Our new chassis design has taken a major shift in its compatibility with other parts and its aerodynamics. We have changed our chassis to be thinner to accommodate the change in the width of a human sitting down. At the bottom of the chassis, the inner width is 22 inches and its upper width is […]
Since joining RAHS, I have always been fascinated by the Solar Car Team. Since joining, I have had so much fun, I know I made the right decision. Instead of making models or basic design, we are making a real car that you could drive and and make yourself, this idea is so cool to […]
As with any street legal car, there needs to be light indicators so that drivers are able to see what that car’s driver is doing. So for our car, while headlights are not necessary, stop and turn lights are required by the rules, so that our unfortunate driver doesn’t end up getting rammed for not […]
For our solar car, there are many requirements that we need to meet, and the many more needs to reach optimal performance with our vehicle. We need to design a rear-view camera system, telemetry displays, and a system control panel. In order to accomplish this, we will be using an array of Raspberry Pi B+ […]
It can hardly be argued that some of the most important parts of a car are the wheels, it wouldn’t be much of a car without them. However, in order to comply with the rules of the Solar Car Competition (and protect the rear of the poor soul who has to drive the car), we […]
An integral part of dealing with lithium ion batteries is having a battery management system (BMS). The purpose of this is to balance the cells (or sets of cells) in series to ensure while charging/de-charging the load is consistent across the whole battery. We are using a BMS which includes an android app to monitor […]
The aerodynamics of our solar car are full steam ahead. A smooth body will ensure that the power from our motors is spent moving the car instead of opposing the drag. Essential elements of our aerodynamic body: Fairings around wheels Smooth airfoil shaped body surrounding chassis Aerodynamic solar panel frame and struts We connected with […]
While having a working and efficient car is important, it’s all for naught if our car doesn’t comply with the Solar Car Challenge’s safety standards. It’s imperative that our car is safe for the driver and those around the car and so, acquiring our required 5-point harness and a good seat for our driver was […]
One of the most fundamental decisions guiding the construction of the car is the choice of materials. The strength and weight of materials used decides the size and type of stock used to create components, as well as dictates in part what manufacturing techniques we can use. This dependency also works in inverse, for example […]
For the braking system, we are using brake discs and calipers from bike brakes, including cable activation via lever. When thinking of brake design and the uniquely shaped chassis, we decided we should use the simplest braking method for a prototype. The Solar Car Challenge requires a dual braking system, with separate pedals activating each […]
