Week 8 post 1

5/28/12- This week was a very productive week. To start off we soldered the leads of the wires to the alligator clips and tested them to make sure that they worked. Next we created the compartment that will house the empty soda can and tested it to make sure that it would be able to keep the can contained in case of a roll-over accident. This back extension worked well and added very little weight to the car so we think that the design is will work well.

 Jeremiah diligently soldering the wires from the solar panel to the clips

Finished solar car body with soda can

Next class we plan on reattaching our motor and gears, putting on the wheels, and doing extensive testing in preparation for the race at the Franklin institute.

-JDN

Week 7 Post 1

5/21/2012- This week we've began constructing the car from the plans. So far, we have the motor/rear-axle assembly and the base support and solar panel fixed to the chassis.

Here we have the motor and gear assembly. This is attached to the underside of the chassis.

 This is the preparation of the base plate support for the solar panel. We had to sand the wood down at an angle.

The solar panel is attached to the chassis. It is anchored at the bottom with a nail and at the top supports by tape.

This week, we plan to accomplish:

1. Attach  wheels to the axles
2. Design and construct a container for the can.

-JDN

Week 6 Post 2

5/10/12- We have just registered for the race. It's on.

-JDN

Week 6 Post 1

5/10/12- This is going to be a busy week. We have begun construction of our car. So far, our base has been cut out and the front of the car meant for mounting the solar panel has also been cut out. Furthermore, our axle mounts have been constructed and will be mounted to the base when construction continues later this week.  Below are pictures of the base of the car of the team working on the car.

Every big project has to start somewhere, and this is the base of our project

Jeremiah and Derek are drilling a hole in the axle mounts for the axles

-JDN

Week 5 Post 1

We have come to two conclusions of the problems presented in the last post. By analyzing the equation for speed of the car, it is determined that the gear ratio of the car is inversely proportional to the speed of the car. As the gear ratio decreases, the speed increases. The smallest possible gear ratio will be achieved by attaching the largest possible gear to the motor and the smallest possible gear to the axel. Tests will be run with other gear ratios once the car is built, but that is our idea. Also, the mass of the wheels decrease speed. So, there will be two wheels in the back and one wheel in the front. Now that the chassis has been designed, the gear ratio has been determined, the electrical component have been modeled, and the materials have been gathered, there is only one step left to do now: to build.