SVP News

New Website!

Adem Rudin — Tue, 03 May 2011 15:19:42 -0600

We have built a new website. If you want to read more SVP news, head over to the new blog.

Erland Persson

Solar Vehicle Project — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 15:11:08 -0600

The Solar Vehicle Project recently received news of the passing of Erland Persson, an invaluable advisor to our motor-design teams. In his honor, we contacted a few people who worked closely with him to say a few words about his impact on the team as well as their lives:

The U of M Solar Vehicle Project (SVP) recently lost a good friend and supporter. Mr. Erland Persson passed away on Feb 22 at the age of 87. He was a distinguished Electrical Engineer who specialized in the design and application of electric motors. He became involved with the SVP around 1995 as a member of the "SVP Advisory Committee". This was an informal group of experienced professionals, organized by the Dean's Office, who attended occasional all-team presentations and provided constructive comments on technical, managerial and funding issues. Erland generously contributed to the project by providing many hours of professional assistance in the development of two custom motors.

The rules for "Sunrayce 99", which were published in fall 1997, required that vehicles have four wheels, rather than the popular three wheel designs. Our EE Team wanted to explore using two modest sized motors, one on each rear wheel, with one providing power for steady speed operation and the other assisting in acceleration and hill climbing. Erland offered to help, and over the next few months, we met numerous times at his office. I was the naive customer, bringing loosely stated objectives for power, efficiency, weight and size, but had no experience with motor design. He was the patient tutor and skilled consultant who guided me through an iterative design process on a professional CAD system. Through this experience, we developed a close friendship and in Fall 1998, we gave a joint presentation to the EE5450 Senior Design class entitled "Design of an Electric Motor for a Solarcar". Eventually, motor control issues scuttled the two motor concept, but the motor was built and tested and is now used as a load on the project dynamometer.

In Spring 2001, Todd Begalke, one of the EE Team members wanted to explore a new in-wheel motor design, with higher power and efficiency than those available at the time. We met with Erland, and he offered to work with Todd in the same way that he and I worked together previously. Under Erland's guidance, Todd developed what has become known as the "Uber Motor". Problems with the manufacture of some electrical components have hampered the development of this motor, so its potential has yet to be realized. Upon graduation, Todd became a graduate student in the EE program at the U of M. He has graduated with a PhD, working with Professor Mohan on a motor project.

The U of M Solar Vehicle Project Team continues to benefit from Erland's infectious enthusiasm, his curiosity and his generosity. By encouraging us to create our own motors, and guiding us through the process of motor design, he planted the seeds for all future team members to expand their perceptions of what is possible.

Patrick J. Starr,
Professor Emeritus
Former Adviser to the Solar Vehicle Project

During my time on the University of Minnesota Solar Vehicle Project, Erland was always more than willing to impart his vast knowledge to us young engineers, and his passion for technology was contagious. While working with him on the design of an in-wheel motor for the solar car, he inspired me to take my education and eventually my career into the area of electric drives and machines. The thing that impressed me the most about Erland though was his enthusiasm for whatever he was involved in at the time. I still strive to live my life with the same kind of enthusiasm Erland displayed every time I had the pleasure of meeting with him.

Todd Begalke, PhD

Winter Fundraising

Adem Rudin — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 20:53:08 -0600

Hello SVP fans!

We wrapped up the new student familiarization process a few weeks ago and are diving headfirst into the design of the team's next car. However, we're not going to be able to build a car if we don't have the cash to do so.

Our first big milestone is ordering the solar cells for the car; ideally, we'd like to be doing this by the end of February. We'd like to raise $20,000 by that date, so that we have enough money to purchase the cells and still have some breathing room/operating cash on hand.

We would love to hear for you if you think your employer is interested in sponsoring the team; or if you want to make a small personal donation, we would love you to download the Adopt-A-Cell form to send in with your donation. Only $10/cell, a real bargain!

-Adem Rudin

New Member Introduction Meetings Start This Week

Adem Rudin — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 14:19:13 -0600

Hi everyone!

Introductory meetings for prospective new members start this week. If you're interested in the project, come to lecture hall 133 in Tate Laboratory at 6:00pm on either Wednesday or Thursday (pick whichever day works best for you). The presentation should last around an hour, followed by half an hour of Q&A.

ASC 2012 Regulations Released

Adem Rudin — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 23:59:35 -0600

Big news everyone! The Regulations for the American Solar Challenge 2012 have been released. A big thank you goes out to the inspectors who made an effort to get them released earlier than in years past.

2010 Adopt-A-Cell, Recruting

Adem Rudin — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 04:39:35 -0600

With the start of the new fall semester just around the corner, the team is kicking off the 2010 Adopt-A-Cell fundraising drive. The Adopt-A-Cell program is a way for families or individuals to show their support for the University of Minnesota Solar Vehicle Project. Family and friends of the UMNSVP can support us by adopting solar cells in their names. Each solar cell can be adopted for $10. As a sign of our appreciation for your support, if you donate, your name will be listed on our website. Learn how to donate here.

The team is also looking to recruit new members. This semester marks the very start of the next two-year design cycle, so there's no better time to join! If you're a student interested in joining the project, the first recruiting presentation and Q&A session will be on Wednesday, September 22nd, at 6:00pm in Tate 133. We'll also hold a repeat of the meeting at the same time and place on Thursday, if you have class conflicts on Wednesday.

Centaurus 2 Construction Videos

Adem Rudin — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 23:29:14 -0600

Last October, the team placed a webcam in the solar car shop to record footage of the construction effort for Centaurus 2. Now that the car is done, we're proud to show off the entire project, from start to finish:
Part 1
Part 2

Enjoy!

University of Minnesota solar car takes second in American Solar Challenge

Adem Rudin — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 23:26:51 -0600

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (06/28/2010) --The University of Minnesota Solar Vehicle Project team finished second overall and took home two additional awards over the weekend in the 2010 American Solar Challenge, a seven-day, 1,100-mile race from Tulsa, Okla., to Chicago, Ill., June 19-26. The team, made up of students from the university's Institute of Technology (College of Science and Engineering), finished with a total elapsed time of 30 hours, 26 minutes and 53 seconds.

ASC 2010 Day 6 and 7

Adem Rudin — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 08:01:28 -0600

Spirits were slightly down after we had run out of power the previous afternoon; we no longer knew if we were in 2nd place, or if Bochum was far enough ahead of us to take it from us. On the other hand, we got a very good evening and morning charge, and drove to the stage stop in Normal, IL as fast as the speed limits would allow, arriving before noon. We were 5th into the stage, after Michigan, Stanford, Missouri S&T, and Bochum. We later learned that we were still in 2nd place, approximately 13 minutes ahead of the Germans. We'd gotten 7 minutes of penalties for speeding, but the Germans got 8 minutes of penalties for something, so we weren't complaining.

ASC 2010 Day 5

Adem Rudin — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 21:54:37 -0600

We started the day in 2nd place, an hour and five minutes behind Michigan, and a little over half an hour ahead of Bochum. Bochum apparently had issues on the starting line and was forced to start late, so the gap widened considerably right off the line. A few miles into the race route, our navigator missed a turn, and we ended up behind Calgary and Missouri S&T. Fortunately for us, we were able to quickly get around them... only to get stuck behind a different kind of slow moving, three car caravan. We were held up behind a group of three vintage automobiles, and the race route today was on curvy hills, so we did not have an opportunity to pass for 20 minutes! We later heard from S&T that they had the same issue.

ASC 2010 Day 3 and 4

Adem Rudin — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 22:38:10 -0600

The past two days have been pretty smooth sailing. On Tuesday, we left bright and early from the Downtown Ramada in Topeka, KS. Leaving the city, Michigan's caravan, ours, and Bochum's were lined up nearly nose-to-tail in traffic for about 3 miles, which certainly had to be interesting for the morning commuters to gawk at.Once we got out of the city, however, it became apparent that Michigan was outpacing us, and Bochum was falling back.

ASC 2010 Day 2

Adem Rudin — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 21:30:15 -0600

The second day of the race was basically flawless for the UMN team. I don't have time to go into too many details (it's pretty boring, "we drove ~140 miles without stopping" about covers it), but today was basically flawless. We pulled into the Topeka stage stop just before noon, got in our allowed 30 minutes of charging, and relaxed for the rest of driving hours talking to other teams. We got in a good evening charge, and hope to get in a good morning charge as well.

We ended the stage in 2nd place, with 07:48:40 elapsed. We are 00:23:37 behind Michigan, 00:16:41 ahead of Bochum, and 00:47:54 ahead of Calgary. Behind them is Missouri S&T, Stanford, Kaohsiung, SUNY New Paltz, Northwestern, and Kentucky, respectively. Iowa State encountered some major electrical difficulties this stage and had to trailer their car in, and I have not heard anything about UT Austin. Illinois State had to make some mechanical alterations to their car and were unable to drive the first stage, but rumor has it that they will be joining us for the rest of the race.

The second stage of the race starts tomorrow; we drive east to Jefferson City, MO, and then drive southwest through Lake of the Ozarks, where we will turn back northeast to finish at Rolla, MO on the 23rd. The hills on this stage are going to be bad; whenever I ask Missouri S&T about them, they just cackle at me. We'll see how Michigan's 713lb car deals with the hills; Centaurus 2's 389lbs should just sail up and down them.

Go Fast, Go Safe, GO GOPHERS!
-Adem Rudin
Senior Crew Chief

ASC 2010 Day 1

Adem Rudin — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 21:24:31 -0600

The first day of racing went very well; far better than the disastrous first day that I recall from 2008. As it turns out, when the power trackers work, we can actually drive fast! We spent most of the day at or very near the speed limit.

We departed from the Bass Pro shop in Broken Arrow, OK at 12:02, one minute after Bochum and two minutes after Michigan. About a mile into the race, Bochum pulled into a gas station ahead of us, letting us pull ahead. I have heard that they punctured a tire and had to repair it. We got lucky with some stoplights, and about 20 minutes into the event, pulled up right behind Michigan. We definitely had the power to stick with them, but unfortunately, we were still being plagued by battery heat issues and were forced to reduce current and fall back.

ASC 2010: The Night Before

Adem Rudin — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 23:24:18 -0600

Today has been fairly uneventful. The team woke up and rolled out of Granbury early, in order to try to stay on a regular schedule. Tulsa was only 6 hours away, so we arrived early in the afternoon. We charged the car off the sun for as long as we could to top off the pack, and then attended a meeting with the race officials to figure out exactly what will be happening tomorrow morning.

We will be at the at the Bass Pro Shop in Broken Arrow, OK starting at 9am tomorrow, and will depart at noon. If all goes well, you can also see us at the Crowder College checkpoint in Neosho, MO sometime between 1:45 and 5:00pm.

Go Fast, Go Safe, GO GOPHERS!
-Adem Rudin
Senior Crew Chief

ASC 2010: Formula Sun, Day 3

Adem Rudin — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 23:23:29 -0600

We finished in third place at this year's Formula Sun Grand Prix and American Solar Challenge qualifier! Official results can be found here.

The third and final day of Formula Sun was fairly calm, compared to the psat two days. More clouds in the sky prevented teams from driving as fast as they had in the first two days, and barring major accidents, it was pretty clear that the finishing order was going to be Michigan and Bochum in the first and second places, respectively. All of the teams were just trying to put more laps on our cars to wring out all of the bugs, and get the drivers more comfortable in the cars.