The third day was going to be the hottest day yet. The challenge this posed was that the race officials could potentially end the race day early, and if we had not taken our mandatory lunch break we would receive a penalty. This meant our strategy team needed to keep careful track of the heat […]
Today was the first day of the racing portion of the challenge. Over two years of design and build begin to be put to the test on this day. With scrutineering done and strategy working nonstop to make sure that their calculations are correct for the drivers, all the rest of the team could do […]
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 […]
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 […]
Energy management for solar car racing is critical. For our upcoming endurance test at PACCAR Technical Center, we want to travel as far as possible in roughly 7 and a half hours. To travel as efficiently as possible, we must make precise decisions on how fast to drive the car. The power needed to overcome […]
Students test their solar cars on the final day of testing/racing. Over the past month and a half, our outreach sub-team conducted a series of after-school educational activities with the 5th-grade students of Hazel Valley Elementary School. Through these presentations and hands-on activities, RAHS Green Energy Team (GET) members introduced students to the importance of […]
With the Solar Car Challenge approaching rapidly, different subteams have been hard at work on separate projects that will eventually come together on our final car. The solar sub-team in particular has been preparing to manufacture our solar array for the new car. We are still waiting on materials before we commence the soldering process, […]
Going into Race Day three, we had a significant lead, filling the team with excitement and a tad of apprehension. The previous day we had set a new day lap record of 227 breaking the record we had set just the day before. Expecting the highest temperatures of the entire race, with temperatures reaching 111°F […]
As we arrived at the track at 6:15 AM, the team was filled with excitement. With more than two years of work put into the car, everyone sprang into action… for about 2 minutes: we were quickly notified that we were only allowed to interact with our vehicle after 6:30 AM. The day began like […]
With scrutineering complete for the team and all our drivers approved for the race, it’s safe to say that stress levels are lower than before. Nonetheless, there is much more to do. Solar testing and practice driver swaps will prepare everyone for the race to come. After this, the team provided support to other teams […]
