WSC 2009

The Semi Trailer

Posted Tue, 10/06/2009 - 7:51pm by Steven Durbin

The recent mock race would have been a lot less enjoyable without the semi trailer the team brought to Australia from Michigan. The trailer was packed with machines, extra raw materials, spare parts, and tools for every circumstance. The semi trailer traveled to Australia with the help of Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics who generously shipped the semi trailer across the ocean and Air Sea Forwarding who sponsored the freight forwarding.

Having the trailer was a valuable resource for the team providing much needed storage area and shelter from the unusual weather. The semi trailer served as a mobile machine shop allowing the team to make repairs immediately and protect the car when the strength of the storm increased.

Not only is the trailer invaluable to the team’s productivity, it also looks great thanks to a wrap provided by Fine Lines Graphics of Clinton Township in Michigan. The wrap was printed and installed flawlessly and will represent the team and the University well during the race through the Australian Outback!

 

Australian Mock Race Update: Day 3 - More Clouds

Posted Fri, 10/02/2009 - 10:59am by Steven Durbin
After camping overnight in Cadney Homestead, we finally woke up to the end of the rain that had drenched us the day before. Despite the drying weather, however, the sky was still blanketed by clouds. The continued cloudines meant that we would not get a good charge while driving for the third day in a row. Once again, we decided to alter our course so we could make the most out of our practice race. Today, rather than trying again for the border, we headed south for half a day, carefully managing the remaining charge in the battery pack. After passing our first control stop at Coober Pedy, we continued on towards a long, flat and straight portion of the Stuart Highway that doubles as an emergency landing strip for the Royal Flying Doctors Service. Ending our racing at noon, we took the remainder of the day to prepare for tomorrow's testing on the airstrip. Running on this section of the highway will give us a chance to do some valuable experiments that would not be possible on a typical oval race track or public highway. After tomorrow's testing, we will drive Infinium back to Adelaide on Sunday, our last day of the 5-day event. This will be a full-day run that we hope should mirror the weather and pace of the race in October. Despite the three constant days of clouds, as well as rainfall levels that happen only once every two decades, we have added a considerable amount of test mileage to Infinium. Equally important, we are now even more prepared for even the oddest of occurences in the outback, and have two more days to prepare for even more!

Mock Race Day 2

Posted Thu, 10/01/2009 - 1:25pm by Steven Durbin

Starting the day in Port Augusta, Infinium was tested through the rain for two hours. The jet stream had swept some moisture down from the tropics, bringing steady showers across the race route. In order to stay on schedule, at noon the team decided to pack up Infinium and trailer north to Cadney Homestead. Tomorrow morning, the team will continue north towards the Northern Territory border. According to the team’s meteorologist, the weather system should clear out overnight giving the team clear weather in the morning.

 

Josh drys off after being caught in the rain

Josh drys off after being caught in the rain

 

Infinium being loaded into the semi trailer

Australian Mock Race

Posted Tue, 09/29/2009 - 10:48pm by Steven Durbin
Today the Race Crew in Australia left the comfort of Prince Alfred College in Adelaide to begin a practice race across the outback. Over the course of this week, the team will race Infinium on The Stuart Highway from Adelaide to the border of the Northern Territory and back. The mock race will give them one last chance to practice caravan maneuvers, race strategy, and quick vehicle maintenance on the side of the road. Most importantly, it will confirm the team’s expectations of the vehicle as they will be in full race mode, ensuring Infinium is reliable for the World Solar Challenge. While the team is traveling through the outback, internet will be few and far between, but there should be an update every night on the team's progress. The team should already be on the road right now, so let’s wish them a safe and successful trip.

UMSolar and Ford Australia

Posted Tue, 09/22/2009 - 1:23am by Steven Hechtman

In order to meet the challenges of transporting our 20-person Race Crew and many of our spare parts across Australia, the Solar Car Team requires a fleet of versatile vehicles for its race caravan.  The University of Michigan team would like to thank Ford Australia for supporting the team by lending us four vehicles that satisfy even the toughest of the race's demands in the upcoming Global Green Challenge.


The team's semi trailer approaches Ford Australia's Head Office

During the afternoon of September 18th, Ford Australia hosted the team at its Head Office in Melbourne. Infinium and two of the four vehicles Ford Australia provided to the team were on display outside of the Head Office, and we had the pleasure of meeting with many Ford employees. Ford Australia's President and CEO, Marin Burela, joined us to see the solar car and to wish us luck in the Global Green Challenge. Mr. Burela, who previously oversaw Ford's small cars operations globally, spoke excitedly about the Ford Fiesta and Ford's other fuel-efficient vehicles that will be taking part in the Global Green Challenge's eco-car event. Our team is looking forward to competing alongside the consumer vehicles entered into the challenge.


Ford Australia President and CEO Marin Burela speaks with Solar Car Team members

Of the four vehicles Ford Australia is providing to the team, the Ford Territory SUV is a perfect fit for the needs of our Lead, Chase, and Weather vehicles. With three rows of seating, each Territory can carry either seven passengers or five passengers with ample room for extra equipment.  The 30 storage compartments in each car provide plenty of space for any spare parts or tools we may need. Our Chase vehicle even has an LCD screen mounted to the ceiling, so our strategists will be able to use the screen to display telemetry data coming from Infinium. The last of the four support vehicles, Scout, is a Ford Ranger pickup capable of hauling a large cargo load plus a full cab of team members. With these quality vehicles and the generous support from Ford Australia, our team caravan is well-prepared to respond to the challenges we will face in the outback.


Solar Car Team with Lead vehicle, a Ford Territory

In Adelaide

Posted Sun, 09/20/2009 - 2:16am by Steven Hechtman

Greetings from Adelaide, South Australia, where the team will call home while we prepare for next month's Global Green Challenge. Last week, our team left Michigan for the 10,000 mile journey to Australia. After some time spent overcoming jet-lag and moving our equipment through international customs, we have settled in to our workspace-away-from-home at Prince Alfred College (PAC) in Adelaide. We are grateful once again this year for the support of PAC, which has provided us the facilities in which we can work as a team. It is great to be reunited with all of our friends and supporters in Adelaide, and we are surely looking forward to the rest of our stay here.


Jeff Rogers and Josh Feldman wind wires in front of the semi trailer at Prince Alfred College.

Our arrival in Adelaide reminds us of how far we have come, and we must thank all of those who have allowed us to achieve so much. The efforts of all of our team members, advisors, faculty members, sponsors, friends, families, and other supporters have all been instrumental in the creation of Infinium.