Sol Invictus Will Race in NASC 2008!
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Volume 9, Issue 4, Spring 2008 www.prisum.org Sol Invictus will race in NASC 2008! Team PrISUm’s online naming from Deus Sol Invictus, ‘the If you can help the team or contest for our ninth solar car Unconquered Sun God.’ With know of anyone who might be resulted in over 50 total submis- the multitude of obstacles this financially willing and able, sions, and early this semester, team has endured, the name please do what you can to lend team members gathered to de- could be one of the most appro- a hand! cide the name once and for all. priate ever for the PrISUm The race was close, but Sol Team. We have to thank you, our Invictus eventually emerged the supporters, once again for your clear winner. We still have not The team is currently seeking incredible support during this determined the identity of the supplemental funding for trans- project, but we are once again namer, however, so it has been portation and entry costs associ- asking for one final push of sup- impossible to assign any ated with the race this summer. port to get us from Dallas all awards! Ironically enough, the team will the way to Calgary! Help us be spending a lot of cash just to make it to the finish line! Sol Invictus literally means ‘the cover the increased costs of Unconquered Sun,’ originating fuel. Sol Invicuts’ paint design, created by Wade Johanns, an aerospace engineering student on the mechani- cal team. The car has been painted and is waiting for a frame to house! Status Bar: Teams ‘Officially’ Entered to compete in NASC Director’s Note 2 Iowa State University University of Calgary FH Bochum Istanbul Technical University Mechanical Update 2 Red River College Georgia Institute of Technology Illinois State University (demonstration) Electrical Update 3 Missouri University of Science and CalSol (UC Berkeley) SSUE I Technology ETS-Ecole de technologie suerieure Outreach Update 4 Principia College Northwestern University Durham University Queen’s University Solar Car Safety THIS 5 Michigan State University University of Arizona Oregon State University University of Kentucky Fundraising Update University of Michigan Western Michigan University 6 University of Waterloo Auburn University NSIDE I University of Minnesota Kansas State University Sponsors 7 University of Texas Austin Sundial 1 The Sundial Spring 2008 Director's Note Mechanical Update Is it over yet?! Hello all! A lot has happened since cut out holes for canopy, brake The team has been stretched thin over our last update. The team was able lights, and turn signals. We then cut the past few months, making trips to to finish building the molds back in the shells apart again and added Remmele Engineering, the Northwest November. We would like to give a structural members to support the Airlines Composite Shop, and Don special thanks to Coastal Enterprises solar cells. The new bottom shell Ness Racecraft every weekend to for donating all the foam for the will be secured to the frame while complete the frame and body of Sol molds and their timely response to the top shell with the solar cells will Invictus. our request for more foam when we be removable. We like to take the ran out! top shell off to make work on the Regardless of stress levels, the team mechanical systems easier and to is still going strong! A zombie-like angle the solar cells in direct sun- Solar Car member walking to class is light during the race. not an unlikely sight on Monday Our welder Don Ness is working on mornings, but no need to worry, the frame. It should be done soon we’re getting this car built, one way and ready for heat treat. North East or another.* Machine is current machining some parts for the car; they have been ex- Designs have been finalized and ma- tremely helpful donating there time and material to our cause. chining has begun on the mechanical Team members bag the top shell at North- side. Our solar array recently arrived, west Airlines before pulling a vacuum and we’re researching ways to reflect that allows the shell to cure. light off the canopy to get the most out of those little cells! Business The finished molds were then sent hours are precious, and reserved for out to be machined. Remmele Engi- relentlessly seeking out sponsorships. neering out of Big Lake, MN ma- chined the bottom mold and Ad- With such little time remaining (you vanced Pattern Works out of St. can check out a countdown timer on Louis, MO machined the top mold. our website, www.prisum.org) team Both companies did a great job and members can’t afford to put off any- were extremely helpful. After the thing. We’re pushing forward to fin- molds were machined the team laid them up with fiberglass and spayed Parts for the frame and a brake disc from ish the car with as much time to spare American Waterjet as possible. This will allow us to them with Duratec. Fiberglass and make the proper modifications, Duratec for the bottom mold took The car is coming along, as you can should we notice a problem with our place at Northwest Airlines in Min- see from all the work we have ac- design. All of this means we really neapolis, a huge thanks to the com- complished over the last couple of have to push ourselves to get it all posite shop personnel for taking care months, but there is still a lot of done. of us during the many weekend vis- work to be done in order to race. its! Our goal is to have the car mechani- I’d like to personally thank all of our Northwest is also where we laid-up cally complete by early June in order supporters and to encourage all of carbon fiber and cured the new to get plenty of test runs in before you to continue to follow the team’s shells using their autoclave. By the the big race! With your support we progress throughout the race in July. beginning of March we had both will make this goal and race for the We won’t let you down! carbon fiber shells in our garage win in July! Sarah Kelly, ready for the further work. Project Director Hildegard Garma The team has since then glued the & Michael Bridwell *Donations of caffeinated beverages are ap- top and bottom shell together and Co-Mechanical Directors preciated! www.prisum.org 2 The Sundial Spring 2008 Electrical Update It's been an exciting semester for the electrical team! tion to the lithium-ion cells, the battery pack will All of our planning and designing over the past year house a lot of student-designed electronics. Most of are starting to come to fruition as we begin building the circuits for the car have been built and tested, and integrating key components of the car. Every- and are performing better than expected. Once all one is very excited to see their designs come to life designs are finalized, we'll order several copies of and watch all of the pieces come together, and with each board, so that we can simply swap parts rather all this energy we're sure to end up with a well-built than spend valuable time repairing broken electron- and reliable electrical system--one of the key com- ics on the race. ponents to a successful solar car. Putting all of The car’s solar array is here! We've been working these parts to- closely with Alain Chuzel of SunCat Solar to design gether into a the cell layout of the new car. SunCat Solar also working car is provided the services to cut, assemble, and encapsu- going to be a late the cells. Sol Invictus will be using the same big task, but cells as the team's 2005 car, Fusion: The SunPower fortunately we A-300. These are the best silicon solar cells availa- are receiving ble on the market, and will ensure that our car is one lots of help of the best. Sol Invictus will also benefit by having from our spon- Just one of the many boxes of high capac- over 20% more cells than Fusion, meaning it will sors. Advanced ity Lithium-Ion batteries the team recently have one of our most powerful solar arrays ever. Circuits is spon- purchased soring the team The other major component of the car, the battery with free PCBs, and Littelfuse has donated fuses and pack, has also been ordered and received! The team other circuit protection devices. E. Jordan Brookes is using 2600 mAh lithium-ion batteries purchased has also been a major sponsor by donating the cop- per foil used to build and wire the solar array, and Cableco Technologies is generously supplying the large cables we use to run power from the batteries to the motor. I would like to extend a sincere thanks to all of our sponsors for making this project possi- ble. As always, you can check out the sponsorship section of our website for a complete list of the team’s sponsors. A lot will be happening this summer, so be sure to visit our website regularly for updates on our pro- The solar cells arrived last month! Everyone except Scott ject. You can also find information on how you can has been threatened with bodily harm if they so much as help out the team through adoption of a solar cell or look at them the wrong way. battery to help us cover the cost of these compo- nents.