Pacific Northwest Raisbeck Aviation High School – AIAA President Joseph Nwizugbo booked multiple successes at the Texas Motor Speedway in Dallas / Fort Worth with the solar-powered car he built with the Green Energy Team. Below is a report from the team.
This summer, the RAHS Green Energy Team traveled to the Texas Motor Speedway in Dallas / Fort Worth to test the solar-powered car they had designed, built, and tested over the previous nine months.
The Solar Car Challenge began on July 11 with three days of “scrutineering”. During this time, the team demonstrated that the car met specifications, could be operated safely, and had the appropriate endurance. The team was confident in the car’s capabilities and we were one of the first teams to pass all six scrutineering stations.
We drew a late start time for Race Day 1, so started almost 30 minutes after the first cars entered the track. By 1200, we had caught up with lead car and did not relinquish the lead for the next 3.5 days. The RAHS Green Energy Team won daily trophies for most laps on the previous day and smashed a track record, covering over 1,000 miles over the duration of the race.
The team at the Victory Circle, Texas Motor Speedway
From left to right. Back row: Cooper LeComp, Tija Faler, Tom Connolly, Joseph Nwizugbo, Mateo Pena, Nic Nemeth, Scott McComb, Alain Semet, Anna Horner,.
Driver’s seat: Charles Skinner. Front row: George Sidles, Jon Wick, Teddy Blahous. Not pictured: Jeremy Boyle, Ginny Sunde, Brian Phuong
Some factors that lead to our success:
- knowing the car: Prior to the race, we had already driven 500 miles in the parking lot next door, at the PACCAR test track in Burlington, and up and down Airport Way.
- effective engineering: After carefully dissecting the scope of the work, the team built a car with the following innovations: a removable rack that allowed us to adjust the angle of solar panels, a cruise control system, an aerodynamic shell, etc. The design choices were based in fundamentals and integrated together thoughtfully.
- effective strategy: The car included a WiFi hotspot that transmitted information to an app developed by one of our team members. From that app, the strategy team could monitor the car’s performance and battery and motor health in real-time. Using those data, current charging rate, and predicted charging rates in the afternoon and following morning, the strategy team dictated the driver’s speed, eliminating guess work and dramatically limiting the number of times the driver had to change speed.
- effective teamwork: From setting up to tearing down, communicating with judges, ensuring safety, establishing schedules, changing flat tires, and making the experience enjoyable, the team worked together well, all the more remarkable for taking place in the sweltering Texas summer where temperatures topped 120*F on the track and the humidity was over 60%.
- robust community support: The community rallied to make our participation in the Solar Car Challenge possible. We had generous financial support from a number of community organizations and individuals; we had consistent in-kind support from families who provided meals, moral support, and organizational assistance; the teams from other schools were welcoming and unstinting with advice, insight, and sportsmanship (on Day 4, one of the teams in our division lent us a replacement horn!); and, we had ongoing technical support from formal and ad-hoc mentors and experts in their networks. We are tremendously grateful to them all!
It was a stunning year for RAHS’s Green Energy Team and we are looking forward to next year’s challenge.
For more information about the car and the process, check our webpage: https://rahsgreenenergy.com/
