WIN

Last Sunday I was once again at the Ford Test track in Dunton (Essex) (See Poetry in (slow) Motion for the original testing entry).  This time things were going pretty well when I got there, and the radio link, which I spoke of in the last post, was in fact working (the electrical team don’t lie*)!

Charlie hadn't quite figured out which bit he was supposed to scratch when he was confused...

This radio link allows a chase vehicle to recieve data in packets to analyse the performance, devise the best strategy, and, of course, check for safety.  Details such as motor current and bus voltage are recorded.  This radio link was tested at a distance of up to 150 metres, and was found to work reliably.  This should allow the chase vehicle to monitor the conditions in the car, to ensure that everything is functioning normally, and safely.  Furthermore this will allow the team to devise the optimal strategy for the race speed (though this does also require the upcoming weather conditions, ideally).  This is great news! Well done to Will and Jonathan.

We also got the car driving pretty quick; Julian had it up and down the straights a few times, and finally decided that he was going to take it around the banked corners!  I was in a chase car, and I think that it was probably the most exciting part of the project so far – to actually see the car doing what it was designed to do: going really fast!

There were still a few details which needed to be resolved, but, on the whole, the car largely works.  A previous problem with the steering geometry had a fix devised for it, and this proved to work, so no more problems there.  The car was also tested with the shell and the canopy on, and then the power and speed recorded whilst accelerating, cruising and decelerating, which should allow us to determine the speed-power characteristics for the car, and thus decide what speed we can maintain depending on the solar conditions during the race.

After the car was first dismantled, there were some initial problems figuring out which bits went where

Julian realised that writing 'left' and 'right' on the fairings to help him steer was not as effective as he had hoped

All in all, it was very exctining to see the car running in a competetive fashion and just goes to show how all the hard work of the team and sponsors has paid off. Now to pack the car, and let’s go racing!!

- Mike

* Well not very often…