38 World Solar Challenge Car Design

Supervisors:

Dr. Gus Nathan and Mr Richard Craig

Moderator:

Ian Brown

Number of Students:

Jimmy Yeoh and Yin Tsui

Summary:

Preliminary design a solar car for the 2004 World Solar Challenge

Fields:

Design, Aerodynamics, Modelling

Description:

The Challenge is to design and build a car capable of crossing the vast Australian continent, using only daylight as fuel. Departing from Darwin, competitors travel 3000km through the Australian outback, with the first cars expected in Adelaide four or five days later. Known as the greatest solar race in the world, the World Solar Challenge is a race to motivate research and development into harnessing solar energy for future transport needs. Developments of these vehicles contribute towards a vital search for sustainable transport alternatives for the future.

The World Solar Challenge champions the creative integration of personal development with technical and scientific expertise across a wide range of engineering disciplines. The aim of the project is to undertake a preliminary design for a 2004 World Solar Challenge vehicle taking into account the resources available to University of Adelaide. The project will undertake the conceptual design, vehicle layout, aerodynamics and evaluation for the vehicle. the detailed mechanical and electrical design will be performed in 2003. Modelling will be used to optimise the design.