Thursday, February 1, 2007

Photos: ASC 2003 - Part 10 of 18 - Riding with McGill

I 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

Next morning:

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 border

Photos by Adrian Silveanu

Photos: ASC 2003 - Part 11 of 18 - Riding with CalPoly

I 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



Back on the road. CalPoly was one of the solar cars that had a relatively normal driver sitting position.

Photos by Adrian Silveanu

Photos: ASC 2003 - Part 12 of 18 - Riding with Queen's University

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

Photos by Adrian Silveanu

Photos: ASC 2003 - Part 13 of 18 - Riding with Toronto

I departed Gallup, New Mexico with the University of Toronto team.

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Shortly after we left the Gallup, New Mexico checkpoint, we drove into a dust storm.


Driving through the mountains - watch out for falling rocks


Porsche Boxster vs. Toronto


Mountains ahead


End of the day charging


End of the day charging


Storm approaching from the mountains


The locals stopped by on horses


Another storm approaching from the mountains

The next morning:

The day before Toronto parked their trailer in Arizona Department of Transportation's gravel yard. This morning they setup the solar car for charging with heavy machinery operating in the background.









On the road


We came across a dog going through his morning exercise of chasing cars. The dog lived to chase another car.

Photos by Adrian Silveanu

Photos: ASC 2003 - Part 14 of 18 - Riding with North Dakota

I departed Flagstaff, Arizona with the North Dakota State University team.

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On the highway


Los Angeles 448 miles away


On the highway


On the highway


Los Angeles 441 miles away and Kingman 94 miles away


On the highway


On the highway


On the highway


Kingman 32 miles away


Valentine, Arizona

Photos by Adrian Silveanu

Photos: ASC 2003 - Part 15 of 18 - In Kingman, Arizona

Kingman, Arizona had an excellent vista.

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A view up from the hotel

Looking around Kingman:




Since I do not have a photo of the University of Arizona solar car team somewhere in Arizona, I have decided to share this little story here. Somewhere in Arizona the University of Arizona team stopped on the side of the road to resolve some issues with their car. Once resolved, the team went back on the road and accidently left behind a box labeled "Battery Box". The Arizona highway police came across this box. Just to digress a little, the word "battery" has a few different meanings depending on context. According to Merriam-Webster, "battery" can mean "use of force on a person without the person's consent", "a single cell that furnishes electric current", "a number of similar articles, items, or devices arranged, connected, or used together" or "a grouping of artillery pieces for tactical purposes". Which one did the police think of when they saw the words "Battery Box"? The last one. So they took the box into the desert and blew it up. Yes, really. And what was in the box? Tools.

Next morning:

Purdue University departing

Photos by Adrian Silveanu