UM Solar - ASC - Day 5
An interesting day yesterday where the rich (Quantum) got richer and the rest fell further back. Quantum had a short run into Normal thanks to pushing on to Logansport, IN the previous day. This allowed them to get to the Stage Stop and recharge batteries while other teams fought the weather and heat, slowing them considerably. Teams that arrived late, in Normal, didn't have much of a chance to charge as the weather closed in. Minnesota suffered some battery/heat issues while Illinois State had a battery melt down (after it was out of the car - we'll get to that in a moment). After some serious overnight storms, in northen Illinois, the day looks clear for the run to La Crosse, WI. Quantum holds over a seven (7) hour lead while the next four competitors are within five (5) hours of each other.
Quantum pulling a charge after arrving, @ 1:13 EDT, in Normal, IL.
Iowa State rolled in 1 hour and 45 minutes later.
CalSol (Berkeley) was third in at 5:02 EDT.
While other teams continue to roll in, Quuantum continues charging.
Images, above, courtesy of Ethan Lardner
Charles (Chuck) S. Hutchins has had a consistent presence on the U of M Solar Car Team for 22 years. Accompanying the Team on every race since the running of Maize and Blue in 1993, Chuck has maintained cultural and technical continuity that has motivated generations of Wolverines working in Ann Arbor. Chuck’s experience as an engineer (BSE MEAM ’57) and as an entrepreneur (co-founder of Manufacturing Data Systems Inc.) have proved priceless in the development of the 2011 vehicle, Quantum.
Thanks Chuck! Thanks a lot!
Stage 3 Board (after Stage Close):
Images, above, courtesy of Furqan Nazeeri
An overnight battery malfunction may knock Illinois State out of the ASC: LINK Let's hope Illinois State can figure out a way to continue.
It looks like a really nice morning in Normal. CalSol is charging. Quantum lurks in the background, also charging. Skies to the northwest look good.
Results after the Normal Stage Stop:
Team # and Name | Ann Arbor Start 7/17 | Kalamazoo Arrival 7/17 | Normal Finish 7/18 | Penalty Time | Stage 3 Elapsed Time |
2 – Michigan | 09:00:00 | 13:02:09 | 13:14:15 | 00:12:00 | 12:26:15 |
9 – Iowa State | 09:03:00 | 13:29:33 | 14:57:33 | 00:10:00 | 14:02:33 |
254 – CalSol | 09:04:00 | 15:08:08 | 17:02:08 | 00:02:00 | 16:04:08 |
256 – Oregon State | 09:05:00 | 14:30:12 | 17:18:44 | 00:12:00 | 16:30:44 |
32 – Principia | 09:02:00 | 14:15:17 | 17:57:00 | 00:15:00 | 17:12:00 |
35 – Minnesota | 09:01:00 | 13:35:20 | Trailer | 04:01:03 | 22:01:03 |
20 – Western Michigan | 09:06:00 | 14:26:34 | Trailer | 06:18:45 | 24:18:45 |
55 – Montreal | 09:05:00 | Trailer | 10:46:39 | 28:46:39 | |
5 – Illinois State | 09:06:00 | Trailer | 11:33:27 | 29:33:27 | |
28 – New Paltz | 09:07:00 | Trailer | 12:12:09 | 30:12:09 | |
4 – MIT | 09:09:00 | 14:22:40 | Trailer | 21:29:33 | 39:29:33 |
Quantum's penalites involve fan vehicles coming too close to the race cars or impeding support vehicles and/or traffic. I am unsure of the penalites for the other teams but wouldn't be surprised if they were for something similar.
A little hardware for winning Stage 3:
I'll do my best to keep everyone updated during the day. Go Quantum!
UM Solar Team Web Site: LINK
American Solar Challenge Web Site: LINK
UPDATE: Hello Wisconsin!
Thanks for keeping us all posted on this. Great updates! Delightful to see that we seem to be running the show like usual.
You're welcome. Yeah, the Team seems to be crushing everything in its path. But, let's not celebrate too early. Today is going to be a tough day, lots of cloudy cover and highly variable conditions.
Why would it be against the rules for Illinois State to swap out batteries? High power packs burn up on the regular. That's to be expected in ANY electric car sooner or later. A little tiny mis-manufacture in one of the cells is all it takes.
It might simply be against the rules but I'm checking on that now.
EDIT: Former Team member Maggie Hayes was kind enough to explain:
The teams cannot change out a battery mid-race, in theory they could remove a damaged module, but they cannot add anything new to the pack that they didn't start the race with. I don't know the exact wording of the rules, but messing with batteries is usually the biggest no-no in the whole competition. In 2005 we had a module malfunction, and we weren't able to replace it with a new one, but we took it out completely and were better off.
More info from another former Team member, Steve H.:
Yeah, replacing battery modules is pretty heavily penalized. Removing modules not so much, I believe. But if you remove a module, then you run into issues with your motor controller and not having a high enough voltage to overcome back EMF.
In WSC '13 it seems like they aren't going to allow replacing of battery modules. Exact penalty for ASC is this: Replacement of Batteries: Decisions to exchange (or externally recharge – see Reg. 8.7.I) all or part of a battery must be communicated formally to the team’s Observer or an Inspector. The penalty will be computed as follows:
Time penalty (minutes) = 480 × (n+S) / N
where:
n = number of replacement modules
S = sum of all modules previously replaced
N = total number of modules in solar car battery pack
I can understand if your solar array or regenerative braking aren't working right that a penalty must be assessed because the team is trying to gain a competitive advantage. But what if the car gets struck by lighting or something, and it fries a pack. Teams should be allowed to replace the damaged module with one charged only to the level that those on the array are charged without penalty. If a rock hits a car, they can replace the damaged panels.
Besides all that, being reliable is part of the challenge.
If you get screwed because your teach could only afford batteries from China and one cell was mismanufactured, that's just too bad? They need to come up with a better policy.
Well, isn't that what testing is all about? I don't think batteries just fail unless they're crap to begin with or abused. - gbdub/santy?
Either spend the money to buy batteries from a credible brand from a credible vendor, or take the time to test them. Michigan tries to do both.
I used to do quite a bit of hobby/garage robotics back in the day, on a shoestring budget, because that was all I had. You'd think everything was hunky-dory after running your robot through months of testing, then you'd go to an event, and in one go, the batteries were melty-goodness. Something in them had been poorly manufactured and it just took one wrong bump, jostle, or change in the power flow they were used to to break it.
In those competitions, we could swap out our batteries and go again. IT was the things we b uilt ourselves that we were responsible for.
7 hour lead turns into 9 hour lead by the time they get to the next stage stop
Is that a prediction? It seems that Iowa St. is hot to lead Quantum into WI.
Things are going to get pretty nasty when they cross the state border into WI. Lots of clouds. Iowa would do well to not be over zealous.
I believe Quantum and Hyperion are running close to each other today. They should be approaching the cloud clover in N. IL. very soon.
Currently cloudy weather in Madison will not damper my enthusiasm today. I'm sure UM's strategy team has things under control to deal with decreased solar insolation.
I'll see Quantum at Reddan Park in Verona, WI today. My son and I may also just hang out along the road north of Verona to watch and cheer (big block M will be flying!). And I promise not to induce a fan interference penalty today.
I will also try to take a picture of UM solar car super-stalker Furqan Nazeeri. #Team2_lives!
Please post some shots! That would be great and the Team will welcome your support. Furqan mentioned something about returning to Boston. Supposedly, he was in Chicago yesterday, at the Museum of Science & Industry with his son.
Yeah, I figured that would be a little confusing. The first four are courtesy of Ethan. The next two are courtesy of Furqan. I'll credit each photo from now on.
Following the race and enjoying your coverage. Any chance they will change the route next year to go to southern states?
Recent races have gone through Texas and Oklahoma. A long time ago the race finished in Florida. Mybe if Georgia Tech hosts a control stop the race would come down to the southern states.
oops.. my mistake
Georgia Tech was a stop for us and we got to stay in the dorms (I think they were the olympic village apartments from 96). Whole race was basically one big rainstorm but we got to hang out in Orlando and show the car off at Disney.
I believe the next ASC will be two years from now, Summer of 2014. The route seems to change quite a bit, from race to race. It's possible that it could run thru some southern states. And, yeah, having GT involved would be helpful.
...and ASC website links in each of these posts for anyone new to following the team and this race.
Good point, links added. The ASC link is slow to load, fair warning.
ASC Website has little information. Live updates are best located on this Facebook group:
http://www.facebook.com/groups/381712668550708/384522758269699/?notif_t=group_activity
And the ASC Live Chat
Strong Michigan presence on both