A Brighter Future

                As I near the end of my senior year the anticipation for summer has consumed me, classes are dwindling down and students speak of big plans for the break. I like any other kid love summer and the promise of no homework, but as the president of the Coppell Solar Racing team my year is far from slowing down. The onset of summer for me and my team means countless hours spent perfecting our solar car in the lab and Saturdays spent clocking mile after mile on back roads. While most students look forward to the relaxation of the summer season, I and my team have a renewed determination to achieve greatness at this year’s race.

                Determination is sacred inside the Solar Car lab at Coppell High school, I put it on the same level as passion, drive and creativity. These are the traits that I as a leader must fuel within my team because without them we are nothing. It is creativity that allows a group of teenage kids to construct a solar car, and it is passion that brings them into the lab week after week. Creativity and passion are born within an individual and I have never seen a member of my team lose either of those. Drive and determination are not so easily fueled though, they wavier with feelings and are sometimes hard to recover. With testing and homework so abundant my team is often hard pressed to find time for the solar car. Yet this is where we differ from your average group of kids. My team takes their passion for engineering beyond my wildest expectations, putting in hour after hour to chase their dream of not just creating a solar car, but creating something that they can call their own.

                As a senior I have started looking to the future more than I did in the past, and now many things have come to my realization. While closing the doors after a work session last week I was struck by a thought. These young minds that I am working with will one day be the future, they will be the ones trying to cure disease, end hunger and create a better world. While most students these days may not feel ready to take on the challenges of the world, I know that my team is. Solar car is about so much more than just building a car to race. It teaches you that if you set your mind to something you can achieve any goal you set. I have also learned that you will fail, and while it is truly frustrating it is the failures within my team that have taught us the most. Solar car has taught us to work as a team and never accept defeat, my team has learned to push the limits daily even when those limits push back. I am very proud of the work done on the car this year, but I am even more proud of my team for the people they have been molded into and their readiness to face any challenge that comes their way.

                As I depart after this summer I know that I leave the team in good hands. All of the members have far surpassed any expectations I had at the beginning of this year. The future I see for the members of Coppell Solar is very bright, both in the race this summer and in their lives ahead. 

-Carter

Driving again!

We finally got the car driving.  It took a while to get the team up to speed and the car rebuilt, but we finally did it.  The car looks great.  Unfortunately, we broke the belt and will have to replace it.  On the positive side, we will now be able to change the wheel like we wanted to.

Rolling chassis

We have a rolling chassis now.  Over the last several months, we have made a number of improvements to the Aurora.  We have completely rebuilt the driver area of the car, moved the brakes to the front wheels, changed out the front wheels, designed a new battery box, and are ready to rewrite the entire car.  A whole bunch of new stuff for the race.  Now we are ready to start raising funds.  Please see one of the team members about our Adopt-A-Cell campaign.  We are trying to raise $4,000 over the next two weeks to get the rest of the materials we need to finish making the car race ready.

Solar car challenge recap

We just finished the 19 th annual Solar Car Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway. Twenty teams from across the country competed in this year’s challenge. Our car, Aurora, entered again this year. Aurora has been strong all year and made it through the toughest scrutineering (qualification process) ever. The race officials clarified a lot of rules that caused all teams to rework parts of their car that had previously passed inspection. We, along with 5 other teams, had to move our main fuse.

On Monday, our car was the first to pass scrutineering and be cleared to race. We were also the first on the track. 5 minutes and ¾ of a lap later, we were the first to break down. The motor shut down and would not start up again. The team worked on the motor and found a small short circuit that came into being on the first lap. We were finally able to get the car repaired and cleared to race again for Tuesday morning.

On Tuesday, we started again, but had to bring the car in at the end of two laps. The power was spiking again and the car was showing signs of stopping. Just as the car came off the track, the brakes completely seized up. The students had to pick up the car to get it out of the way of the other cars and remove the brakes so we could get it into the garage. The students went to work on the brakes and got the car cleared again to race that afternoon. In turn two, the car stopped on the track and started smoking.

Back in the garage, we found that half of the main battery wiring was burned up and the motor had a melt-down. The students fanned out and within 30 minutes had borrowed a motor and had it back on the car. They had also replaced all of the burned wiring. The biggest obstacle was finding the source(s) of the problems. We found two problems. A loose bolt in the rear suspension caused the wheel to tilt slightly which bound up and collapsed one of the brakes. The splice from the moved fuse was not done well enough and caused a massive restriction in the power cable and was literally blowing holes in the rest of the main power system. By Wednesday afternoon, we had replaced most of the main wiring and while checking for other short-circuits in the system, caused the controller to short out. Again, the students went out and found a replacement.

By Thursday morning, we were able to get the car running well enough to get out on the track and run again. Unfortunately, we were having to do this without the solar array (a blown switch that couldn’t be replaced) and with a bad brake that would take another 24 hours to replace. That morning, the car did a full lap and a half before having problems. The car inched along through the rest of the lap and came in on “fumes”.

All said, I am extremely proud of the effort that the team displayed. Throughout all of the issues, they never lost faith that they would get the car back on the track. By the end of the race, the team were presented with two awards. The first was from the race organization for the teams work supporting the solar car community by taking the car to various showings and news events all year. The second was presented by another team. Each day, the team with the most laps completed is given a trophy. On Thursday, the Houston, Mississippi team gave their trophy to our team for their non-stop drive to get the car back on the track in spite of having two different systems completely crash in the middle of the race.

Everyone should be proud of the job that the team did last week. It is hard enough to have a completely working car suddenly stop at the very start of the race. On top of that, they had 4 different systems on the car crash. Through it all, they kept their heads up and pushed through to see that the car did get back on the track and used up every watt of available power.

As further evidence of their dedication and strength, one of our team leaders for next year, Lexi, has decided that we will field an all-girls team as well next year. She is taking on the challenge of getting more girls involved in our STEM program.

Laps!

After hours of rewiring and following wires yesterday, the team finally got the car running. We would like to extend thanks to all the solar teams, mentors, and judges whose combined help and advice allowed us to get our car running.
The car ran two laps, and is charging to due an issue with the panels. They are currently taking in only 5% of what they should. We plan to continue to charge and run laps throughout the day.
Finally, we would like to extend thanks to the Houston, Mississippi solar car team again for giving us the trophy they won for the most laps in our division yesterday. They have been a huge help, and we cannot thank them enough for their parts, advice, and overall support.

Fried

After a close inspection, we have pulled out three of our 4 gauge wires that melted, as well as our motor which fried. Luckily we were able to get replacement wires and connectors, and are currently working to put them in. The team remains determined to put in extra hours to get the car up and running.

Most importantly, we would like to give a shout out to the Houston, Mississippi solar car team who lent us an extra motor they had. Without the motor and their help continuing the race would be near impossible. Thanks Houston!

Smoked

We would like to apologize for the late update, we have been working nonstop to fix the car. Last night we left at nine after working with the car to fix the voltage going through the frame. Twice today we attempted to run the car to test the fixes made, getting in a lap each time before having to bring the car in.  The team, counseled by two electrical engineers, has spent the day troubleshooting. On the third run today, part of the car began to smoke due to a short. Our safety crew and driver did a great job, keeping everyone safe and again retrieving the car quickly. We are now making plans to repair the wiring and are looking further into possible causes for the electrical failure.

Obstacle

We have encountered an obstacle in the race. The voltage of the car began to drop quickly, and the car stopped after the third turn. The pickup of the car went quickly and smoothly, and the team is working hard to isolate the electrical problem with the help of the choctaw team

Qualified!

We just finished Scrutineering, and were role we are the first team to be qualified to race this afternoon!

Just arrived!

After an early start at five, we headed out for the track. The garage has been set up and the team continues to work diligently as they finish scrutineering and set up the tent. Everything is great, breakfast is cooking and its pleasantly cool

Yesterday Recap and Scrutineering

Hello all!
Yesterday was a busy day, and we didn't get around to blogging. To recap, Dr. Marks invited us to be one of the Solar Cars used to train the judges for the scrutineering on Sunday (today). Our drivers did great on the slalom course, and the car successfully completed the U turn and brake tests. By the end of the day, we had those completed as well as the endurance portion, due to the past Plano race. It was a great opportunity we were happy to have.

Today, the team got up bright and early and was first in line at the track to do the last two stations for scrutineering- the Mechanical and Electrical stations. Once there, the judges pointed out some changes we needed to make to the car to prepare it for the rigors of the race, such as strengthening our rod for the pedals and securing the electronic equipment for the likely rains this week. The team finished up early and was home a bit after 10:30 to begin the changes to the car. We are about to head home to change for the opening ceremony tonight- everyone is excited for the ceremony and for the race to begin tomorrow!

Getting Ready!

Hello all, our Aurora Team has been working diligently all week as they finish up the last few things for the race. The batteries continue to be conditioned, and our programming expert Chris is putting the finishing touches on the CRio. All is going well as we gear up for this last leg before the race!

Car at the national STEM conference

Coppell Solar is representing the Solar Car Challenge at the U.S. News STEM Solutions Conference in Dallas.  The focus of the conference is to improve STEM Education and opportunities in the US. 

The car has only been here for a few minutes and has drawn a crowd.  Our school, parents, and commune ity should be proud of what our students have done. 

Solar car team in the news

Check out the solar car team on the news (WFAA - channel 8) on Tuesday, June 19 from 5am to 7am.  They are doing a piece about the solar car race and featuring our team as they work on the car. 

Summer is here!

Hello all!
Summer has begun, and our team has kept busy. The Aurora team has been working diligently to prepare for this summer's race, and two of our students have recently arrived- the Outlaw Mechanical Lead, Alex Mudd, has recently returned from France and the Outlaw Captain, Spencer Coberly, just came back from a camp at West Point. We will be sure to keep everyone updated as our team travels to various camps and places!

In addition, we would like to give a big shout out to our incoming Freshmen and Sophomores, who have been attending the work sessions to get a leg up on understanding the solar car's design and the team itself. The team is running smoothly as it settles into its summer routine

Meet the Race Team: Kaelan

 Kaelan has been on the team since her sophomore year in 2009. She is now a senior and is also the Team Captain. Kaelan was on the race team last year when the car competed at Texas Motor Speedway. Currently she and the other Aurora team members are trying to improve the car’s performance by 20% before the race this summer. 

When she has free time, she enjoys fishing, shooting guns, and hanging out with friends. Kaelan chose to pursue engineering in high school because she enjoys working with her hands. She joined the solar car team because it interested her more than any of the other competition teams. 

Kaelan plans to attend the University of Texas at Austin in the fall. She wants to double major in mechanical engineering and life sciences because she aspires to be a veterinarian. After UT she hopes to be accepted to the vet school at Texas A&M University.

Meet the Varsity Team: Spencer

My name is Spencer, and I am a Junior on the Coppell Solar Racing Team. Right now, I am the Outlaw team manager and the Business Director for the team. As such, I oversee both cars' finances and budgets, as well as working on fundraising and sponsorships. As the team manager, I discuss the schedule and any problems we are encountering with the Mechanical and Electrical leads. I joined the team two years ago because I would rather build something physical and use what we are learning in the Academy, rather than staying with just the conceptual or small scale projects. My time on the team has been great, from spending time with the upperclassmen from last year and watching our designs take life to taking part in interviews and sponsorship presentations. 

Aside from the team, two interesting facts are that I play flute in the band at Coppell, and I have recently taken up boxing outside of school. Between boxing, band, and solar car I stay busy during the year, but they are helping to prepare me for the full college schedule. This is especially true for West Point, where I hope to attend college and major in Mechanical Engineering. 

Celanese Check Presentation

Friday, the solar car team was visited by representatives from Celanese, a Platinum Level sponsor of the team.  Celanese presented the team with a check for their new car, Outlaw.  The team gave a tour of the lab and the current car Aurora.  For more about the check and Celanese's sponsorship, visit the district website at:  http://www.coppellisd.com/15161081744620733/blank/browse.asp?a=383&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&c=66868

Great day at Live 2 Learn Green

The threat of rain and bad weather didn't hamper spirits at the EXPO.today.  After a short drive to start the day, the team set up along with Gilmer and Byron Nelson.  We had a lot of fun, talked to a lot of people, and talked up the 2012 Solar Car Challenge.  We hope you had a chance to make it.  If not, check back for the photos to ne uploaded later. We still have a just weekend. 3 of our seniors came with us in the morning and then headed to Prom later in the day.  Check back later. Share this post with others as well.

Out at the Expo

Having fun here.  The rain stopped and the crowds have shown up. There has been a steady flow of visitors all day.