Our students gained tremendous insight and experience in world class Automotive and Electric Powertrain engineering working with TE professionals and TE components. Altair’s OptiStruct® solver also aided in composite analysis, running optimizations that our engineers could base on certain criteria that they assigned. The Solar Car Challenge will depart Sunday from the Northwest ISD Administration building, just west of Texas Motor Speedway, and the trip concludes July 23 in … Use of the GM cars as caravan vehicles during our current mock race and the 2018 American Solar Challenge, where we seek our seventh consecutive title, is extremely valuable. Cummins’ support of this cycle was exciting for our team; at the same time that they venture further into the electrification space, looking to become a leader in electrification with their new electric semi-trailer, Michigan Solar Car took a radically different approach. The SCC Education Program developed in 1993 as a high school extra-curricular program, and later evolved into the Solar Car Challenge Foundation. At Michigan Solar Car, we pride ourselves on our partnerships in industry. JTEKT’s enthusiasm with our project could not be beat as the services they offered us made us truly feel the strength of our relationship. “From providing engineering advice at design reviews and stopping by the Wilson Center to see the car as it’s being built to being right by our side during the race, Chuck embodies UM Solar Car and wishes the best for the team always. Having an efficient and well-connected high voltage system allowed us to move forward and perform to our highest potential. The event combines the fun of … We covered Novum in tell tails, strings attached at several points on the car that enabled our engineers to gauge turbulence and air flow. Michigan Engineering supported the team with funds, as well, helping us avoid a situation in which financial constraints could have prevented the construction of our faster, riskier, more innovative—and more expensive—design, Novum. IMRA has continually supported UM Solar at every turn, helping us make connections in industries that have greatly benefited the team. The ultimate goal is that the team will be more diverse and every member will feel comfortable proposing new ideas and asking important questions. The engine must run, the wiring must connect, the driver interface must be well put together, and the motor must be fully functional. Our first Team Relations Coordinator, Abigail Siegal, comments, “I’m excited about the things we have in the works! Being able to race with this full caravan meant that Novum had the support she needed and our Race Crew’s capabilities were not limited. “Without ZF’s machining capabilities, we wouldn’t have been able to manufacture our front and rear wheels,” says 2017 Race Mechanical Engineer Jake Anderson. The students get some real world teamwork and problem solving experience not frequently taught in the classroom. We look forward to continuing this trajectory by collaborating with Roush as we make changes to Novum and prepare for the upcoming American Solar Challenge! Molex, LLC has long been a valued sponsor of the University of Michigan Solar Car Team, supporting our operations with top-of-the-line connectors that make our system reliable, polished, and easy to repair. Our Operations Director, Peter Rohrer, highlights how significant Roush’s support is to the success of the Michigan Solar Car Team, saying, “Roush’s unparalleled workspace and expertise in composites manufacturing are a crucial asset to us, allowing us to have total confidence in the performance of our vehicle’s structures, which are made entirely of composite materials.”. The Solar Car Challenge is the top project-based STEM Initiative helping motivate students in Science, Engineering, and Alternative Energy. It follows three cars being blown off the road yesterday in strong winds. “For us, the Solar Challenge was always a means, not an end,” team manager, Kjell Revenberg, says. JTEKT was one of our biggest supporters, in finance, equipment, and spirit. Our space in the Wilson Center is vital to our operation. Along with this came exceedingly rigorous scrutiny, planning, and labor, both internal and external. General Motors has been a staunch supporter of the University of Michigan Solar Car Team since the team’s inception, and we have been delighted to partner with them again as we prepared to race Novum both across the Australian Outback and along the Oregon Trail! After all, we built Novum with some of the absolute best carbon and aramid in the world. Roush enabled us to build the car that performed so successfully in Australia this fall. “We want to become market leaders. According to UM Solar Car Operations Director Vignesh Jagathese, "3M has consistently helped the University of Michigan Solar Car Team through our toughest design cycles. Thank you, 3M, for being everything from the shield that protects us to the adhesive that binds us. The World Solar Challenge is a competition that has aimed to show the true potential of solar powered transport. Since he first ran with the car Maize and Blue in 1993, Chuck has given our cars this send-off at the start of nearly every solar race in a sign of solidarity and tradition. UM Solar Car is very grateful for Michigan Engineering’s continued strong support, without which we could not have raced to our best-ever WSC finish. We are now working together in preparation for the 2018 American Solar Challenge, making sure our team successfully modifies Novum to comply with regulations. They got back to us almost immediately and gave us twice the computing power we normally get, allowing us to complete the design on schedule.” Within the span of just one week, UM Solar Car ran around 100 simulations with the computing power R Systems provided. JTEKT provided us with durable and meticulously engineered hybrid ceramic ball bearings with silicon nitride. Chuck has been a longtime friend of the team. But designs cannot be improved upon in a timely fashion if they cannot be assessed quickly, and on a typical desktop computer, running just one CFD simulation can take an entire day. There is always a lot going on during a race. This cycle, Chuck also provided the team with monetary support that helped us make the dream of Novum a reality; when our engineers were working on Novum’s design, the largest hurdle the team faced was financing the car. Every race, we have a new Race Crew and a new car built around new regulations that ultimately shape design and fabrication. Elcon graciously provided us with low resistance copper we used in the tabbing, and with chemical etching, a very specialized process.”. However, the high-quality circuit boards allow for us to save time and increase the reliability of our electric systems as their compactness, connectivity, and stability against movement make it easy for us to organize and utilize our multitude of electronic system components. Over the past months, we brainstormed about what our next step will be. “Without Molex connectors,” Caroline explains, “doing this would be risky at best and catastrophic at worst.” Molex made it possible for us to build the optimal solar car by allowing us to be flexible in ways like this when designing our microsystems. In the outback, it is imperative that everything we have, everything we make, and everything we do works to its maximum capacity no matter what, and our high voltage systems did just that in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge. TE Connectivity helped our team and our systems tremendously. Join the number one team in America, and help us build the fastest solar car in the world. “The carbon was some of the highest quality in terms of material property that the team has been able to get in recent years,” Composites Lead Bennet McGlade describes. First and foremost, this means Roush provided UM Solar Car with vital access to a large, professional workspace for prepreg composites manufacturing, providing us the best possible venue to undergo this process. The software enables UM Solar engineers to visualize where on a given part the material is important; this visualization means they can better know how stress and load “flow” through the part. For our fourteenth generation car, the team decided to make a leap and use a state-of-the-art, space grade, multi-junction gallium arsenide array. We were provided with bearings for our wheels, modeled down to the most minute specifications. Eaton and UM Solar Car both are interested in pushing what’s next in eMobility. “Although Teijin is a first-time sponsor, they are very enthusiastic and helpful,” says Race Operations Engineer Janice Lau. Past Winners Above all, we raced with these innovations, realizing that what we were doing was uncharted territory. Add this onto the fact that we were dealing with exposure to some of the harshest natural elements the world has to offer, and this can easily seem like an overwhelming situation. You have entered an incorrect email address! Students learn how to design, engineer, build, and race roadworthy solar cars. Our vehicle’s lighting board, horn board, steering dashboard, and battery pack, among many other components, were able to be integrated both smoothly and highly functionally into our vehicle, all thanks to Saturn’s engaging and efficient team. The team has used the vehicles for everything from making runs to pick up materials and parts for the car to taking the car to an elementary school to teach young students about the importance of STEM education and the future of renewable energy. 2018 Operations Director Vignesh Jagathese describes, “Without GM vehicles, we wouldn't be able to race 1,800 miles through the American heartland to go after our 10th American Solar Challenge title. Every part is crucial to the other part, and systems work in tandem to produce the best possible result. We were able to try something new and take that risk and execute it well because of R Systems’ support. Now, they’ve announced they will no longer participate in this solar-powered car race. Ford also influenced our race operations, providing us with our Lead, Chase, Scout, Weather, and Media caravan vehicles in Australia to support Novum’s trek across the Outback. It is with the help of companies like Solargis that we are able to do this, and we are excited to continue our partnership with them in future races! Molex provides UM Solar Car with over a thousand Micro-Fit and C-Grid connectors that our electrical engineers solder onto the printed circuit boards (PCBs) that support various systems of the car. For example, Ford milled the plug for our new canopy, which is currently in the process of being built. The Eaton team was eager to help our team as they looked for a platform to showcase advancing technologies. We look forward to seeing what we can accomplish together in the future! And because we were testing in Ford’s wind tunnel, we were able to acquire numerous data points for a wider range of angles and speeds than we otherwise could have. Students will be challenged to design and build the solar car to meet performance criteria. Lightweighting was a main endeavor during the design process as the team strove towards its vision of the lightest, most aerodynamic car possible, so this was very important. The event is typically held every other year during the summer and is open to collegiate level solar car teams from countries all over the world. Part of achieving and maintaining our levels of technical innovation involves rigorous design, redesign, and further examination from all members of our team on every component. Our engineers work often well into the morning; they know that if designs are not improved upon and finished on time, the car cannot be built on time and cannot be shipped on time and so cannot race. And for newer members of the team, Perry elaborates, Inspire helps teach newer members how to properly load and constrain parts and assemblies, gaining them a better overall understanding of the importance of design constraints. And we are very grateful that was the case, because the superior quality of Teijin’s product allowed us to build the best possible manifestation of our bold monocoque design. Workshops, curriculum materials, and on-site visits help support the teams. Meet the Falcon 4.0, the 2nd place finisher in the 2018 Solar Car Challenge. Thanks to our Michigan-based partner Saturn Electronics, we were able to power through this uncharted territory with all our systems working smoothly due to the high-quality circuit boards they provide us with. Schools are encouraged to use the solar car kits to run an in-school solar car challenge at the end of the unit, where students test their designs. When we built Novum, Ford milled plugs from our tooling board for us to use in our composites manufacturing process. Twaron, for example, increased the impact resistance of the carbon fiber laminate, ensuring superior protection in the event of a crash. And even more than that, this speed allowed us to try out a larger number of shape designs and afforded us more time to brainstorm and review results. This event introduces solar energy and engineering design applications to participating students. We look forward to using TE’s equipment again in the upcoming 2018 American Solar Challenge as well. Elcon Precision supported UM Solar Car by helping us optimize our car’s battery pack; Elcon supplied our team with copper tabbing, which allowed us to custom-design our battery pack. But one thing has never changed: Chuck Hutchins’ unwavering support of the team and its race towards a victory. We have utilized vehicles that GM provided not only to our team, but also to the entire Wilson Student Team Project Center. “I'm ecstatic we had the opportunity to work with them as a sponsor!". “Ford has supported us with machine time in the Ford Design Milling shop, caravan vehicles, and usage of the Jacobs Wind Tunnel. The American Solar Challenge (ASC) is a multi-day, 1,500-2,000 mile cross-country endurance rally across North America. The 2020 Solar Car Challenge — an academic tournament for local elementary, middle and high school students — is the time to shine. This allowed us to maintain the fast pace our design and build cycles called for. Thank you, JTEKT, for being an integral part of the efforts which move us forward and the spirit which keeps us going. It's a race full of speed, spills and sometimes heartbreak. More importantly, though, it has fairly specialized tools and options specifically for composite analysis.”. Our Junior School students got creative on their final day of school, taking part in the Solar Car Challenge. Th… TE provided us with high voltage system connectors as well as contactors, which connect our electrical systems and activate them, respectively. Hand layup is a composite fabrication method that involves layering fabric onto the molds. We are grateful to have you as an engineering partner and a Gold sponsor, and we look forward to seeing what can happen in the future! If we hadn’t built a car as aerodynamic as Novum, it is unlikely we would have gotten the amazing result of a best-ever finish by a University of Michigan Team, so we were excited to be able to take Novum out of our Computer Aided Designs and onto the road with the help of IMRA. The 471 vinyl tape serves a crucial role through its adhesive strength as it holds the fairings to the chassis of the car and eliminates gaps between individual components so as to maximize aerodynamic efficiency. Race Crew Electrical Engineer and Driver Caroline Subramoney has a lot of praise for Molex! Chuck’s contribution set us one step closer and eventually helped this dream come to fruition. Thank you! 46 talking about this. “And being able to consider manufacturability during optimization also reduces the number of steps and time required from initial design to final part,” Perry concludes. This not only allowed us to see where the parts were most likely to fail or how much they might deform, but also allowed us to decide where to add more layers or plies to the structure, decisions that our Race Crew executed during the carbon manufacturing process, when we constructed Novum’s carbon fiber aerobody. High-performing bearings are essential to wheel performance as the size and texture are what allow the wheels themselves to spin with as little friction as possible. And during the 2017 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge last fall, R Systems provided our Strategy Division’s Weatherman the capacity to run models while racing in the middle of the Australian Outback. We were experimenting with a new aerodynamic design, and consequently had much to think about in terms how we would adjust our race strategy to meet this new design. That, and the Lightyear launch means Solar Team Eindhoven won’t take part in this year’s race. Ford-milled plugs were the first step in building our entire aerobody. The challenge teaches high school students around the world how to design, engineer, and build roadworthy solar cars. The Bridgestone World Solar Challenge (BWSC) is the world’s premier solar-powered car race where young engineers from all over the world compete with their self-designed solar cars. However, without highly-functioning wheel components, which are one of the physical bases of movement to our vehicles, all of that would be for naught. Our race crew of 12 students raced across the country in the 2018 Solar Car Challenge We design build and race the best solar car vehicles, with the help of sponsors who are a critical part of our team’s legacy. Without Cummins' support, our risk-taking wouldn't have been possible and we wouldn't have been able to have the success we did.” We were excited that this year we had our best-ever finish and were able to welcome Cummins to the University of Michigan Solar Car family! Nearly all of the composite fibers for the car came from Teijin. Here, Roush’s CNC knife cutters allowed for precision cutting of our materials. Under the theme of “Dream bigger. “For the more experienced members, it lets the team squeeze every last ounce of unnecessary weight out of our components,” Perry details. One big thing that makes Novum impressive is its aerodynamic prowess and how its aerobody stands out from the rest, departing from solar car design convention. We strive to be the best team in the world and the best way to do that is to have the best people possible in a truly collaborative environment. “So, we contacted R Systems to ask for more resources. The Solar Car Challenge Foundation is designed to help motivate students in Science, Engineering, and Alternative Energy. And, ultimately, the faster Novum moved through the scrutineering phase of the 2017 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, when officials inspect each team’s solar car to verify that all regulations are met and the vehicle is ready to hit the road. Using chemical etching, Elcon very accurately cut thin, reflective materials without any of the edge warping that Brad mentioned would threaten the quality. The Solar Challenge should go ahead from 22 to 30 October this year. Ford yet again graciously allowed the University of Michigan Solar Car Team to test its solar vehicle in its Jacobs Wind Tunnel. According to BWSC 2017 Race Crew Engineering Director Clayton Dailey, “The equipment TE Connectivity gave to the team simplified and expedited our high voltage component handling, helping us immensely during the race.”. Due to state and campus regulations on group gatherings in response to COVID-19, the 2020 Solar Car Challenge has been postponed. The first step, free size, gives a continuous distribution of material thickness; the second, size, accounts for the individual thickness of each ply; and the third, shuffling, recommends the order in which each ply should be laid. The American Solar Challenge is a competition to design, build, and drive solar-powered cars in a cross-country time/distance rally event. Our 2017 Business Director, Abigail Siegal, explains how significant Cummins’ contribution to the UM Solar Car Team has been, saying, “While our team has always built an electric car, this year we were also moving away from from our traditional path, making a shift from using a catamaran design to a bullet-shaped car. The involvement of Offices of the President and the Provost makes it easier for us to do just that! It is the wheels that literally move the car forward, and bring the driver to his or her destination. However, no aspect of vehicle building or planning can come to fruition without what is likely one of the most fundamental components of any car: the wheels. They are contested by a variety of university and corporate teams. “But HyperWorks is both versatile and powerful, which helps a lot. Eindhoven News uses cookies to improve your experience. The team also performed other air flow tests at different yaw angles. The University of Michigan’s 2017 vehicle’s carbon fiber aerobody and state-of-the-art array are exciting, but beyond the car’s exterior are other crucial elements, things like the steering rack or the microsystems--or the battery. The models take about six hours to run, which was quickly enough for our Strategy Division to analyze the results during the race and make important tactical decisions pertaining to speed and charging locations while on the road. With Roush’s support, the University of Michigan Solar Car Team moved its cutting-edge design into the three-dimensional world and made its vision a reality. A staunch supporter of UM Solar Car, Altair provided the team with generous access to its HyperWorks® software suite and Inspire®, as well as with technical advice. All our caravan vehicles provide crucial race support and help us race safely and smoothly. We are grateful for GM’s continued support in providing both these vehicles and financial support. As an organization with goals to achieve environmental efficiency, greater connectivity, as well as technical prowess, it is a huge part of our goals to involve ourselves with partners within the automotive industry in the Greater Detroit Area. We design, build, and race the world's fastest solar cars, and are America's #1 team. We decided to implement a gallium arsenide array—different from the traditional silicon design with which solar cars tend to be built—in the hopes that we could utilize energy from the sun as efficiently as we possibly could. The 2017 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge was most certainly a leap forward for us as a team technically, personally, as well as strategically. The 2017 World Solar Challenge was no exception, and we wouldn’t have had it any other way! ZF’s hands-on, professional, and world-class assistance helped us move forward in this race—and that is something our members still speak of nearly half a year after the race. 2012 Solar Car Challenge “Willing to Fail.” – Erienne Mccray, former Oregon Solar Car Team Captain. These connectors then plug into other matching Molex connectors, which all feed into the Control Area Network (CAN) line, a harness of wiring that connects all the circuit boards within the car, tying it all together like a central nervous system. Their knowledge and analysis of the crack formations on our previous wheels allowed us to fine tune the wheels we ended up using. Thank you, Teijin! In other words, if our racers, wheels, and battery make our car move, then Saturn makes our car work. Now, they’ve announced they will no longer participate in this solar-powered car race. 3M is a company rooted in scientific exploration and discovery, and they are ever evolving. 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