Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 26, 1994 TAG: 9405260060
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: |By RICK LINDQUIST STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
Even a bird splat on the car's solar array could turn into a race-day catastrophe. So, what if the weather's overcast during the Virginia Tech Invitational Saturday through June 4?
"We'd be driving very slow," said team captain Brian Johnsen, a senior from Jefferson Township, N.J.
The solar race - from Knoxville, Tenn., to Frederick, Md. - will take U.S 11 through the New River Valley, except for the stretch that merges with Interstate 81 between Wytheville and Pulaski County.
Building and racing the experimental solar-powered vehicle is a combination of fun and hard work, giving students from several engineering disciplines a chance to apply classroom lessons in a field that holds high promise for the future of transportation.
"It's all coming together rather quickly," Johnsen said Wednesday. "Things are looking good."
That wasn't the case earlier this week, when Tech's car suffered a mechanical failure. Students burned the midnight oil to get it fixed and plan to test the car around town before race time.
Teams from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind., are scheduled to turn out Saturday May 28 at Tech to gear up for the race. The sun cars plan to parade around Blacksburg Sunday afternoon as part of the race preliminaries.
"We've got some good competition," said Charles Hurst, a mechanical engineering professor at Virginia Tech and the team's adviser.
The Virginia Tech Invitational kicks off TuesdayMay31June1, the contenders are scheduled to enter Virginia and continue to Wytheville, where the cars will be trailered to Dublin to continue the race along U.S. 11 to Blacksburg.
Then, it's off to Harrisonburg and Luray. The route will divert onto U.S. 211 and U.S. 340 into Frederick, where it will wind up at the Solarex Corp., a major solar cell maker.
Race rules call for solar vehicles to pull over periodically and let faster traffic by, Johnsen said.
The winner is the vehicle with the best cumulative time over the five-day race.
Tech's entry is sleek and silent. "You don't hear it on the road," said Johnsen, who recounts how Solaray IIA occasionally has surprised local residents and a few dogs during test runs.
To charge its batteries - which account for most of the car's 750 pounds - solar panels cover much of the vehicle. Keeping them clean and clear of shadows is a critical part of the competition. A shadow cast by overhead power lines or coal dust settling from a passing train can make the difference between winning and losing.
Racers live for the sun, their only source of charging power. Cars may recharge batteries from the sun from 6:30 a.m. until 9 or 9:30 a.m., when racing begins. Then, after racing a leg that might be 150 miles or more - usually until about 6:30 p.m. - they have until 8:30 p.m. to recharge some more. Visitors are fine "as long as they don't shade the array," said Hurst.
Cars are impounded overnight to prevent tampering.
Tech's aerodynamically designed vehicle can go over 60 mph, but solar cars don't race for speed so much as for endurance - for both the car and its driver, who must put up with a stuffy, cramped cockpit and no rest stops. When the Plexiglas canopy is in place, temperatures inside can reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Four drivers take turns at the wheel.
"The driver is lobotomized," joked Mark Rustin, the team's electrical systems engineer and a senior from Springfield. "They do what they're told."
Doing the telling are other team members in the chase vehicle behind and the lead vehicle in front. Computers, charts, two-way radios and some cagey guesswork go into gaining a competitive edge.
"There's a lot of strategy in these races," Hurst said.
Instead of a gas gauge, the Solaray IIA has an amp hour meter to measure power consumption from the vehicle's 12 lead-acid wheelchair batteries. A direct-current motor - donated by Motion Control Systems in Dublin - propels the car. It can put out about 16 horsepower.
Other companies - their logos emblazoned on both sides of Solaray II - have donated parts, materials and even cash.
Sophisticated peak-power tracking electronics make sure the solar array - which charges the batteries - is operating at its most efficient point.
"On a long race day, you can't run much above what you're getting out of the sun," Hurst said. Depending on road and weather conditions, cars may average only 20 mph or so. The ideal solar array will work well in direct and diffuse sun.
Because Solaray IIA has no headlights and wouldn't otherwise pass inspection, getting Virginia plates on the vehicle required special dispensation from the governor. Its three wheels make it a motorcycle in the eyes of the state, "which caused us no end of problems," Hurst said. Then-Gov. Douglas Wilder waived the inspection requirement.
Tech teams have fared well in earlier races. In 1990, Tech competed against 31 other schools in the first GM Sunrayce USA and placed 27th. Last year, the team placed 20th in the same event. "We'll see who learned the most about their car from last summer," said Johnsen. During the SunDay Challenge in Florida in March, Solaray IIA beat out a cross-country vehicle from Dartmouth College.
While Tech racing team members firmly believe in solar-power technology, they realize a practical solar vehicle is not just around the corner. "It's an education process for us and for the public," said Hurst. Two former solar racing team members now work for companies devising plans for electric cars.
"Electrical vehicles are going to happen. There's not much question about that," Hurst said, predicting that a practical electric vehicle will be a reality by the turn of the century.
by CNB