As the 2023-2024 school year comes to a close, the Texas team has been hard at work making final testing decisions and modifications to SOCKEYE and preparing for the 2024 Solar Car Challenge. Along with these preparations, the Green Energy Team has been gearing up for several outreach events to give others the chance to […]
As the countdown towards race day continues, the team has been hard at work getting ready for testing the car. However, we are not just testing improved systems;we also have been making sure previous components are up to date with the Solar Car Challenge’s rules. One key part of Sockeye is our main battery, which […]
With 60 more days until race day, time is ticking to make strategies, fix errors in our data, and get closer as a team. While the pressure on us builds, this just means that getting everything prepared is at utmost importance. In preparation, our team meets every Tuesday afternoon to talk about what needs to […]
With almost all the programming working, and the car getting ever closer to being finished, the SOCKEYE looks more promising than ever. Our code has had multiple revamps including the Telemetry data and to the Cruise Control. To start, our car is primarily run on two microcontrollers (Teensy 4.1s), which both have their unique duties […]
There is a long lasting proverb that says, “you’re only halfway done when you think you’re 90% finished.” So, with the PCB done and the mechanics of the car all together, the car appears to be all together. But as the proverb goes, that last 10 percent will take tremendous work from our electrical, software […]
As we wait for a sunny weekend to test SOCKEYE, we are simultaneously implementing a new printed circuit board to replace the interconnecting board shown below. Our interconnecting board houses microcontrollers, current sensors, and power distribution modules for all low-voltage components of the car.
In the coming weekends, we are hoping to start testing SOCKEYE in preparation for the race. Of course, this will rely on many extraneous factors such as weather, so it may take a few weeks. In the meantime, we are making some not-so-interesting final preparations. Instead of talking about that, let’s take a trip to the past and revisit just a few parts of SOCKEYE’s design that were overshadowed in last year’s blog posts.
As we refine SOCKEYE for the 2024 Solar Car Challenge, the solar panel subteam has been experimenting with new, potentially more effective soldering strategies. The use of our sponsor, Maxeon Sunpower’s solar cells is vital to the team, as they produce the industry-leading super-efficient silicon cells that make up the heart of the car. Throughout […]
As the team continues to progress toward Texas, it is important to revisit old projects to see how they can be improved. One of these projects is the open-top trailer that was built for the 2022 race. With SOCKEYE’s new wheel profile, we needed to modify the trailer to fit. Unfortunately, as the new design […]
Kicking off the new year, we’ve been working around the clock to perfect SOCKEYE for the 2024 National Solar Car Challenge. Throughout January, our members have participated in ongoing projects as we continue to prepare for testing the car, with many members stepping up to lead their own projects.
