A Busy Summer for the Solar Car
Summer has been full of purposeful activity for Principia’s solar car team. While most students headed for home, camp, or other summer adventures, solar car team members remained on campus to prepare for a conference, race in Texas, and begin designing their next car, Ra 9.
In early June, solar car advisors Dr. Joe Ritter, John Broere, and Steve Shedd traveled to Dallas with team members Garrett Fielding and Kenneth Stack (both seniors) to represent Principia at the Siemens PLM Americas User Conference. The solar car, which was on display at the conference, uses CAD (computer aided design) software donated by Siemens. Both students participated in panel discussions and enjoyed learning from other CAD software aficionados.
As soon as the car was back in Elsah, team members began preparing for the 2013 Formula Sun Grand Prix (FSGP), a three-day race at the Circuit of the Americas track in Austin, Texas, in late June. Summer Session was in full swing at that time, and the team shared how the solar car has contributed to their college experience. As a show of support, many Summer Sessioners walked and biked around campus wearing the solar car t-shirts and polos they’d received in appreciation for their donations to the team.
In preparation for the Formula Sun race, the team fine-tuned the car and practiced pit crew maneuvers such as tire, motor, and driver changes. Unlike road races where the lead car wins, the winner of the FSGP completes the most laps during the three days. Principia finished fourth in a close race, clocking 184 laps, ahead of Western Michigan, University of Texas at Austin, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, and Georgia Tech.
“We had a lot of new team members who had never experienced a solar race before, and they were able to have a good hands-on team experience in a racing environment,” Fielding says. “This should put us in a good place for next summer's American Solar Challenge.” New team members also discovered that they have fans far beyond campus borders, including the Principia Club in Austin, which came out in full force to cheer them on.
Back in Elsah, team members are focusing on the new car design during the remaining summer weeks. Due to a change in regulations, the new car will have four wheels instead of three. That’s a big shift, but the team is looking forward to the challenge. As if to confirm that, Stack notes, “The best part of solar car is the team experience. It truly takes the cooperation of each team member to be successful. This summer has been a perfect example of that.”
Follow the car on Facebook. See a recap of the 2013 Formula Sun Grand Prix race.