User:EE4U

Engineering Experience 4: Design a Small Solar Vehicle/ENG

Sol Invictus
Welcome on the wikipage of 'Sol Invictus'. This team will participate in the small solar vehicle (SSV) race at the Martyrs Square on Tuesday 13/05. On this page we will keep you informed about the progress of the project.

Team Members
Our team consists of six members, each student industrial electromechanical engineering at GroepT Leuven. Sol Invictus, or unconquerable sun is an ancient Roman term that was linked to the divine and imperial.

Context
The central theme of the Engineering Experience 4 - project is “Make stuff work”. Different teams of students design and build a ‘Small Solar Vehicle’ (SSV). Each team receives a solar panel and a DC-motor at their disposal. The Vehicle is also subjected to a number of tests and its behaviour is predicted, at first using manual calculations; later using simulation software. In the end, every SSV will take part in a “solar-race”. Moreover, additional grades can be gained in following categories: - most innovative vehicle, - most beautiful vehicle. Next, the team performs a critical analysis on the SSV. The analysis is carried out in the following fields: aerodynamics, dynamics, strength of materials, material science, mathematics and energy.

The whole idea behind this project is that the team works as an engineering office in service of the solar vehicle team and have to design a miniature of their solar car to bring on the market. This to gain some additional budget.

Race
The SSV must not only be energetically optimal but should also participate in a race at the Martyrs Square on Tuesday 13/05. The SSV gets 10 m run, after which it collides with a petanqueball of (710 ± 10)g. This ball is on a ramp and the aim is to get the ball as high as possible. There are always three teams racing against each other because the solar energy is not always the same. Other rules and restrictions can be found in the competition rules.

WEEK 1
We got our first seminar in which the project was explained. The students were divided into teams, a coach was assigned and we already started on the first assignments: collaboration contract, Plan of Approach, Work Breakdown Structure and our Gantt Chart. These tasks were divided under the team members and we came together in the middle of the week to evaluate and complement each other’s work. Further, a teamname was chosen, a person was employed to make the teamlogo and this wikipage was crated.

WEEK 2
This week we got a seminar about how we could determine our solar panel characteristics and how a DC motor works. After this seminar we received our solar panel and DC-motor and had to make the measurements needed to final determine the diode factor of our solar panel. These measurements were carried out under a bright lamp and consist of defining the current and voltage when subjected to an adjustable resistor. Out of these measurements we had to make a I-U graph, from which we had to define our maximal power. An appropriate error analysis was needed to determine the final error on the measurements of the characteristic. We had our first feedback moment with our coach. Because of a misunderstanding when uploading our wikipage, our files were not yet visible. As we were correct with the deadline, no sanctions were taken and we will get our feedback in the next session.

Plan of Approach
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xpkislfwiiscjn1/Plan%20Van%20Aanpak%20SSV%20%20%281%29.docx

Work Breakdown Structure
https://www.dropbox.com/s/vt5zx31xqv0ugqc/WBS.docx

Gantt Chart
https://www.dropbox.com/s/vt5zx31xqv0ugqc/WBS.docx