Passing a Police car
Passing Toronto
Passing Auburn
Road signs
Burning hay
Auburn passing CalSol fixing flat tire
Passing Auburn fixing flat tire
Arizona passing
Auburn passing
Arizona passingThe Iowa State University team had issues with their solar car, so we stayed in Ewert Park, Joplin, Missouri over night. Iowa brought with them the sleeper trailer used by their football team.
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Outside view
Entrance
Bunk beds the length of the trailer
Water tank. This trailer also had a freezer and a shower.I departed Edmond, Oklahoma with the Principia College team.
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Putting on the solar array
A solar car team ahead
Rolling hills
Passing Western Michigan fixing a flat tire.
Passing Queen's fixing a flat tire.I departed Sayre, Oklahoma with the Western Michigan University team.
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On the road
Minnesota passing
Passing Missouri - Columbia
Minnesota ahead
End of the day charging in Middle-of-nowhere, Oklahoma
The power of Route 66 - cracked suspension arm
Grasshopper hitching a ride
Carbon fiber rims
Sunset
Storing the solar car in the trailer for the night
Minnesota ahead
Sea of signs
Passing MinnesotaI departed Amarillo, Texas with the McGill University team.
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End of the day charging. We came across a place that looked like it may have been a gas station in the past. The floor was in relatively good condition.
A Praying Mantis on the back of the solar array
On the highway
The past and the future
On the highway
Passing Arizona charging
Hills
Mountain and trees
Somewhere near the Texas and New Mexico borderI departed Tucumcari, New Mexico with the California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo (CalPoly) team.
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Passing Penn
CalPoly charging
Penn passing
I departed Albuquerque, New Mexico with the Queen's University team.
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Excess Electricity Radiator. On the roll bar was strapped an object with word "Voltage" on it (the word "High" isn't visible). It contained heating coil cores from three hair driers with fans on the other side. The route ahead was mountainous and Queen's didn't want to loose their regenerative electric brakes when their batteries were fully charged and risk overheating their mechanical brakes.
Queen's used a unique suspension design on their solar car called a trailing arm, because it was hinged from behind. It's main design benefit was that the wheel moved only vertically over bumps which doesn't add rolling resistance. Conventional suspensions are hinged on the side, which cause the wheel to move slightly sideways as the wheel moves up and down, which increases rolling resistance when going over irregular road surfaces.
View of the trailing arm front suspension from above
Queen's was a two seater solar car. The driver and passenger sit side by side.
The driver and passenger sitting side by side.
On the highway
On the highway
Solar car paparazzi
On the highway
On the highway
Western Michigan passing
On the road
Arizona passing