Event planning and much more

Amidst the midterms and the assignments, the team’s current mission is to complete the preparation for the largest unveiling ceremony we’ve ever organized. With the days starting at 8 am with anything from event logistics meetings, media training, banner preparation, invitations and much more, the excitement within the team is rising!

On another note, we want to welcome the new Solar Team members joining us this fall. This year’s recruitment round was a huge success and we look forward to working with more students coming from faculties of communication, business, education, engineering, and sciences.

Watch out for more updates about the unveiling ceremony and the preparations for it!

Update!

Hello UC Solar Team Followers

First things first. Sorry for not updating our blog in such a long time, rest assured however the team has been working extremely hard on developing our newest car. The mechanical team has been running on all cylinders, and here is just a quick snapshot of what they have been up to. The plug (male mold of the car) has been produced! This is a huge step forward as it allows to start producing the mold for the aeroshell. The chassis team has been doing design work and producing mock chassis, as well as doing material testing in preparation for developing the prototype frame. Suspension is being designed and built.

Our Electrical team has been motoring along quiet well also, and here is a bit of the work they have been doing. The solar cells have arrived! We are preparing to do testing on all of the cells to determine which ones to use on the car, and are working on developing methods to put them together into panels. We are implementing and testing improvements to our battery management systems. We have been testing different motor controllers, and will soon be testing different motors. The goal is to determine which motor and controller is most efficient for us under different conditions. Our instrumentation team has also been hard at working improving car communications.

Everything is slowly coming together and we are looking to have a prototype completed in September for testing.

We would also like to give thanks to all those people who came out to see our team and car at the following events.

May 31 - Lilac Festival - we showcased our car, and the lilac festival had an attendance of over 100,000
June 3 - Showcased car at Mayor's Environment Expo
June 5 - Sneak a Peek to Campus Fair (showcased car to school groups)
June 6 - Campus Fair

Stay tuned for more updates, as the team is hitting our summer build phase.

Keeping Up To Date

To keep everyone up to date with the solar team's progress, here is some information as to what we have been doing over the past while. At the end of last year, we researched materials, designs, and cells that could be used on the car to make it more aerodynamic and efficient.

Recently the mechanical team has tested various small models of some early designs in a wind tunnel for drag resistance and lift. They are now taking some of the better designs and programming them into software to perform further tests and analysis. They are continually researching how to make the car better. They are also close to deciding what material we will be using for the chassis (chromoly, steel, or carbon fibre).

The electrical team has spent a lot of time trying to find solar cells to purchase, and weighing the pros and cons of the different types of cells. We are very close to making a decision on this. The electrical team is currently organizing various projects to help familiarize the team with the components of the electrical system.

The engineering team recently had a design review in which the team presented their ideas to other team members, members of the University, and members of industry who agreed to attend. The purpose of the review is to get different viewpoints on the ideas, and make sure that everything is moving on the right track.

The business team has been organizing different events, such as the Louis Riel visit last month. Looking forward, we will be visiting Colonel Macleod Junior High School next week and will be attending the Auto Show in March. We are currently beginning to actively look for sponsors for the gen 3 vehicle. A successful recruitment drive has added six new members to the business team to help with events, community relations, accounting, and logistics.

In all, we have been fairly busy and will keep on working hard keep the project rolling.

Calgary Solar Team On YouTube

Come see our YouTube videos regarding our prior events...

Louis Riel School Visit

Kicking off the 2009 year, the solar team welcomed the grade 3 and 4 classes of Louis Riel School. What better way to learn about solar cars than a Friday morning here at the University of Calgary. Mariam and Matthew lead the event with a presentation about the technologies and construction of Soleon and Schulich 1, our first two cars. Schulich 1 was supposed to make an appearance around the Science Theaters, but because of heavy snow, it couldn't be moved out of the shop. I guess we didn't budget enough for snow tires this year. Maybe next year.


After the presentation, the kids hiked way into the north-west campus to visit the shop where the solar team was keeping Schulich 1. This was where Ravi explained the design and components of Schulich 1 and took questions for the kids. In all, we believe the kids had a fun time, learnt a little, and we may have some future solar car drivers on our hands!