurora, Twente, and Ashiya Sky Ace have been battling it out for 4th, stopping within a few km of each other at the end of the day, about 50km from Alice. Sunswift is 7th and Umicore is 8th, both just past Alice.
In order: Socrat, Stanford, Okinawa, Apollo, Nanyang, and Sakarya (Saguar) have not trailered and are past Tennant creek, while Qazvni (Iran), Principia, MIT, Onda (Italy), Philippines, Chile, and Calgary, are waiting at Tennant creek, but have not trailered.
Bochum is in Tennant Creek, having trailered only 250km so far.
Teams also report smoke between Dunmarra and Tennant creek on day 2, greatly reducing solar power. Lots of blogs were updated while teams waited in Tennant creek!
Large bush fires at Barrow Breek closed the Stuart Highway on day 2, about 4 hours before the end of the day. As a result all teams have been delayed about 4 hours to maintain race position, with all but the top 3 being delayed at Tennant creek. Many teams arrived at Tennant creek on day 2 after the road closure, and didn't set off until this morning according to the time they came in. More arrived this morning, also being delayed 4 hours before they could set off again. As a result most teams spent much of the day in Tennant creek charging their batteries, blogging, and seeing the sights.
One team that was charging was the Philippines team, and after 2 hours it seems at least one of their cells became overcharged and the battery pack caught fire! Fortunately they were working on the car at the time, and were able to save the car. By the start of day 4 they had repaired the battery pack and were ready to start racing again.
NT news reports that the hotel at Barrow creek has narrowly survived the fires - good news!
The smoke was a huge factor for teams travelling past Tennant creek, greatly reducing solar power. Michigan reported that the fire was lapping up against the edge of the road with smoke blowing across the road in places, so they had to drive on the other side of the road for a bit to pass the fire!
Tokia has taken a commanding lead now being the only one past Kulgera near the border at the end of the day. Nuon and Michigan are both at Kulgura control stop at the end of the day, about 40 minutes behind Tokai. Tokai has been travelling at around 105kph, and pulling ahead.
Aurora, Twente, and Ashiya Sky Ace have been battling it out for 4th, stopping within a few km of each other at the end of the day, about 50km from Alice. Sunswift is 7th and Umicore is 8th, both just past Alice.
In order: Socrat, Stanford, Okinawa, Apollo, Nanyang, and Sakarya (Saguar) have not trailered and are past Tennant creek, while Qazvni (Iran), Principia, MIT, Onda (Italy), Philippines, Chile, and Calgary, are waiting at Tennant creek, but have not trailered.
Bochum is in Tennant Creek, having trailered only 250km so far.
Teams also report smoke between Dunmarra and Tennant creek on day 2, greatly reducing solar power. Lots of blogs were updated while teams waited in Tennant creek!
Monday, October 17, 2011
Trailer Racing!
13 out of 37 cars have trailered (or will have to) by the end of day 2.
Once a car trailers the time is no longer relevant, and it's all about how many km they drive in the time available. This is where trailering time becomes important, and where the race becomes a trailer race. A good trailering strategy will help a tail runner team get as much solar car road time as possible. Charging while trailering will allow higher solar speeds and less trailering.
I believe a more structured official approach to trailering will help make trailering safer and fairer by removing incentives to trailer too fast or too long. Such an official trailering strategy would involved compulsory trailering stages and fixed start times for cars not reaching specific control points by given times. Such a strategy would help keep the field together, and get slow cars well forward so they can drive long stretches without constantly getting behind. It would effectively create a number for shorter sub-races for slower teams.
Officials could make exceptions for faster cars that have been delayed through breakdown or weather.
For example:
Day1: Darwin to Katherine - 317km solar
Cars not reaching Katherine or having trailered to Katherine by end of Day 1:
Day 2: trailer to Tennant creek - 670km + any distance not covered on day 1.
Day 3-4: Tennent to Alice - 510km solar
Cars that reach Alice without further trailoring before the end of Day 4 can continue driving.
Otherwise.
Day 5: Trailer to Coober Pede - 680km
Day6-7: Coober Pede to Port Augusta by 5pm - 522km solar
Day 8: Sunday trailer to Adelaide. - 300km
Cars not reaching Tennant Creek by 14:00 on Day 3, trailered or not:
Day 3,4: Trailer to Alice, 510km + distance to Tennant at 14:00 Day 3.
Cars not reaching Alice by end of Day 4, trailered or not:
Day 5,6: Trailer to Glendambo - 932km + distance not covered to Alice, 2 days
Day 7: Glendambo to Port Augusta - 290km solar
Day 8: Sunday, trailer to Adelaide. - 300km
Trailering to Glendambo may seem a little harsh, but if a team wants to trailer to Coober Pede they had better start trailering before Alice, to reach Alice before sunset on day 4. The next day will be a long trailer drive from Alice to Coober Pede (680km). A team wanting to drive to Coober Pede should trailer the remaining distance to Alice by the end of day 4, so they can drive the solar car out of Alice at 8am Day 5.
Cars not reaching Coober Pede by end of day 5 on trailer, or 13:00 day 6 without trailering:
Day 6: Trailer to Coober Pede, Start when they arrive up to 13:00
otherwise trailer to Glendambo by end of day 6 (200km trailer)
Day 7: Glendambo to Port Augusta - 290km solar
Day 8: Sunday trailer to Adelaide. - 300km
Cars not reaching Glendambo by end of day 7, trailered or not:
Day8: Trailer direct to Adelaide. 590km + distance to Glendambo.
Obviously, the control closure times would be based on these trailering requirements.
Officials may still allow a solar car to proceed even if they miss one deadline, if they have not missed any previous deadlines.
This strategy does not allow for solar car driving on Sunday, ie a 7 day race. However I believe a better strategy would allow some driving on Sunday while still allowing time for team to reach the awards ceremony on Sunday night.
I believe a new official finish line should be opened in Port Augusta Friday morning (day 6), so that cars that cannot make it to Adelaide by the time the road closes for solar cars (Friday 5pm) can do a ceremonial finish in Port Augusta rather than wasting time in Adelaide. Solar cars could simply be parked in the tents in Adelaide on Sunday when they arrive on their trailer.
A team must drive about 390km each day to reach Port Augusta by the end of Day 7. They would pass Katherine (317) by the end of day 1, pass Tennent Creek (988) about an hour before 14:00 on day 3, reach Alice (1498) about an hour before the end of day 4, reach Coober Pede (2178) around 12:00 day 6, Glendambo (2430) about 10:00 Day 7, and finish in Port Augusta (2719) at 5pm Day 7.
By Dunmara check point, about 1/2 the field were on target to achieve this, and all the remaining cars that had not trailered were close. 25 cars reached Katherine before the end of Day 1, all these cars were on track to do 390km on day 1, 12 cars didn't make it before the end of the day.
A car with a 1kW array, given minimum average WSC sunshine (6.5 Kwh/m2 per day) and a 4.5kWh battery would have 50 kWh to use in 7 days, at an average cruise speed of about 50 kph, with minimal time for stops and no breakdowns. To complete the distance the car would need to achieve 18.4 Wh/km, or 920W at 50 kph.
Once a car trailers the time is no longer relevant, and it's all about how many km they drive in the time available. This is where trailering time becomes important, and where the race becomes a trailer race. A good trailering strategy will help a tail runner team get as much solar car road time as possible. Charging while trailering will allow higher solar speeds and less trailering.
I believe a more structured official approach to trailering will help make trailering safer and fairer by removing incentives to trailer too fast or too long. Such an official trailering strategy would involved compulsory trailering stages and fixed start times for cars not reaching specific control points by given times. Such a strategy would help keep the field together, and get slow cars well forward so they can drive long stretches without constantly getting behind. It would effectively create a number for shorter sub-races for slower teams.
Officials could make exceptions for faster cars that have been delayed through breakdown or weather.
For example:
Day1: Darwin to Katherine - 317km solar
Cars not reaching Katherine or having trailered to Katherine by end of Day 1:
Day 2: trailer to Tennant creek - 670km + any distance not covered on day 1.
Day 3-4: Tennent to Alice - 510km solar
Cars that reach Alice without further trailoring before the end of Day 4 can continue driving.
Otherwise.
Day 5: Trailer to Coober Pede - 680km
Day6-7: Coober Pede to Port Augusta by 5pm - 522km solar
Day 8: Sunday trailer to Adelaide. - 300km
Cars not reaching Tennant Creek by 14:00 on Day 3, trailered or not:
Day 3,4: Trailer to Alice, 510km + distance to Tennant at 14:00 Day 3.
Cars not reaching Alice by end of Day 4, trailered or not:
Day 5,6: Trailer to Glendambo - 932km + distance not covered to Alice, 2 days
Day 7: Glendambo to Port Augusta - 290km solar
Day 8: Sunday, trailer to Adelaide. - 300km
Trailering to Glendambo may seem a little harsh, but if a team wants to trailer to Coober Pede they had better start trailering before Alice, to reach Alice before sunset on day 4. The next day will be a long trailer drive from Alice to Coober Pede (680km). A team wanting to drive to Coober Pede should trailer the remaining distance to Alice by the end of day 4, so they can drive the solar car out of Alice at 8am Day 5.
Cars not reaching Coober Pede by end of day 5 on trailer, or 13:00 day 6 without trailering:
Day 6: Trailer to Coober Pede, Start when they arrive up to 13:00
otherwise trailer to Glendambo by end of day 6 (200km trailer)
Day 7: Glendambo to Port Augusta - 290km solar
Day 8: Sunday trailer to Adelaide. - 300km
Cars not reaching Glendambo by end of day 7, trailered or not:
Day8: Trailer direct to Adelaide. 590km + distance to Glendambo.
Obviously, the control closure times would be based on these trailering requirements.
Officials may still allow a solar car to proceed even if they miss one deadline, if they have not missed any previous deadlines.
This strategy does not allow for solar car driving on Sunday, ie a 7 day race. However I believe a better strategy would allow some driving on Sunday while still allowing time for team to reach the awards ceremony on Sunday night.
I believe a new official finish line should be opened in Port Augusta Friday morning (day 6), so that cars that cannot make it to Adelaide by the time the road closes for solar cars (Friday 5pm) can do a ceremonial finish in Port Augusta rather than wasting time in Adelaide. Solar cars could simply be parked in the tents in Adelaide on Sunday when they arrive on their trailer.
A team must drive about 390km each day to reach Port Augusta by the end of Day 7. They would pass Katherine (317) by the end of day 1, pass Tennent Creek (988) about an hour before 14:00 on day 3, reach Alice (1498) about an hour before the end of day 4, reach Coober Pede (2178) around 12:00 day 6, Glendambo (2430) about 10:00 Day 7, and finish in Port Augusta (2719) at 5pm Day 7.
By Dunmara check point, about 1/2 the field were on target to achieve this, and all the remaining cars that had not trailered were close. 25 cars reached Katherine before the end of Day 1, all these cars were on track to do 390km on day 1, 12 cars didn't make it before the end of the day.
A car with a 1kW array, given minimum average WSC sunshine (6.5 Kwh/m2 per day) and a 4.5kWh battery would have 50 kWh to use in 7 days, at an average cruise speed of about 50 kph, with minimal time for stops and no breakdowns. To complete the distance the car would need to achieve 18.4 Wh/km, or 920W at 50 kph.
Back in NZ and watching closely - end of Day 2.
After 8 hours flying I'm back in NZ, and I'm now intently following the teams blogs and official websites.
I've still got more photos from the start of the race to upload, so watch facebook.com/solarfernracing
At the end of Day 2:
Very interesting racing this year, with a very tight top 3 bunch. The next 5 or so cars were well within striking distance if they were playing a more conservative strategy.
The big issue in this year's race is the fires south of Tennant Creek. I gather these extend all the way to Alice and even further south. Not only do these cause a significant loss of power from the smoke haze, but the road south of Tennant creek was actually closed to all traffic, cutting day 2 short for many teams. It seems there is the possibility of damage to the control stop at Barrow creek, and this has now been moved to Ti Tree, about 100km further on. I think Barrow Creek is the crazy small bar with all the money and other cool stuff on the walls - a real shame if that has been damaged!
The top 3 cars made it past Tennant Creek before the road closed, and stopped in Wauchope (said "walk-up"). The next 8 cars were stopped in Tennant Creek before the end of the day. Wauchope is 114km past Tennant Creek, about 12km past the Devils Marbles, and 17km before Wycliffe Well (UFO capital of Australia!). Solar Fern made it to the Devil's marbles at the end of Day 3 in 2007.
The top 3 are: Tokia, Nuon, and Michigan, all keeping together in a tight group.
At Tennant Creek the next 8 are: Aurora, Ashiya Sky Ace 5, Twente, Sunswift, Umicore, Socrat (Istanbull), Okinawa, and Stanford. Official times are on the wsc.org.au website. Of these the first 5 are within 40 minutes of each other, and 2-3 hours behind the top 3 cars, 160-200km behind before road closures.
It is quite possible that the top 3 had low batteries at the time of the road closure, while the others may have been more conservative and still have good batteries. Given the battery situation and the long distance still to come it is quite possible that the top cars may slow down and the next group could speed up and close the gap with little overall energy penalty, in fact, the more conservative strategy may be more efficient. The extra 160-200km represents around 2-3 kwh of battery capacity, so it is well within the battery capacity on the cars. The real race position of the top 8 cars at the time of road closure is still in the battery, not on the road.
However the road closures have really upset the strategy. With the cars stopped for most of the afternoon, and in the morning before their official restart, the cars that have used the most battery power to get out ahead, have gained the most from the full charge during the stoppage. The top 3 are now probably equal in battery with the next 5, so the extra 114km on the road represents a very real advantage. To add to that advantage the 160-200km spacing will be maintained by the officials when the cars at Tennant are started later than the cars at Wauchope. This all fair and correct, but the benefits of the conservative strategy of the cars at Tennant are now all wiped out, and the top cars now have a 2-3kwh advantage, which will be very hard for the next 5 to make up. They can no longer rely on the top 3 running low on batteries.
If the top 3 teams had bet on road closures to recharge their batteries, that has now paid off big time. This has all but decided the top 3 places.
Cars arriving at Tennant today before 2pm will be subject to a 3:52 delay to maintain fair race positions. Cars arriving after 2pm will probably have to wait for the car ahead of them to leave first. The 6 hours until 2pm so this will effect any cars within 6 hours of Tennant creek at the end of day 2, ie any car that got through Dunmara by the end of day 2, which is all the cars that have not yet trailered. These cars could slow down to save batteries and aim to arrive at Tennant Creek at 2pm, so their delay will be minimised as they wait for earlier cars to restart after their 3:52 delay. Many cars will reach full charge during the delay. Of course race officials may reduce the delay for cars arriving nearer 2pm anyway, so slowing down may not be an advantage after all.
I've still got more photos from the start of the race to upload, so watch facebook.com/solarfernracing
At the end of Day 2:
Very interesting racing this year, with a very tight top 3 bunch. The next 5 or so cars were well within striking distance if they were playing a more conservative strategy.
The big issue in this year's race is the fires south of Tennant Creek. I gather these extend all the way to Alice and even further south. Not only do these cause a significant loss of power from the smoke haze, but the road south of Tennant creek was actually closed to all traffic, cutting day 2 short for many teams. It seems there is the possibility of damage to the control stop at Barrow creek, and this has now been moved to Ti Tree, about 100km further on. I think Barrow Creek is the crazy small bar with all the money and other cool stuff on the walls - a real shame if that has been damaged!
The top 3 cars made it past Tennant Creek before the road closed, and stopped in Wauchope (said "walk-up"). The next 8 cars were stopped in Tennant Creek before the end of the day. Wauchope is 114km past Tennant Creek, about 12km past the Devils Marbles, and 17km before Wycliffe Well (UFO capital of Australia!). Solar Fern made it to the Devil's marbles at the end of Day 3 in 2007.
The top 3 are: Tokia, Nuon, and Michigan, all keeping together in a tight group.
At Tennant Creek the next 8 are: Aurora, Ashiya Sky Ace 5, Twente, Sunswift, Umicore, Socrat (Istanbull), Okinawa, and Stanford. Official times are on the wsc.org.au website. Of these the first 5 are within 40 minutes of each other, and 2-3 hours behind the top 3 cars, 160-200km behind before road closures.
It is quite possible that the top 3 had low batteries at the time of the road closure, while the others may have been more conservative and still have good batteries. Given the battery situation and the long distance still to come it is quite possible that the top cars may slow down and the next group could speed up and close the gap with little overall energy penalty, in fact, the more conservative strategy may be more efficient. The extra 160-200km represents around 2-3 kwh of battery capacity, so it is well within the battery capacity on the cars. The real race position of the top 8 cars at the time of road closure is still in the battery, not on the road.
However the road closures have really upset the strategy. With the cars stopped for most of the afternoon, and in the morning before their official restart, the cars that have used the most battery power to get out ahead, have gained the most from the full charge during the stoppage. The top 3 are now probably equal in battery with the next 5, so the extra 114km on the road represents a very real advantage. To add to that advantage the 160-200km spacing will be maintained by the officials when the cars at Tennant are started later than the cars at Wauchope. This all fair and correct, but the benefits of the conservative strategy of the cars at Tennant are now all wiped out, and the top cars now have a 2-3kwh advantage, which will be very hard for the next 5 to make up. They can no longer rely on the top 3 running low on batteries.
If the top 3 teams had bet on road closures to recharge their batteries, that has now paid off big time. This has all but decided the top 3 places.
Cars arriving at Tennant today before 2pm will be subject to a 3:52 delay to maintain fair race positions. Cars arriving after 2pm will probably have to wait for the car ahead of them to leave first. The 6 hours until 2pm so this will effect any cars within 6 hours of Tennant creek at the end of day 2, ie any car that got through Dunmara by the end of day 2, which is all the cars that have not yet trailered. These cars could slow down to save batteries and aim to arrive at Tennant Creek at 2pm, so their delay will be minimised as they wait for earlier cars to restart after their 3:52 delay. Many cars will reach full charge during the delay. Of course race officials may reduce the delay for cars arriving nearer 2pm anyway, so slowing down may not be an advantage after all.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Underway!
World Solar Challenge is under way!
I haven't had much time to put a lot of detail here, but photos are being uploaded to Facebook, with a few comments.
The race started at 8:30 this morning, with 37 cars qualified and ready to go, almost.
Twente started in pole position, after really pushing in on the track, riding 2 wheels around the hairpin!
One front wheel, and one back wheel in the air (to reduce rolling resistance :0)
The WSC website is much better this year, with live car loations! Check out
So many good cars this year. Tokai, Aurora, Michigan, Nuna, Umicore, SkyAce 5, Sunswift.
Here's my pick, but it will be very close:
1. Michigan
2. Nuna
3. Tokai
4. Aurora
5. Umicore
All these cars are around 150kg.
I rate Michigan #1 since they have done so much testing, and have a very clean and refined car. The actually built two cars, the second being a refinement of the first, and raced the two cars against each other. They are fairly friendly this year too. Their race car has gocherman lamination.
Nuna look good, gocherman lamination, cells cut small for high voltage and best fit. They have done a lot of work around the wheels with tight wheel covers, front and rear fairing which moves with the wheel inside the bigger spats and are only a few mm above the ground. They have stretchy material between the fixed outer spates and the inner wheel covers. Very clean. Still, I think Michigan have more experience with poor weather and strategy, which may prove decisive.
Tokai are a professional team, but I'm not so sure about their array, which has top side metalisation, but the cells are meant to be good. Tokai have rear wheel steering for tight corners, and for crabbing.
I would rate Aurora higher, but the seem to lack the passion to win this year, without David. Still if they get their mojo back they could do better. It's still a very clean and light car, and they have 24 years solar car experience, and very good and well refined strategy. Aurora won 1999 with the bad weather that year.
Umicore are the only competitive car with GaAs, 3m2, 35%, (confirmed by Hanns Gocherman himself!) That's not enough in itself, but they have concerntrators, very nice ones too. They will work well with direct sunlight but with bad weather forecasts, I don't think it will be enough.
Unfortunately Sunswift don't have the good tyres, and all the teams I've spoken to who have tested the tyres say it makes a huge difference, as much as 200 watts! I don't think their brush skirts on the rear will do them any favours either - I hope they take these off at some point.
I don't know much about SkyAce 5, the successor to Tiga. More of a track car, but still very competitive. Not as clean as the others - custom Mitsuba motor.
Stanford will be one to watch. So many innovations, the skirt, crabbing, 3 wheel steering, i-phone lamination, even to top is hinged about 1/3 from the front. Still, they are a bit heavy, and dont have the best tyres, but they should be up there.
MIT are much more budget this year, but they should be a solid mid field car.
Twente were fast on the track. They are very aurora looking, but probably not as well refined or experienced. Should still do well.
Bochum had trouble on the starting grid, but got their motor controller under control and got away at the end of the field.
The Koreans has tyre trouble on the grid, and tried to replace the tyre, but could not get the bead to seat with a hand pump. They eventually went off to a service station to pump up the tyre. They have not spare wheels, and their compressor was packed away. But they should get away eventually. Good luck!
The Indian team's solar car was all ready to race, but their support cars did not turn up! Problems at the hire car place I gather. They should get that sorted, then they will be on their way.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
WSC 2011 - Rob's in Darwin
Wednessday 12 October 2011
I'll be here until Sunday 16th when the Challenge begins.
Photos from today are on Facebook with a few comments.
Rain on the ground this morning. It has stopped but there's still plenty of cloud. The cloud occasionally broke for the teams to test solar panels, but the cloud kept it a bit cooler, although still humid.
I took the YikeBike into Hidden Valley today. I rode to the nearest bus stop in Darwin folded the Yike and waited for the bus. Everyone waiting was amazed. Took the bus to Hidden Valley road, where I unfolded the Yike and took off on the 4 km trip to Hidden Valley. This is much better than walking, like I did last year!
Having a YikeBike at a solar car race gets a lot of attention! Everyone wants to know me :)
Most of the teams are here, a few are at scrutnieering, which started today, and several have their own workshop elsewhere in Darwin - Nuna, Umicore, Cambridge, and Bochum, maybe some others.
Camera trouble today, so not so many photos, but many good discussions with the teams.
So first up, Aurora. Same car as last time with a few improvements. They are running the Mitchelin tyres again this time. They say they are better this year. The team is going string after the loss of Dave Fewchuck, and the retirement of strategist Peter Pudney from the team.
Onda Solare from Italy are interesting. They are the first Italian team, and they are a private team with members from industry, and some from the Ferrari technical school. They aren't a Ferrari team, but Ferrari are supporting them and hosted their grand unveiling.
The Onda car ,Emilia2, has a carbon tube frame, and the back section has tubes that slide inside the front section, sliding back for the driver to get out. The top shell comes off in 3 parts, see later photos. They also have a chain drive and a cluster on their motor. The motor moves side and back to change gears and tension the chain.
UMP solar a budget team from Malaysia are lead by the same guy that did the 2009 budget car (open frame, car looking, blue) . This time they have golden motors (like my electric bike), but 48V 1000W versions with their own axle and a disc brake fitted. They can get 50kph with their large wheels but are limited by their 48V MPPT. Motor cycle forks, bicycle forks were too weak. Drum brakes on rear, for hand brake and to meet dual braking system.
Calsol Impulse 25 from Berkley USA, have the VW sticker. Their array is laminated as a compound curve! Laminated by the team over a plug the same shape as the car with a vacuum. It worked pretty well, although the edges of the cells are not perfectly flush with the surface. Otherwise standard EVA-tedlar layup.
Stanford, 16, has rear wheel steering, driven by an actuator. It can be either set to crab the car sideways, or work with the front steering for tight cornering. So the front wheel spats are narrow, and so is the suspension. The suspension is very cunning, with a double top linkage giving a virtual centre directly above the tyre. There is no accerman either, since this would change the toe when crabbing. With the top virtual centre the kingpin angle is zero, and the wheels turn in less space. The shock is below the bottom arm.
They have one caliper on each front wheel, and one on the rear. Stanford also have tight fitting wheel covers that turn with the wheel inside the spats. The spats have skirts that almost touch the ground, made of carbon and a flexible resin. This is all in aid of sailing when they crab the car. Apparently this was done by Tokai in 2009.
Stanford have laminated their cells on i-phone glass, but thinner. unfortunately they dont have mitchelin tyres, but they will be an interesting team to follow. They are also visiting NZ after the race and might call in to see the solar fern.
Then there is the Koreans. They are the first Korean team in the WSC , from the Kookmin university. These "Green Maniacs" were building their body shell and fitting solar cells the day before their scrutineering. Being from Korea I knew Barry would want me to ask if they knew about Dal Shabet. When they worked out what I was saying the three girls broke into a chorus of "Supa Dupa Diva"!
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