Progress

Today the electrical team continued to wire the model car to ensure that all connections with the panels, batteries, and other electronics fit properly within the car to ensure that all connections will work and not get caught up inside the vehicle. This is important because for the race, the car needs to be street legal including lights. Members also continued welding the frame together working towards our closing deadline. The team also received the butterfly steering wheel the team had ordered. The team would like to remind everybody that the dates for the race this summer is July 18th to July 27th from Texas Motor Speedway to Golden, Colorado. The team hopes to have a fully functional solar car that will be driving around Coppell by June the 1st.

Mechanical Progress: May 15th

Today, the mechanical team finishing cutting all of the metal for the frame. They began to tac-weld parts of the frame together.
Michael Hays also redid the SolidWorks design to make the metal parts easier to cut and to adjust for the new orientation of the solar panels.

We will be sending out our May newsletter soon. Also, remember to come to our car's unveiling on June 1st!

Saturday, May 8th

Today, our racing seat came in!

The mechanical team redesigned the battery box and fixed some problems with the front suspension. They also ordered parts for the rear axle, more metal bars, and Plexiglas.

Team instructor Mike Yakubovsky and captain Sara Saastamoinen received the preliminary race route from the Hunt-Winston School Solar Car Challenge. They worked on assignments for the race.

Progress

Today, Rishi Samani, Michael Hays, Saagar Patel, Raj Panesar, and Kaelan Cowan discussed the suspension and what needed to be changed with it. Michael made the revised suspension in Solid Works, while Rishi, Saagar, Raj, and Kaelan finished the 8020 suspension. The team is working hard to finish the 8020 model of the car, as it is due this Saturday, May 1st.

In addition, Sara Saastamoinen and Rishi discussed what jobs there are going to be during the race and who is going to fill in the spots for the jobs.

Earthfest Showing

Last Saturday members of the Coppell Solar racing team showed off the '08 car at Earthfest, an Earth day inspired event sponsored by the City of Coppell. The event went well with a lot of people coming to look at our Solar Car and listen to what we had to say about our program. Thank you for all who came out to see the car!!

The team is continuing to prepare for the race, and is panning to have the car finished by May 1st. We hope to have the car done by May 1st so that we can begin testing the car and fixing any problems that show while testing. Be looking out for our car because the team wishes to drive the car around town for everyone to see.

Mechanical Progress

Today, Mr. Gill came to our work session. He discussed changing the king pin mounting design with the mechanical team. The mechanical team also tweaked minor problems with the frame and suspension. They redesigned the model frame to represent the car more accurately. The team also discussed angles and the positioning of solar panels and supports; they also discussed the schedule for the arrival of the suspension components and other miscellaneous parts.

Ali Brinegar made a comprehensive outline and schedule for the upcoming newsletters, podcasts, and blog posts. And, the team also discussed plans for the upcoming Earth Fest on Saturday, April 24th.

Progress

Today Saagar Patel and Raj Panesar cut some pieces from our new 8020 Aluminum Extrusion (mock assembly metal). We are now using this material to create a mock of the frame because it is easier to work with than steel since there's no welding involved. Rishi Samani and Chris Klasing have been measuring out where the solar panels are going to be placed. The electrical team discussed the pros and cons of the new mock frame.