OT: World Solar Challenge - Day 4

Day 4 of the race ended in true Outback camping style; stopped on the side of the Stuart Highway.

This morning, Astrum departed Marla at 8:03 AM. Within the first two hours, Astrum had to make two stops. The driver was hearing an unexpectedly loud noise which the Team suspected was the same scrub issue that occurred previously. This issue is causing Astrum to consume more energy than it should.

On the first stop, more parts of the seals were removed from the fenders. Unfortunately, the problem persisted and the power number kept dropping. So, another stop was required. This time, all the seals were removed which seemed to fix the issue.

After those stops, Astrum drove smoothly for the rest of the day and managed to hit two control stops. At the first control stop, Coober Pedy, UM Solar encountered some other teams’ scout cars. The whole team is very used to the area, so the car was positioned in the most optimal spot for pointing the array (for charging).

The second stop, Glendambo, went even better. UM solar stayed at the Glendambo campsite for several days during the mock race. The only big difference was the weather. There was a lot of wind blowing from the south. To protect the car from tipping over in the strong winds, all the team members had to form a half circle around it.

Soon after leaving the Glendambo control stop, Astrum reached the end of day location (no racing after 5 PM). Unlike any other nights in the Outback, the end of the day location was truly an uninhabited place. Halfway between Glendambo and Port Augusta, UM Solar needed to pull over and set up camp as it was past 5 PM. The winds continued to be strong and Southernly while the ground was quite soft. Some problems were experienced setting up the tents. There was some concern about what would happen overnight, but rocks wre used to secure tents to keep them from blowing away.

Overall, another day of a successful racing. Big issues were avoided and the team managed to intake the most amount of power (charge) and drive a few dozen kilometers further than what was originally planned. Kind of a quiet day as no other solar car was seen on the road. As the saying goes, no news is good news. But tomorrow...the finish line awaits.

Top 5:

1 - Innoptus Solar Team - Infinite
Last Check Point: Port Augusta
Dist. Travelled: 2718 km
Date/Time: Oct 25 15:20:57
Avg. Speed: 89.5 km/h

2 - Solar Team Twente - RED X
Last Check Point: Port Augusta
Dist. Travelled: 2718 km
Date/Time: Oct 25 15:50:21
Avg. Speed: 88.1 km/h

3 - Brunel Solar Team - Nuna 12
Last Check Point: Glendambo
Dist. Travelled: 2432 km
Date/Time: Oct 25 14:01:18
Avg. Speed: 82.4 km/h

4 - U of M Solar Car Team - Astrum
Last Check Point: Glendambo
Dist. Travelled: 2432 km
Date/Time: Oct 25 15:04:01
Avg. Speed: 79.5 km/h

5 - Team Sonnenwagen Aachen - Covestro Adelie
Last Check Point: Glendambo
Dist. Travelled: 2432 km
Date/Time: Oct 25 15:49:23
Avg. Speed: 77.6 km/h