Students build, test solar-powered car

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Students and faculty tinker with the power tracker on a solar-powered car built by the students at camp at the University of Texas at Dallas looking for the area needed to be fixed. Progress photo by Faith Harper

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July 13, 2012

Students build, test solar-powered car

Faith Harper Jacksonville Daily Progress The Jacksonville Daily Progress Fri Jul 13, 2012, 11:28 AM CDT

BULLARD — A prototype of a solar-powered car made by a group of 20 students participating the University of Texas at Dallas' Solar Car Camp almost made the approximate 100-mile test run from Seagoville, Texas to the Bullard High School parking lot.

The group included two Bullard High School seniors, Casey Duck and Austin Gwartney, who drove the car.

UT Dallas engineering students conceived the ideaof the solar car project as part of a senior design course, a press release stated. The university students became project managers, overseeing the high school campers’ work and providing technical assistance.

The goal of the camp was to prepare the students to participate in the Solar Car Challenge, where groups have a year to design and build a car that will compete against others in speed and durability. The students will attend the challenge this year at the Texas Motor Speedway, but will not be eligible to compete.

“April is when you submit all your paperwork, your schematics, CAD drawings, so that they know you are serious about coming and you have it done,” said Bullard ISD robotics instructor Stacy Gwartney. “So really the car has to be built by April but the competition is not until the summer.”

The students split into groups to focus on certain aspects of construction, including electrical wiring, solar panels and the frame of the vehicle.

“This really took us a long time to do,” said 11-year-old Dallas camper Lior Arad. “This was supposed to take about a year, but we got this done in about a month — give or take a day or two. All of the teams did a lot on everything, and even the tiniest things can be the most important.”

The car drove most of the way from Seagoville in cloudy weather, but about a mile from Bullard High School, a loose wire blew a resistor, which senses what current is going to the motor, and the vehicle was towed in on a trailer the rest of the way. After showing the machine to an awaiting group of people, students began tinkering with the machine to diagnose and fix the problem.

“We really wanted to get the testing done a little earlier than what we have because there is like a 99.44 percent chance that it is not going to work the first time,” said Dr. Kennith Berry, assistant director of the Science and Engineering Education Center at UT Dallas and the camp director.

“We had it out yesterday testing it,” Berry said. “We got two times around the building and something broke, and it went three times around the building and then something broke.”

After several repairs and an early-morning test run in the city, Austin Gwartney said he was impressed with the car's performance.

“That was the best it has ever driven, but I'm disappointed that one person did not tie one wire,” he said.

The car was repaired once more before being transported back to Dallas.

The school plans to use the challenge as a learning experience to compete in next year's competition, where cars will race to Pasadena, Calif. Stacy Gwartney said it will be a project for the senior class.

“Out of all the projects I think this project pulls together everything you studied in science,” she said. “For seniors to have to put together everything they have learned, I don't think you could get a better project.”

Austin Gwartney said the group modified a golf cart because of the time crunch, but hopes by next year to build a carbon fiber frame.

“With the amount of power we were producing, if we had a light body, we could drive 100 mph,” he said. “The University of Michigan’s car goes 105 mph and it only uses a quarter of the energy we are using.”

He said he would also like to use specialized solar tires.

“They are made to run at 100 PSI and they are skinny but very round so there is barely any surface touching the ground for very little rolling resistance,” he said.

The school is looking for partners for materials and expertise to help its students build the solar machine.

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Students build, test solar-powered car

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