Race day 6 of the Solar Challenge

Day 6 (race day 5) results

The results from day 5 (travelling 410 km from Cape Town via Worcester and Montagu to Oudtshoorn) is posted below.  From these results it is clear that our Turbine Hybrid vehicle is doing reasonably good, the Solar car is doing OK, but that the hydrogen car is not doing to good at all.  I contacted those on tour and determine that there is a couple of issues at hand:

• The turbine hybrid is currently running off the petrol generator.  One can argue that it is effectively a normal car, but the team is looking at sorting out the various aspects of this technology demonstration vehicle.  The are currently aiming to get the maximum amount of kilometers on the road and then stop to do the turbine conversion.  This conversion will take a significant amount of time.  So, keep your eye on them.
• The hydrogen car is struggling at the moment, but struggling is not necessarily bad as we are learning a couple of things.  There is a problem with the hydrogen gas regulator that causes the regulator and the gas to freeze up.  This is something that is difficult to sort out on the road and with the two hybrid cars sharing the same technical support team, it becomes even more difficult.  However, this is what the race is all about: sorting the issues with the technology demonstrators.
• The solar cars is struggling a bit with the weather.  It has been raining a lot over the last 3 days with the cars therefore seeing very little of the sun, which one would expect to result in the cars not being able to operate, but some of the teams are still getting good kilometers under the belt.  From this we are learning that, with the best electrical motors, the best batteries and the best solar cells, we are still not going to outperfom the other teams if our car is too heavy.  It is the power-to-weight ratio that is the governing factor.  It therefore seems like our car could be too heavy, but once again it is important to realize that this is a learning experience and that the end of this race will bring much clarity as to the governing parameters for building solar vehicles.  Remember that, although we took part in the previous race, this is our first solar vehicle, so we are also still learning.

Day 6 (day 5 on the road) video highlights

Day 4 results

Day 4 video highlights

Day four - day of CHAOS

Day four of the SASC can only be described as chaotic, our support truck was in a serious accident with one driver being sent off to hospital leaving the truck unusable for the rest of the trip. Our thoughts go out to the driver. Further one of our Suzuki chase cars also suffered the wrath of a tow bar in Vanrhynsdorp. And during the rest of the rain filled journey a guinea fowl discovered that it isn't wise to stay in the way of speeding vehicles. The day concluded at Canal Walk as the Solar Team got lost in the parking lot with the entire support crew scouring Canal Walk to find the car to help them to the finish. It was necessary to dismantle and boom gate the bring the car to the finish. Day five was a very welcome day off!

SASC - Day Four - Photos

Engineering News

It seems like the race is really getting wide attention from the technical community in South Africa.  Engineering News have just posted their third article of the week on the race here.  

SASC - Day Three - Photos

Day 3 race results

The race results for day 3.  We have slipped back, but as you can see there is not much in it and with 4000 km left to do there is still much to happen.

Day 3 video highlights

The video does not want to embed here, but please go HERE to see the highlights from day 3.

SASC - Day Two - Photos

SASC - Day One - Photos

Day 1 video highlights

Day 2 video highlights

Day 2: a perspective from Johannesburg

I am more familiar with Wordpress and have therefore started to reuse the 2010 Solar Challenge blog for this race.  Please check my entry for yesterday at http://ujsolarchallenge.wordpress.com/2012/09/20/day-2-a-perspective-from-johannesburg/.  It contains a lot of photos that I have harvested from the tweets made by the guys on the road.

Celebration at the finish line

At 6 o clock today, the anticipation at the finish line was tangible as the UJ hybrid cars crossed the finish line... Charles summarized the feeling in these words "best, first, smallest success". The cars drove about 23km today - a short distance but by far a large victory for team morale. The aim is to complete the entire third session tomorrow, which will definitely be a payoff for all those sleepless nights.

Good luck to our team and remember to stay updated via our twitter feed @ujhybridcars.

Day 2 so far.....

Day 2 is off to a better start ... With the solar car clocking on a few more kilometers. As far as the competition is concerned, all other solar cars are being trailered at the moment, except for Tokai University and the Toshiba team.

The hybrid vehicles are passing through Kuruman eager to reach the halfway stop, where work will begin on the cars. We are hoping to see them driving the second leg of the race today. Hold thumbs and keep watching this space!

Day 1 roundup from Johannesburg

I am writing here from back home.  Since I did the blogging on the last race, I realize that it is not easy, so I will try to update those who are following.  The guys on the road should provide us with the news from inside the team.

The best way to follow is to make use of Twitter under the tag #SolarChallenge.  Our guys are not actively tweeting at present, but you can get the overall hang of things from the other teams' tweets.  You can also look at the other teams and active tweeters: @PUKEngineering, @tokaichallenger, @ntsikamsuthu

The results from day 1 is posted at the SA Solar Challenge Facebook page.  We are last at present, but we should catch up.  The Solar Car had some challenges in mechanical modifications to the rear axle causing the handbrake to lock and thereby depleting their energy reserves.  This also happened to us on the 2010 race.  The hybrid cars did 51 km and then came to a halt due to a solonoid configuration problem.  They hope to have solved it for today.  The plan is to trailer the cars to the halfway stop at Kuruman and then take the road from there.  There is a ridiculous amount of stop/go points on this road.

On the human from, the guys are reporting that the logistical team were doing a great job.  They only reached Vryburg at 22:30 last night, but the tents were standing and the food were ready.  That is really great.  The matrasses were are bit of an issue, but that will hopefully be sorted out today.

The first day in pictures is available at IT News Africa as posted by Charlie Fripp (@CharlieFripp).

Get active on Twitter and let our team now that we are behind them!

And off we go...

At 5a.m. on Tuesday morning, the teams assembled at campus to load the gear and most importantly thr cars.... Three hours later on the start line in Pretoria the teams were ready to go. The UJ solar team got off to a really good start travelling nearly 160 km, before a handbrake incident slowed things down.

The Hybrid cars however were off to a slow start, encountering mechanical problems on the way. This resulted in a two hour delay, incurring penalties due to late arrival at the stop point. Overall day 1 proved to be really dissapointing. However, we hope that the tables will turn for UJ today. Good luck to our boys!!!!!

We will be updating you all through our live twitter feed @ujhybridcarss or follow #SolarChallenge. 

Saturday Recap

So it's 6.45a.m. and I can't sleep! Butterflies in my stomach keep me awake. Today is Day 1 of Scrutineering. It's the day that the vehicles are assessed by the FIA and Motorsport SA to determine whether the vehicles adhere to the safety regulations. I will post an update about our vehicles later this morning. But first a recap of last night.

The evening kicked off with a meet and greet where most of the competing teams were present with a few exceptions. It was a real pleasure to mingle with the reigning solar champions of Tokai University. There will be 14 vehicles in total competing, with UJ entering 3 vehicles. The previous two challenges saw four (2008) and five (2010) competing teams. So there has been a significant increase in interest in the race over the past two years.

The UJ Hybrid Vehicles will be competing against two other cars in the technology class. The race will hold some extra challenges this year with the leg on Day 6 being over 600km, a record for South Africa. Furthermore, on Day 2 there will be an additional optional leg of the competition that will push the vehicles that choose to compete to the limit by increasing the distance to be traveled that day to a 1000km.

On behalf of the University of Johannesburg, I would like to wish all teams competing the best of luck for the race. The next 12 days are going to be grueling. May the best team win!

The Route

The race route has been confirmed. Check out the map in the poster below.

We will be travelling 4900km on non-major routes through eight of the nine provinces in South Africa.

Twas the night before registration...

'Twas the night before race registration and all the land was abuzz..... It's 8.37p.m. and all hands are on deck trying to add the finishing touches to the vehicles. The Hydrogen Vehicle looks very fancy clad out in blue and grey vinyl stickers. The Turbine Vehicle is still under construction. Will the guys have the cars ready for registration tomorrow? You can bet your bottom dollar they will.... It's going to be a long night for some. Check out the photo's taken tonight.

With just a week to go before the SA Solar Challenge kicks off, the pressure to perform is on. The atmosphere in the UJ Hybrid Vehicle workshop is electric, the tension and exhilaration almost palpable. 

This weekend, the team aim to complete the Hydrogen car, leaving next week for the Turbine car. Keep watching this space for progress updates. 

Hybrid Car Pictures

Introduction to the UJ Hybrid Car Project

The University of Johannesburg (UJ) is currently developing alternative energy vehicles to compete in the 2012 South African Solar Challenge (SASC). Building on previous success with energy vehicles, UJ has put together a unique and innovative alternative energy vehicle project. With undergraduate and postgraduate students from the Engineering Science and Industrial Design departments, the Alternative Energy Vehicle Project is building three innovative vehicles powered by solar panels, a hydrogen fuel cell, and a gas turbine generator. The vehicles are to compete in the internationally recognised 2012 SASC.

For more information please see the information booklet.