The University of Michigan Solar Car Team Blog

Mock Race Images

As we drive back on I94, I have regained a solid internet connection. Here are the missing photos from day 2 of mock race.

Our Scout vehicle parked at Crowder College in Neosho, Mo

The sun begins to rise at Crowder College

Driving north towards Topeka. During the morning the weather was not terrible, but in the distance we could see a roll cloud associated with the storm.

The storms brew ahead of Continuum.

The storm is advancing and we decided to head south
to stay safe and avoid the hail and tornadoes.

We head south to Nevada, Mo to avoid the storm

cells that have the race route covered.

Back on the road after the storms in clear skies!

Continuum rolls into the Topeka control stop and is received by team members.

Labels: Mock Race 2008, NASC 2008 Season, Photo Posts

7 Comments:

Brian Ignaut said...: Congrats on finishing mock race! Sounds like you guys got some good training under your belts.; June 5, 2008 at 12:46 PM
TC Lambert said...: Thanks for the updates and the photos. One showed Doug in a clean shirt. That's different.

Glad to hear the interest spectators have in the car. With gasoline over 4 dollars per gallon, you may get curious onlookers placing orders for solar cars.

-TC Lambert (Doug's dad); June 5, 2008 at 1:57 PM
Anonymous said...: This is amazing, keep it up guys. That weather may have been bad to drive through but Ann Arbor's weather hasn't been much better lately anyway :); June 7, 2008 at 11:14 PM
Anonymous said...: Great work on completing the race!!! the car looks good!!! One of the students working for bentley designed something quite unique... take a look: http://www.pressportal.com.au/news/315/ARTICLE/1979/2008-04-28.html; June 8, 2008 at 4:02 AM
Anonymous said...: Congrats!; June 8, 2008 at 9:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Car looks awesome! Fantastic work and congrats on the race; June 13, 2008 at 10:38 AM
Anonymous said...: Great post. It's like a Discovery Channel, chasing for the storm. Keep up a good work and keep posting; June 24, 2008 at 1:53 AM

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End of Mock Race

The semi has been packed, the team is asleep (well most of them), and it is now time for one last mock race post.

Day four of mock race finished strong. Our strategy team was planning on ending the day with an empty battery pack as if it were the end of the race, and they did just that. Despite some route issues (route materials we received in the middle of mock race differed from the route materials distributed to our navigators), the Fargo checkpoint went extremely well. Our support vehicles were ready to receive Continuum as it rolled in. As opposed to Tuesday, we spent less time on the side of the road--we had one tire change and one driver swap (no driver may be in the solar car for more than six hours in a row for a single day).

Tire change on the side of the road
Rolling into Fargo, the car checks were completed, the semi was loaded and then we were off to dinner. The team relaxed for a few hours, playing some fun games of miniature golf (free at our hotel) and then we were off to bed. Thank you very much to the AmericInn of Moorhead, MN for sponsoring the night! We greatly appreciated the evening to get some sleep before the 14 hour drive home.

All in all, mock race was a great success. We were able to practice many of the situations not occurring during routine testing, and learned a great deal about the race route. Although we faced some difficult weather along the route, both Continuum and the team performed extremely well. We are prepared for the race in July, and are all looking forward to it.

Labels: Mock Race 2008, NASC 2008 Season

1 Comments:

Anonymous said...: I really love this team and hats off to their hard work and enthusiasm towards creativity.; June 30, 2008 at 7:20 PM

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Mock Race Day 3

We completed day 3 of mock race and ended just outside of Sioux Falls. The day didn’t go quite as planned. The morning started out strong as we headed into Omaha, but unfortunately less than a mile after we left the Omaha checkpoint we ran into a few problems that took us to the side of the road. With overheating issues, we had to wait for a while and fix a few problems with the motor controller. Back on the road again we were expecting bad weather, but we were able to find small clearings in the clouds where the sun was shining. With the extra power we were able to pick up our speed and travel at the speed limit. Throughout the day we also faced a few challenges that gave us good practice for the race. From detours, to construction zones and poorly marked roads, we were able to face the new challenges that we didn’t have to face in Australia.

Arriving just outside Sioux Falls, our weather and scout team were given the opportunity to find a place to stop for the night; we had some very friendly locals who allowed us to setup camp on their property. However with no sun shining through we were unable to take in an evening charge. In the morning of the forth day we were also unable to charge with full cloud coverage.

We are currently back on the road for day four of mock race! Traveling toward Fargo, we are under complete cloud cover. The weather has been varied quite a bit this mock race which has given our strategists a nice opportunity to simulate around the many different conditions.

Labels: Mock Race 2008, NASC 2008 Season

3 Comments:

Anonymous said...: Sounds like an excellent opportunity you've had thus far with this round of testing.

Go Blue!

-Russ; June 4, 2008 at 6:41 PM
Anonymous said...: testing component down with sound using reliability analysis. for more method please browse http://www.statistiks.net; July 31, 2008 at 2:17 AM
Freddy Ferdian said...: Nice blog!
Please visit my site:
Centra Freeware: Online Free Information; August 5, 2008 at 1:06 AM

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Mock Race Day 2: A Varied Day of Raycing

Folks, sorry about this post not going up earlier. I am having some difficulties with uploading pictures right now, but in the meantime here is the post from the afternoon (with images to follow).

Finally we are out under the sun! After a grueling morning filled with hail storms and 70 mph winds, we are back charging in the sunshine. We started this day in Neosho as an official stage start at 9am (although we left 25 seconds late). Following this we took off at a fast pact and headed north. About 60 miles later, Alex’s phone rang. It was Brad, our meteorologist telling us to get off the road and head south immediately. Storms were closing in on Nevada, MO and two cells in particular were about to hit. These cells were made up of golf-ball sized hail, 70 mph winds, and tornado warnings. We decided in the best interest of the car and the team to store the car and head south avoiding the two storm cells. About 2 hours later the storms had passed and we received the all clear sign from our strategy division. We put the car back on the road and we were off. At first we were traveling through the remnants of the storms and under full cloud cover, but after pushing through this final batch of clouds we hit clear skies and those have remained until now and hopefully for the final hour of racing.

Backing up a little bit to last night; I want to congratulate all of the Solar Bike Teams who competed yesterday at Neosho for the Solar Bike Rayce. Our team enjoyed speaking with the many different teams and participants. Thank you to the organizers for providing us with the best dinner we have had on mock race thus far. The catered meal will set a high standard for our Operations team to follow. Perhaps our Ops crew should be cooking multiple part meals with dessert. I would also like to thank everyone at Crowder College for welcoming us and giving us a place to stay and camp. We look forward to returning in just about six weeks.

Labels: Mock Race 2008, NASC 2008 Season

3 Comments:

Roxanna Vigil said...: Golf-ball sized hail...yikes, but glad things cleared up. John, pay attention to the road!; June 3, 2008 at 5:13 PM
Anonymous said...: Nice story, I love it !; July 8, 2008 at 4:03 PM
Anonymous said...: nice to read your blog; November 3, 2008 at 6:28 PM

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NASC 2008 Mock Race Day 1

I write this post from the road as we drive north from Dallas, Texas on the first day of Mock Race. The morning went very smoothly starting at precisely 9am from the race start in front of the Plano Centre.

Our semi outside the Plano Centre

Today things started very smoothly and it is a wonderful sight to see Continuum traveling at the speed limit on the road passing other cars!

The public apparently enjoys it as many cars continue to slow down and cruise next to the car as windows are rolled down and cell phone cameras extend out.

People passing slowed down to take photos,
many using their cellphones!

However with the crazy weather patterns, our strategists have been working to sort out the various storm systems we have been running in and out of. We have hit some rain and we are ready to face the rain again, if necessary. Overall, we are managing the storms well and still gaining a charge when the sun shines through! More updates later tonight!

Labels: Mock Race 2008, NASC 2008 Season

9 Comments:

Anonymous said...: Great job guys and gals, keep up the good work!; June 1, 2008 at 6:11 PM
Brian Ignaut said...: Here's a recent email to the Solar Car address (solarcar@umich.edu):

Hello.

I just wanted to write and tell you how utterly surprised I was to be driving North down Hwy 69, about 10 miles south of McAlester, Oklahoma on Sunday, Jun 1, when I pulled up behind an escort with their lights blinking and seeing a sign that said "caution: solar vehicle".

As I passed the rear escort and was able to see the vehicle itself, I thought I had to be seeing things. It looked like a spaceship had landed and was just cruising down the highway.

Never before have I experienced a site like that and I just wanted to say how impressed I was to be one of very few people to witness such an incredible vehicle in action.

If this is the vehicle of the future, I look forward to being able to say that I saw it in 2008 in Oklahoma...first!

Thanks for the unforgettable experience!

Robin Archer
Henryetta, Oklahoma; June 1, 2008 at 7:31 PM
Anonymous said...: This is awesome, I love to see that the American public is becoming more and more interested in solar racing; June 1, 2008 at 10:24 PM
Anonymous said...: My kids and I were visiting family in Oklahoma when we were going to Durant . I passed the semi with the car and realized what was in front of us. My oldest son just turned 8 and has been studying anything to do with science and dinosaurs since he was 3. I pointed out the hybrid SUV and then explained what they were protecting. I then pointed out the solar panels and the car. Once we passed the cars he made me pull over so we could see it again. He was interested in where the driver was and why the shape. We were discussing that when the car drove by us. The people in the SUV's and the driver of the car waved. It made my son's day. He was so excited that he wants me to get involved in the high school version of the solar car challenge. He also wants to do more science stuff with scouts and after school in my room.

I would like to thank the drivers and riders for making his day.

Tammy McDaniel
Community High School
Science Department Chair.
Nevada Texas 75173; June 2, 2008 at 5:00 PM
Anonymous said...: You guys are heros! Its comments like those from Robin Archer and Tammy McDaniel that make me proud to have been part of this team. Keep up the great work and keep up giving the team, Michigan, and engineers in general a great name!

-Max Ross; June 3, 2008 at 9:57 AM
sacekimi said...: This is awesome, I love to see that the American public is becoming more and more interested in solar racing

www.sohbetozel.org; June 29, 2008 at 8:32 AM
sacekimi said...: This is awesome, I love to see that the American public is becoming more and more interested in solar racing
www.sohbetozel.org; June 29, 2008 at 8:32 AM
Anonymous said...: This is wonderful to see. I love the idea of solar energy and I can only hope someone invents something in my industry of carpet cleaning where we use fuel run machines every day that pollute the air we breathe.

It's unfortunate that such a wonderful energy is available but is never used in my line of work.

I'm sure no one has ever thought of it but our fuel run machines sometimes run for over 8 hours a day and up to 6 or even 7 days a week. Not that is a lot of pollution.

Good on you for proving there can be another way as you are an inspiration to us all.

Mark Briody,
Sydney Australia; August 30, 2008 at 12:49 PM
Anonymous said...: Keep up the good work. It is good to see people interested in reducing greenhouse emissions as well as battling the high price of fuel these days. What's best is that interest has sparked some action! While you get the kinks worked out, there is plenty people can do to reduce emissions and save on gas...its a team effort though, everyone should look into resources like this website, which was built to aid the public in saving on fuel and reducing the deadly pollution caused by our vehicles.
http://www.fuelmileagehelp.com .; September 22, 2008 at 12:06 AM

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Mock Race Update: Arrival in Dallas

After nearly two full days of driving covering nearly 1200 miles, the team arrived last night in Dallas, Texas, the start of our Mock Race. While Continuum left for Dallas in our trailer on Wednesday evening, the rest of the team departed Thursday afternoon following a day of race preparations. Driving in our race fleet from General Motors, we reached Effingham, Illinois on Thursday evening. Special thanks to the Hilton Garden Inn of Effingham for their generous support, donating rooms to the team for the night. Their wonderful facilities were a great comfort to us all, allowing us to prepare for a long day of driving on Friday.

Three of the four members of our fleet donated by General Motors, prior to leaving on Thursday.

Friday's itinerary saw the team travel south through Illinois and Missouri before heading west through Little Rock, Arkansas, and into Texas through Texarkana. The scenes of the Midwest and the South were a distinct change from the Australian Outback, and had many sights of their own.

Our green fleet against a backdrop of Arkansas's green fields.

We were not the only spectacle of alternative energy on the road--being passed by a truck carrying a windmill blade.

The team arrived in Dallas shortly before 10:00 PM, Central Time, meeting Continuum at the Embassy Suites Dallas Love Field. The Embassy Suites have graciously sponsored the team's 2-night stay in Dallas and have allowed us to work on Continuum in their parking lot. In addition, they have offered our team two more nights in Dallas prior to the start of the race in July. The hotel staff kindly greeted us as we arrived, and after a brief meeting in the hotel lounge, team members relaxed and prepared for the next day.

Some took the evening to explore the hotel lobby.

After a night's rest, the team woke up to the hotel's complimentary breakfast and then set up working in the hotel parking lot. Our engineers are performing checks on Continuum, while our strategists are making final revisions to code and studying the weather for the days ahead. The operations crew has been shuttling around Dallas to ensure that the whole team is ready to race tomorrow.

Engineers performing checks on Continuum.

Other tasks included a run to the airport.

Continuum set up in front of the Embassy Suites Dallas Love Field.

We are all looking forward to the road ahead, be sure to check back soon for updates.

Labels: Mock Race 2008, NASC 2008 Season

9 Comments:

Anonymous said...: Those hybrid trucks are awesome! Best of luck on your testing, this is another important step towards a successful race. Go Blue!; May 31, 2008 at 7:49 PM
Roxanna Vigil said...: The caravan is looking sharp!; June 1, 2008 at 1:18 PM
Anonymous said...: I'd say its the best looking team every produced by U of M with the hybrid trucks; June 1, 2008 at 2:10 PM
Anonymous said...: Hm, ok... well, it can do. :f; August 16, 2008 at 4:07 PM
Anonymous said...: good projek; August 18, 2008 at 5:10 AM
Anonymous said...: its look great; August 19, 2008 at 6:57 AM
Anonymous said...: nice article ..; October 17, 2008 at 2:44 AM
Anonymous said...: congrat for this effort. hope still continued at this time even oil prices lowest.; November 22, 2008 at 1:48 AM
Anonymous said...: It's great that GM donated 3 Tahoe's to the project. I'm sure they are hard pressed to find green idea's for the future. Hopefully they will be able to learn from all your hard work and apply it to mass production vehicles.

Keep up the great work!; December 3, 2008 at 7:39 PM

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Mock Race Planning

Continuum has been quite busy the past couple of weeks. From pre-scrutineering to testing at Michigan International Speedway (I'll post more about this soon!), the team has been amassing miles on the open roads. During our testing, Continuum has proven to be an extremely reliable car. Reliability is the key in this 2500 mile endurance race. Every minute spent on the side of the road fixing a problem costs you valuable race time.

The next step in testing for this team involves taking Continuum over 1000 miles away to Dallas, Texas to run a simulated version of the 2008 North American Solar Challenge.

The past couple days saw our team working day and night to pack and outfit our fleet vehicles that recently arrived from GM. I would very much like to thank General Motors for providing us with our race fleet as well as Motorola for the communications equipment mounted in each vehicle.

Currently the '08 race crew is traveling down to Texas to prepare for this mock race that will begin on Sunday. While the majority of our team has had quite a bit of experience racing in Australia, the 2008 North American Solar Challenge is quite different. With reduced sunlight, increased traffic, a more detailed, complex route, and new regulations, this race brings about new challenges. Mock race will give our team the experience it needs to race in these different conditions. Stay tuned for more updates!

Labels: Mock Race 2008, NASC 2008 Season

2 Comments:

Anonymous said...: Nice post.. thanks for sharing.. very informative indeed..; October 17, 2008 at 2:00 AM
Anonymous said...: Awesome job! Solar is the source of the future. It's is "beyond renewable" because it never runs out at all.; December 27, 2008 at 1:36 PM

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Thursday, June 05, 2008

Mock Race Images

7 Comments:

End of Mock Race

1 Comments:

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Mock Race Day 3

3 Comments:

Monday, June 02, 2008

Mock Race Day 2: A Varied Day of Raycing

3 Comments:

Sunday, June 01, 2008

NASC 2008 Mock Race Day 1

9 Comments:

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Mock Race Update: Arrival in Dallas

9 Comments:

Friday, May 30, 2008

Mock Race Planning

2 Comments:

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