As Australia is the continental equivalent of a Class 5 clean room, anything entering the country is subject to extremely stringent regulations. Coupled with the fact that our kit was to be transported on a huge container ship, this led to three very simple rules:

1. All items must be salt-water protected where necessary

2. All items must be wood-free

3. All items must be dust-free

Now, for the 99.9% of you who have never tried to remove all the wood and dust from an electric sander, these regulations may seem quite reasonable. After all, it would be a terrible thing if a British speck of dust were to work its way into the pure untouched land Down Under (although one might therefore question why exactly their country is so eager to hang on to a certain other little trophy that also contains what is essentially dust. *GLOAT*) However, not wanting to cause more problems, the packers worked hard into the night (in fact, right through it) with vacuum cleaner and by the morning, the tiredness was clearly beginning to show when Laura vacuumed some Dremel bits so very thoroughly that the entire lot disappeared up the tube. This was promptly followed by an originally-slightly-dusty-and-afterwards-extremely-dusty binbag which, to our knowledge, is still in there.

The team also enjoyed their last opportunity to use duct tape as a structural material, and did so to such an extent that many of the boxes were made up of more tape than cardboard.

Spectators were also treated to the second ever attempt to maneouvre an articulated lorry through the Engineering Department. The easy part was over. The hard part involved fitting the shell into the container, protecting it from almost every possible eventuality*, and then fitting in all the other boxes around it. As a direct consequence of this, Lucy, Jonathan and Barnwell spent a cramped (in the latter two cases) couple of hours wedged underneath Endeavour’s shell, hemmed in by heavy boxes from all sides. Not a job for the claustrophobic – or the ticklish, as it turned out when Jonathan managed to get Lucy’s shoe off – the resulting flailing nearly put a nice knee-shaped hole through the lower shell. It should also be pointed out that the previous night’s dust and wood removal work seemed slightly superfluous on seeing the dusty, wooden floor of the container. As always, however, the team did their bit and managed to remove a significant quantity of wood. Admittedly they then had to spend the next couple of days squeezing it out of themselves with tweezers, and were unable to comfortably lie down for a little while.

Eventually, however, everything was nicely packed in and, with a lucky splinter thrown in for posterity, Endeavour started her journey.

It was nearly cut short several minutes later when the front of the lorry drove off, apparently leaving the back wheels (and container) behind, but after several moments of panic and screaming, somebody finally put two and two together and realised what the company had meant when they had been referring to a ‘sliding chassis’ all morning.

The container with some of the less valuable items to be sent to Australia. Oh, and the lorry driver.

*Not, however, the eventuality of the container being dropped and then being put back upside down**, as happened to someone’s Dodge Viper once. True story.

**Also not the eventuality of pirate attack, Kraken attack, Godzilla attack, or paranoid-Australian-customs-officers-wielding-flamethrowers attack

The summer’s testing culminated in a press day on Saturday 15th August, where Endeavour was demonstrated to supporters and journalists, including The Sun and Positive TV (see video, below). Endeavour can be spotted on a double page spread in the Sun Motoring section (Friday 21st June).

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98BxAWVHvhc]

On Sunday 16th we were delighted to hit a top speed of 54mph, giving us fresh confidence for the Global Green Challenge.

A full press release and photos can be found on our press page.

- Anthony

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…

Ever since Kento jumped out of the Ford environmental test chamber after an hour of blazing sunshine at 45 degrees, it has been dawning slowly on many of us that this might not be Okay. Drivers in Australia are expected to be exposed to approximately the same amount of heat as given off by a hairdryer*! In fact, it turns out that the only discernible difference between Endeavour’s interior and a sauna is the absence of other sweaty men. After the ordeal, SunSpot spoke to Kento, who described the conditions as:

“Very hot.”

As the Outback Survival Officer (would you believe), it is my job to sort this issue and make sure that the driver is properly cooled and hydrated throughout the race. Quite a lot rides on this – if not appropriately taken care of, there is a real risk that the driver may spontaneously combust (either literally or figuratively). This would lead to further problems, in that the lithium-polymer batteries do not react well to fire (or, more accurately, attempts to extinguish said fire). Neither does the shell, as was discovered by the electrical team after a cock-up series of important tests.

Although driver replacement is relatively easy (we will be carrying spares), the failed component is likely to have damaged other, more critical parts of the car. We will have neither spare batteries nor a spare shell, and it is therefore crucial that we take care of the ones that we have. 

To the untrained eye, the sophisticated cooling-rehydration system appears to be nothing more than a bottle of water and a small fan. However, the design is constantly being refined, and by the time it is installed will have developed into two bottles of water and a bigger fan an efficient but vital driver comfort system. 

Heat, however, is not the only barrier to comfort that our drivers will face. The state of the seat left a lot to be desired. It should perform its function marvellously – protecting the driver from potential shrapnel shooting up from the front-wheel area. But it’s not particularly comfy – in the same way that armour plating and giant spikes are great defensive mechanisms, but you wouldn’t want them on the inside of the tank as well. Kevlar is not a material that was designed for its agreeable squishiness on the buttocks, and it’s beginning to show (well – not literally. The drivers’ buttocks are entirely their own business). 

For those readers out there who have been living under a rock without internet access (or, alternatively, anywhere else without internet access), the seat with the driver sitting inside it most commonly puts you in mind of a comic cartoon hospital bed – one that inexplicably has been designed to fold in half whenever an inept but well-meaning companion fiddles with the controls. Instant eco-sandwich. 

The gang of clever but remarkably environmentally unfriendly engineers down at Full Blue was faced with a similar problem, and solved it, as most do, with generous helpings of expanding foam. 

This substance surely needs no introduction. The name itself just dares you to microwave it and see what explodes. Disappointingly, it comes in two very sensible-looking tins, rather than the hugely comical and comically huge Silly-String-esque cans one would expect. On the whole, this was probably a good thing, given the habit developed by certain CUER members of putting things in other people’s ears. The fries were funny, the resin was…sticky, and the polyfiller was inconvenient – but at least there was never any danger of them swelling up to fill your entire ear canal and then charging your eardrum with all the force (and blind persistence) of the Light Brigade. Although – if it made it down the eustachian tube, the hilarious sight of yellow foam emerging from the victim’s nose, in much the same manner as playdoh spaghetti, could well make it worth the subsequent litigation. 

But enough of aural eco-mishaps. Enter the Watt Brothers**. In charge of turning two tins of squelchy chemicals into a beautifully ergonomic seat ‘cushion’, this comedy duo soon proceeded to Blue Peter their way into ineptitude. But, dear reader, do not be too critical. Even after a specialist (read: ‘chemist’ – or, as Mike likes to describe him, ‘barely chemist’) was brought in to assist with the not-really-that-arduous task of mixing the stuff that needed to be mixed, it was still obvious to many bystanders that it was missing those crucial components of both expansion and foaminess. CUER is, however, proud to announce the discovery of a new material: Sloshing-About Gunk. 

After more pouring, and mixing, and mockery, the foam was finally properly poured and expanded, and then Mike sat on it, while it expanded some more. This is the closest thing to heated seats Endeavour is ever going to have. Meanwhile, Mike was gratified to discover that all those years spent sitting still and doing very little were finally paying off. Around him, the busyness continued unabated. Lucy’s occasional attempts to tickle Mike and Charlie’s attempts at drilling through his feet were not well received. Still, if Endeavour never makes it as a solar car, she’ll always have a career as some form of restraint and torture device. The Aluminium Maiden, perhaps…

During this time of foaming expansion, there was much going on elsewhere. Jonathan finished ‘bomb-proofing’ the motor, as he puts it, and started work on designing and building a small circuit to control the indicators. This week CUER has also had a Special Guest Appearance by Will Wyckham the Jedi. It turns out the nickname derives from the fact that he is immensely good with software, rather than because he is a huge Star Wars anorak. It also turns out that he’s extremely good at croquet, as was discovered during one of the now-common CUER extended dinners at Queens. Ben and Hannah beat the front forks with various objects until they did as they were told, and Laura spent most of her evening inside the canopy with a Dremel.

Through this all, Mike sat. 

After the allotted time was up, he wriggled out of the chassis to reveal a drivers’ seat that turned out to be marginally less comfortable than the original Kevlar. A more hilarious imprint cannot be found in any unattended concrete the world over. 

Laura has since modified the seat using a much simpler and more commonly used technique known in engineering circles as Putting Cushions Down. This has been much more successful. 

The entire above exercise has since been revealed to be nothing more than a thinly veiled excuse to play with expanding foam. We’ve got an awful lot of it left. SunSpot therefore proposes a contest! Suggestions as to what to do with it all should be sent to soc-cuer-banter@lists.cam.ac.uk. The winning idea will receive the amount of expanding foam required to generate as much power as a hairdryer. 

  That’s all for today, eco-fans. Keep it Green! 

*If the hairdryer were eight light-minutes away, swelled to 4000000000000000000000000000000 times its mass and spontaneously underwent nuclear fusion.

**Placed somewhere between the Marx Brothers and the Blues Brothers on a scale of comedy value.

Chao and Julian quickly realised that they had chosen the wrong victim to carjack...

After that there was some more testing, and we began to find a few problems.  This is exactly what the testing is for. We were looking to find nothing major, and nothing that isn’t fixable before the race.

A large amount of the driving was done using a remote link to control the car.  This is similar to the system that will be used in Australia where the lead or chase vehicle can control the cruise control of Endeavour via a wireless link.  When up and running, the car will be directly controlled via an external laptop.  However, as an interim measure at the moment, the car has a laptop attached to the shell, and the chase vehicle is controlling that laptop via a remote desktop!  This is a less than ideal situation, especially since the range of this wireless network leaves something to be desired; this will be fixed with the actual implementation.*

After the first test-run of the cruise control system, an exhausted Julian decides to switch to a wireless design.

Other testing revealed that there were a few mechanical teething problems.  All road testing was done with the top shell off so that the internal workings could be seen.

The following day the Endeavour was tested in Ford’s environmental test chamber, where the temperature was set to 45 degrees Centigrade. Australian sunlight and wind conditions were also simulated.  This allowed the team to see how the car deals with the wind, and how the driver can cope with the heat.  In future it will also allow the solar array to be tested.

I found this day’s testing very exciting, and was very pleased to get a chance to drive the car.  CUER would like to thank Ford for allowing us to use the test track.

CUER will next be track testing the weekend of the 15th and 16th of August.

-Mike

* I have since spoken to the electronics and strategy guys who have reliably informed me that this system is ready, and can be track tested next time we are at Dunton.

Spot the odd one out

Endeavour was unveiled yesterday at Goodwood Festival of Speed by F1 World Championship leader, Jenson Button. The new solar racing car was exhibited in the FOS-TECH pavilion amongst other environmentally-friendly vehicles and previously-unseen prototypes.

Button talked to members of the CUER team and signed the car, commenting: “There’s some very impressive technology in this racing car. It may be a world away from an F1 car in terms of power, but to get a car to drive at 60mph using 2 horsepower takes cutting-edge engineering.”*

It was glorious weather and, while all the loud engines made us feel a bit insignificant, we were quite clearly the crowning glory of the eco-tent. Even Mike and Barnwell tore themselves away from their own personal Disneylands to come in and run some shifts handing out leaflets and snapping up Friends.

The Red Arrows did a display above Goodwood, which was absolutely brilliant, and the childrens Wacky Races area was found to be…intriguingly enjoyable.

Hilarious sunburn was had by all.

More news to follow soon. But for now, pictures! A full press release and photos can be found on our press page. Huge thanks to Jenson for his support of CUER!

Uh, Mr Button, just because it's got your name on it doesn't mean it's yours...

Please do not feed the solar car

"You need to fix this bit..."

*He’s right, you know. We are of the Awesome. Just makes you, I don’t know, want to become a Friend, doesn’t it? (Don’t make us use our cutting edge again…)

- Lucy

Endeavour

She is a random spark afloat between two motes of thought,

A passing inspiration born of concentration lapse

Between distracted glances, as the eye and mind are caught,

Entranced, intrigued by her hypothesis – ‘perhaps’.

An aimless doodle, careless in the margins of a page

Too narrow to contain her truly marvellous potential;

Mitotic, as she multiplies and grows. With every stage

Another skin of detail forms, becoming exponential. 

She is excitement – viral and infectiously memetic,

Blossoming in brightly coloured posters. She is free

Food – a lunch bait irresistibly magnetic,

She is slideshows, eager signatures of all who come and see.

She is discussion – hours of argument, debate, dissent,

Fervent scribbles, judgements, conflict ultimately aimed

At survival of the fittest. She is time, so costly, spent.

She is parasitic piles of paper – crumpled, torn and maimed,

Still breeding fast, still feeding on constraints and indecision.

She is the final path – the fight-or-flight response – cast in

An irreversible reaction. The formation of a vision,

She is fixation, firm commitment, a desire to chase; to win. 

She is meetings, minutes, emails ricocheting off the walls

Of cyberspace, exerting pressure with their heated voices.

She is days and weeks spent mastering, manipulating all

The data that describe her, bit by bit. She is the choices

By their hundreds made; the slow, controlled collapse

Of quantum waveforms forming into certainties like cells.

She is tentative experiment, dead ends and half-slept naps

Between exhaustive research and rare, welcome snacking spells.

She is journeys made across the miles – made time and time again.

She is evenings freely given, sacrificed to her creation,

She is early mornings, cold nights in the heavy snow and rain,

Unrelentingly endured. She is devotion; dedication.

She is missed appointments, postponed dates, erratic meals,

The parents, friends and lovers left behind with empty space

Attempting to replace the face that struggles to conceal

A fondness mingled with regret, joy mingled with disgrace.

She is their understanding, their unwavering support,

Forgiveness for each absence, consolation at each turn

Where obstacles and failures are encountered, answers sought.

She is persistence, ingenuity, another skill to learn;

Another trick to master, to pass on and to evolve.

She is incessant whirring of industrial machines,

The hum and thrum and rumble as metallic seeds revolve

Into a perfect symmetry spun from precision genes.

She is microscopic. She is perfect balance wired

Like angels dancing on a pinhead. She is invisible

Circuitry, she is fragility, she is inspired

Design, miniature components – indivisible.

She is dexterity – essential gentleness spread through

Each carbon fibre of her being. She is delicate control

Of resin mixed like spider silk, and lightly dabbed anew

Upon each precious surface, like a kiss. Across the whole

She is a thousand soft caresses laid down. She is imperfection,

And forty hands that cannot stand to sand it. She is pain;

Monotony of mindless tasks; exhaustion, disaffection,

She is perseverance through so many aches and sprains and strains.

She is hours spent in A&E, blood loss and nervous damage,

Bruised egos and hot tempers, angry comments bitten back.

She is resilience, she is ability to manage

And to solder on regardless, and to pick up all the slack.  

She is laughter; she is friendship; she is banter; she is fun

She is evenings out to dinner, bad jokes, teasing; stress forgot.

She is the same old songs, the singalongs – the badly sung

Renditions of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. She is one thing we’ve got.

She is unchained metallurgy, her alloy bones forever

Fixed, fused in the heat of compromise. She is the tension

In each member – stressed, compressed, so close together;

Bending over backwards; every moment in suspension.

She is strength in their unity. She is the colligation

Of each strand of epidermis, woven into complex forms

Surpassing helical simplicity. She is the transformation

From soft skin to carbon carapace – cocooned pupa reborn.

She is electric. She is rhythm beaten out in jolts

At fifteen hundred rpm. She is the current snaking

Through her veins, so irresistible, respiring volt by volt,

While she brings light to life – ecstatic energy awaking. 

She is youth and inexperience, with wisdom as the guide

Supporting her first shaky steps into the world, while we,

Creators, looking proudly on, are deified

By our rare progeny: Electric Blue, Audacity

Embodied. She is change, a shift in paradigm, still new.

She is a challenge to incumbents, daring enterprise,

An unexpected supernova, eclipsing them from view:

She is beauty, shining like the sun, and one day she will rise.    

Now mocked by mere mirages she is destined to outlast

As they die into echoes of the heights she will attain.

She’ll forge ahead, a link to future from a vanished past -

Forever our Endeavour, she will never break the chain.

- A.J. 2009

Jenson Button will launch Endeavour at 15:20 today in the FOS-TECH pavillion at Goodwood Festival of Speed. The car will be on display throughout the weekend. Keep up with all the action at www.twitter.com/cuerendeavour

It has a brilliant background and history, as follows:

The original HMS Bark Endeavour was the ship in which James Cook
travelled on a journey of scientific exploration to Terra Australis
Incognita.
 
Endeavour is the callsign of the Apollo 15 mission, which carried the
first lunar rover to the moon and indeed was the first moon mission to
focus properly on scientific experiments rather than simply exploring.
 
The Space Shuttle Endeavour was constructed in 1987 to replace the
Challenger, making it about the same age as we all are. Its launch was
delayed last week, so it seems that, appropriately, things called
Endeavour tend to be behind schedule. Woop.
 
The Endeavour was the name of a solar research ship in Rendezvous with
Rama by Arthur C Clarke, and also appeared in Pirates of the
Caribbean: At World’s End, for some more modern pop-culturey
references. I would suggest that we go ahead and call the car the
Black Pearl, but quite frankly I’m tired of name votes. 

The Australian Endeavour Awards are a series of scholarships that
allow students from overseas to travel to Australia to carry out long
term scientific study. I suppose that’s a bit of a link to
internationality…being from Britain…etc.
 
HOWEVER. The thing that finally swung it was a dream I had a while
back, which some of you may remember, about solar-powered boats taking
over the world. Now it just so happens that there IS a company in
Florida that produces electric – though not yet solar – boats, based
in a marina that looks remarkably similar to the one in my dream. And the name of that company is………Endeavour.

Oh yes.

- Lucy

Images of Bethany have been released to the press, resulting in widespread coverage including front cover of The Engineer magazine and articles in Wired.co.uk, Professional Engineering and Autoblog Green. We also took Affinity down to film an episode of Channel Five’s The Gadget Show.

Now we just need to make the real car look as good as the pictures…

Otis from the Gadget Show with some pleb. Look out for Affinity on TV next month!