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Michigan solar car team places third in the world Through a smoldering brush fire, past wind-shearing road trains, across the Australian continent, the University of Michigan’s Quantum was the first American car to finish the World Solar Challenge today. The Solar Car team placed third overall in the international competition. No other U.S. team has had back-to-back top-three World Solar Challenge finishes. Team members share their thoughts in this video from the finish. After driving for 35 hours and 33 minutes over five days, the U-M team crossed the end-of-timing line in Angle Vale, South Australia at 3:55 p.m. race time (2:25 a.m. U.S. ET). They are spending the night there. In the morning they will drive the remaining 20 miles to the ceremonial finish line in Adelaide’s Victoria Square. “It was an incredibly close race, especially due to the unexpected elements such as the brush fire which delayed the race, dust storms, major cloud cover at the end of the race, and the ultra reliable cars of Nuon and Tokai,” said Chris Hilger, the team’s business director. With an average speed of 56 mph, Japan’s Tokai University finished first. The Netherlands’ Nuon took second. U-M’s Quantum, which averaged 52 mph, kept pace with the leaders for the first day, said Santosh Kumar, the team’s head strategist and engineering director. On the second day, officials stopped the race because of a bush fire. Teams had a unique mid-race opportunity to fully charge their batteries. When they hit the road again on Day 3, brush was still smoking on the side of the road. Clouds and rain were forecasted, and the U-M team drove conservatively to prepare for it, Kumar said. But Tokai didn’t. They extended their lead. “At the beginning of the fourth day, we launched a counter attack, hurtling down the Stuart Highway at 64 mph attempting to reel Tokai in,” Kumar said. The team was just three minutes from overtaking the second place Nuon when a strong gust of wind ripped the right wheel fairing from the chassis. The students made roadside repairs while the other two teams pulled ahead. By the time they were back on the Stuart Highway, though, Michigan was 30 minutes behind the leading teams. En route to the next control stop, “bad luck hit Quantum again with just the wrong combination of cross winds and road train wakes to pull the (fairing) off a second time,” race manager Rachel Kramer wrote in a guest blog post on Life @ Michigan. A road train is a long tractor-trailer, and in this year’s race, teams had to contend with several carrying wide loads. “We never gave up the chase,” Kumar said. The team “crawled” across the finish, according to their final race tweet. They had emptied their battery trying.  “We’re really proud,” said Caitlin Sadler, the team’s head of public relations. “We built a great car. They raced an amazing race and they’ve really held up the tradition.” U-M placed third in the World Solar Challenge in 2009 as well. This is the fifth time in the race’s 20-year history that the U-M team has placed third. Reigning national champions, the team has finished first in the North American Solar Challenge three times in a row and six times total. During the past two years of intense preparation for this biennial event, the team shaved 200 pounds off its 2009 car by weighing the vehicle bolt by bolt and streamlining nearly every part. They improved its aerodynamics by an estimated 30 percent. They tested in practice races across Michigan and in Australia. And they strategized with computer scientists and sailboat racers to come up with more accurate weather forecasting models. Major team sponsors are IMRA America, Inc., Michigan Engineering, Ford Motor Company. For a full list, visit http://solarcar.engin.umich.edu/quantum-sponsors/. With more than 100 students from schools and colleges across the university, the Solar Car Team is one of the largest student organizations on campus. For more photos and full race coverage, go to the Solar Control Panel. Photo by Marcin Szczepanski, Multimedia Content Producer/College of Engineering, U-M. After five days on the road, U-M solar car team members celebrate winning the third place in the World Solar Challenge race across Australia. The end of the timed route was just outside of Adelaide on Thursday, October 20, 2011. It’s a bittersweet day for the team who have come third in four WSC races before. This year, the team was really hoping to win. Formal crossing of the finish line will be the next day.

Michigan solar car team places third in the world

Through a smoldering brush fire, past wind-shearing road trains, across the Australian continent, the University of Michigan’s Quantum was the first American car to finish the World Solar Challenge today. The Solar Car team placed third overall in the international competition.

No other U.S. team has had back-to-back top-three World Solar Challenge finishes. Team members share their thoughts in this video from the finish.

After driving for 35 hours and 33 minutes over five days, the U-M team crossed the end-of-timing line in Angle Vale, South Australia at 3:55 p.m. race time (2:25 a.m. U.S. ET). They are spending the night there. In the morning they will drive the remaining 20 miles to the ceremonial finish line in Adelaide’s Victoria Square.

“It was an incredibly close race, especially due to the unexpected elements such as the brush fire which delayed the race, dust storms, major cloud cover at the end of the race, and the ultra reliable cars of Nuon and Tokai,” said Chris Hilger, the team’s business director.

With an average speed of 56 mph, Japan’s Tokai University finished first. The Netherlands’ Nuon took second.

U-M’s Quantum, which averaged 52 mph, kept pace with the leaders for the first day, said Santosh Kumar, the team’s head strategist and engineering director.

On the second day, officials stopped the race because of a bush fire. Teams had a unique mid-race opportunity to fully charge their batteries. When they hit the road again on Day 3, brush was still smoking on the side of the road. Clouds and rain were forecasted, and the U-M team drove conservatively to prepare for it, Kumar said. But Tokai didn’t. They extended their lead.

“At the beginning of the fourth day, we launched a counter attack, hurtling down the Stuart Highway at 64 mph attempting to reel Tokai in,” Kumar said.

The team was just three minutes from overtaking the second place Nuon when a strong gust of wind ripped the right wheel fairing from the chassis. The students made roadside repairs while the other two teams pulled ahead. By the time they were back on the Stuart Highway, though, Michigan was 30 minutes behind the leading teams.

En route to the next control stop, “bad luck hit Quantum again with just the wrong combination of cross winds and road train wakes to pull the (fairing) off a second time,” race manager Rachel Kramer wrote in a guest blog post on Life @ Michigan.

A road train is a long tractor-trailer, and in this year’s race, teams had to contend with several carrying wide loads.

“We never gave up the chase,” Kumar said.

The team “crawled” across the finish, according to their final race tweet. They had emptied their battery trying. 

“We’re really proud,” said Caitlin Sadler, the team’s head of public relations. “We built a great car. They raced an amazing race and they’ve really held up the tradition.”

U-M placed third in the World Solar Challenge in 2009 as well. This is the fifth time in the race’s 20-year history that the U-M team has placed third. Reigning national champions, the team has finished first in the North American Solar Challenge three times in a row and six times total.

During the past two years of intense preparation for this biennial event, the team shaved 200 pounds off its 2009 car by weighing the vehicle bolt by bolt and streamlining nearly every part. They improved its aerodynamics by an estimated 30 percent. They tested in practice races across Michigan and in Australia. And they strategized with computer scientists and sailboat racers to come up with more accurate weather forecasting models.

Major team sponsors are IMRA America, Inc., Michigan Engineering, Ford Motor Company. For a full list, visit http://solarcar.engin.umich.edu/quantum-sponsors/.

With more than 100 students from schools and colleges across the university, the Solar Car Team is one of the largest student organizations on campus.

For more photos and full race coverage, go to the Solar Control Panel.

Photo by Marcin Szczepanski, Multimedia Content Producer/College of Engineering, U-M. After five days on the road, U-M solar car team members celebrate winning the third place in the World Solar Challenge race across Australia. The end of the timed route was just outside of Adelaide on Thursday, October 20, 2011. It’s a bittersweet day for the team who have come third in four WSC races before. This year, the team was really hoping to win. Formal crossing of the finish line will be the next day.

Tags: University of Michigan solar car
October 20, 2011
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MIT’s solar car team just did a big ‘thank you’ to the Michigan Solar Car Team. You can read about how Michigan helped their fellow racers at http://mitsolar.blogspot.com/2011/10/thank-you-michigan-solar-car.html. They even put a block M sticker on their truck.  Go Blue!

MIT’s solar car team just did a big ‘thank you’ to the Michigan Solar Car Team. You can read about how Michigan helped their fellow racers at http://mitsolar.blogspot.com/2011/10/thank-you-michigan-solar-car.html.

They even put a block M sticker on their truck. 

Go Blue!

October 19, 2011
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Heartbreak in the Outback: A strategist’s perspective “Spending any time on the side of the road, especially when the race is close, is very emotional,” says solar car alum Alex Dowling, head strategist from 2009’s team Infinium and guest blogger. The U-M team found itself pulled over twice on race Day 4. The team had decided to push, but strong cross winds and draft from massive tractor-trailer road trains had other ideas. The team is now solidly in third, but further back than it was on Day 3. In this guest post, Dowling recalls a similar incident from 2009 and he speculates on what might happen on Day 5, when the race will likely end. In 2009, we were on Nuon’s tail during the second-to-last day. As they started to break away, myself and the other strategists made the call to pursue even though we probably didn’t have enough energy; the next team was a few hours behind, thus we had third “in the bag.” Unfortunately we got stuck in 2009 on a hill. (I learned after the fact that Momentum got stuck on the same hill in 2005.) Even though we knew for a few hours it was likely to happen, it was still heartbreaking pushing Infinium up the hill. I imagine it is even more emotional in this case; they didn’t know the technical troubles were coming. Toward the end of racing yesterday (last night/early morning for us) clouds started rolling in and Tokai slowed down. There is much speculation among solar car alumni about what this means: Did Tokai make a bad strategy call and not plan for the clouds? Would Michigan’s more conservative strategy have paid off if there weren’t technical troubles? With Michigan behind, Nuon has decided to make a run for Tokai. It is very important to remember that this race isn’t over until we cross the finish line. Tokai could have depleted their battery racing yesterday, and the next day of racing should be cloudy. They could end up limping across the finish line. It may also rain and Nuon or Tokai may not have water proofed their car enough for a heavy rain. Right now a bunch of Michigan fans are doing the rain dance; we probably have more energy in our battery than the other two teams. We will probably place third, although with some weather luck and perfect strategy execution second (or even first) may still happen. Follow the race via live coverage from Michigan Engineering’s embedded reporters at the Solar Control Panel. -Nicole Moore, Ann Arbor Photo by Marcin Szczepanski, Multimedia Content Producer/College of Engineering, U-M. A quiet, sad and frustrated but also somehow relaxed mood spreads over the U-M solar car team as they realize their dream of the 1st place at the World Solar Challenge may be unreachable this year due to broken faring (wheel cover) on the car. Daily team meeting, day four at the World Solar Challenge competition in Australia on Wednesday, October 19th, 2011.

Heartbreak in the Outback: A strategist’s perspective

“Spending any time on the side of the road, especially when the race is close, is very emotional,” says solar car alum Alex Dowling, head strategist from 2009’s team Infinium and guest blogger. The U-M team found itself pulled over twice on race Day 4. The team had decided to push, but strong cross winds and draft from massive tractor-trailer road trains had other ideas. The team is now solidly in third, but further back than it was on Day 3.

In this guest post, Dowling recalls a similar incident from 2009 and he speculates on what might happen on Day 5, when the race will likely end.

In 2009, we were on Nuon’s tail during the second-to-last day. As they started to break away, myself and the other strategists made the call to pursue even though we probably didn’t have enough energy; the next team was a few hours behind, thus we had third “in the bag.” Unfortunately we got stuck in 2009 on a hill. (I learned after the fact that Momentum got stuck on the same hill in 2005.) Even though we knew for a few hours it was likely to happen, it was still heartbreaking pushing Infinium up the hill.

I imagine it is even more emotional in this case; they didn’t know the technical troubles were coming.

Toward the end of racing yesterday (last night/early morning for us) clouds started rolling in and Tokai slowed down. There is much speculation among solar car alumni about what this means: Did Tokai make a bad strategy call and not plan for the clouds? Would Michigan’s more conservative strategy have paid off if there weren’t technical troubles? With Michigan behind, Nuon has decided to make a run for Tokai.

It is very important to remember that this race isn’t over until we cross the finish line. Tokai could have depleted their battery racing yesterday, and the next day of racing should be cloudy. They could end up limping across the finish line.

It may also rain and Nuon or Tokai may not have water proofed their car enough for a heavy rain. Right now a bunch of Michigan fans are doing the rain dance; we probably have more energy in our battery than the other two teams.

We will probably place third, although with some weather luck and perfect strategy execution second (or even first) may still happen.

Follow the race via live coverage from Michigan Engineering’s embedded reporters at the Solar Control Panel.

-Nicole Moore, Ann Arbor

Photo by Marcin Szczepanski, Multimedia Content Producer/College of Engineering, U-M. A quiet, sad and frustrated but also somehow relaxed mood spreads over the U-M solar car team as they realize their dream of the 1st place at the World Solar Challenge may be unreachable this year due to broken faring (wheel cover) on the car. Daily team meeting, day four at the World Solar Challenge competition in Australia on Wednesday, October 19th, 2011.

October 19, 2011
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Alum predicts big move when race resumes

For a solar car race, having just 12 minutes between the first and third place teams after 700 miles is extremely close, says Alex Dowling, head strategist from 2009’s team Infinium. Here’s what he had to say about the U-M team’s place and the effects of the bush fire that halted traffic:

At this point during the last race the first place team was probably 30-45 minutes ahead of second. During the last few World Solar Challenge events the first place team has gone unchallenged, for the most part, after the first day. Having first, second and third place still very close is very exciting.

The delays due to the fire are, to my knowledge in WSC, unprecedented. Luckily the top three teams are very close, thus each gets about the same charging advantage.

Who will come out ahead with this new twist? Whoever drove with the most aggressive strategy thus far. Each team has a group of strategists that predict the car’s performance and determines maximum speed the car can drive without depleting the battery. A computer can calculate this optimal set speed; the results, however, are very sensitive to weather predictions, which are never perfect. As a result, the strategists need to make a judgment call.

From the information available in the States, it appears all teams were allowed to charge at the make-shift control stop. This means that if a team drove too aggressively the first day-and-a-half, nature has given them a gift. With unplanned-for energy, their previously “too aggressive” strategy may now be just right. If a team drove too conservatively for the last day-and-a-half, it will now be even harder to catch up.

Does this make the picture look bad for Michigan? Not necessarily. It all comes down the strategy. I suspect the set speeds for each team’s strategy software are very close. As a result Tokai, the current leader, is driving a speed they think is reasonable (and won’t cause the other teams to overtake them.) Nuon and Michigan are driving approximately the same speed as Tokai because (1) they don’t want to fall behind and (2) Tokai’s speed is within the margin of error of their computer simulations. I should reiterate this is all speculation.

I expect either Nuon, Michigan or Tokai to “make a move” by speeding up either tomorrow afternoon and Wednesday morning (Aussie time). Right now all of the teams are just waiting to see what someone will do.

Diederik Kinds, a retired solar car racer from Nuon, summarized the situation the best yesterday evening in an online chat: “If they were playing poker, nobody is placing any bets here, they are just checking through until the dealer puts an interesting card on the table.” Has mother nature just dealt the interesting card? We shall see.

Here is the following advice I’d give to the current strategists: trust your instincts and when in doubt, be aggressive.

-Nicole Moore, Ann Arbor

October 17, 2011
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The New York Times checks in

This morning, the New York Times’ Wheels blog ran an update on the U-M Solar Car team’s progress in Australia.

October 17, 2011
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Bushfire could solidify leader group

With the World Solar Challenge on hold due to a brush fire, the leading teams’ strategies will likely change, says Caitlin Sadler, the U-M team’s PR manager who stayed in Ann Arbor.

Race officials stopped the contest yesterday afternoon (Darwin time). The top three, Tokai University, Nuon Solar Car Team, and U-M, camped in Wauchope, 72 miles down the road from the rest of the cars, which parked at the Tenet Creek control stop.

Teams got a couple extra hours of daylight to charge their batteries and regroup, which is a unique opportunity.

“These are interesting circumstances and strategies will have to be adjusted,” Sadler said. “But with the others being held back at Tenet Creek, there really is a leader group and Michigan is in it.”

U-M was in third place about 12 minutes behind the leader yesterday when the race stopped. That’s close, say current team members and alums.

“Anything can happen in solar racing,” said Julia Hawley, the business director of team Infinium in 2009. “The team should focus on running the best race they can and not get too caught up in what other teams are doing. The race is really going to come down to reliability and teamwork. The first day seems like it was a very close race, so every second counts. Having no time on the side of the road and having really smooth maneuvers is really going to matter.”

Sadler agrees. “I think it’s still really close, especially because you’ve got so many miles left in the race. It could be a real race for the finish, which is exciting!”

-Nicole Moore, Ann Arbor

October 17, 2011
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On the homefront: Clamoring for updates & watching the game in HD

Just 16 of the 100-plus students who dreamed, designed and built the Quantum 2011 solar car are in Australia about to race it. The rest of the team is scattered - either home for fall break or catching up on homework in Ann Arbor. This weekend, many of them will be glued to their computers in the wee hours of the morning clamoring for updates from the race crew on the other side of the world.

“We will all be following along!” interim project manager Eric Hausman wrote in an email at 2:57 a.m.

“Team members and alumni will be managing our live chat where we hope to be able to supply as up to the date information as we know,” he said. “We will also be able to watch the Michigan vs. Michigan State game in HD. Rest assured the race crew will find some standard definition way to watch it or keep up to date somehow, but there need to be at least a few perks for those of us still here! Unfortunately we will also be doing homework.”

Australia is more than 13 hours ahead of the U.S. Eastern Time zone. When the car hits the Stuart Highway at 8 a.m. over there, it’s 6:30 p.m. in Michigan. When Quantum stops for the day at 5 p.m., it’s 3:30 a.m. here.

The time difference can compound the distance for the team back home.

“I feel like U.S. team members can feel disconnected,” said Caitlin Sadler, the team’s PR manager. “But at the same time, everyone worked so hard on the car together and we really trust the race crew. We know they’ll be able to deal with whatever comes up and do the best they can.”

Many of the Stateside students played an integral role in getting Quantum rolling. They were designers, builders, aerodynamics specialists, fundraisers…. Others are new. After the race crew left in early September, the team started recruiting and training the next generation. They’re already brainstorming big ideas for 2013. The key innovation for Infinium (2009) and Quantum is that they’re super lightweight. Continuum from 2007 sported a solar concentrator system of mirrors to intensify sunlight. What will they think of next?  

October 14, 2011
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One fast lap: The role of starting position It is HOT in Australia, reports solar car team race manager Rachel Kramer, who was kind enough to Skype with me this morning from a Darwin McDonalds (free Internet). Highs for the rest of this week are low 90s. Let’s keep the team’s drivers in our thoughts. The temperatures in the car can exceed 100 degrees and they don’t waste power on air conditioning.Rachel said the team just finished its first round of scrutineering, when race officials take a close look at the car to make sure it’s safe and meets regulations. Quantum passed.The students will spend the next few days preparing for one fast lap that will determine their starting position. That happens Saturday (Friday afternoon here in the States).Kramer is hoping to qualify for one of the first three spots. That way, the U-M team won’t have to use up energy accelerating to pass people. That can be a real drain. In 2009, the Infinium started out around #7, Kramer said. It finished third. So, by my math, if they can start out even third this year, their world title dreams just might come true! - Nicole Moore, Ann Arbor

One fast lap: The role of starting position

It is HOT in Australia, reports solar car team race manager Rachel Kramer, who was kind enough to Skype with me this morning from a Darwin McDonalds (free Internet). Highs for the rest of this week are low 90s. Let’s keep the team’s drivers in our thoughts. The temperatures in the car can exceed 100 degrees and they don’t waste power on air conditioning.

Rachel said the team just finished its first round of scrutineering, when race officials take a close look at the car to make sure it’s safe and meets regulations. Quantum passed.

The students will spend the next few days preparing for one fast lap that will determine their starting position. That happens Saturday (Friday afternoon here in the States).

Kramer is hoping to qualify for one of the first three spots. That way, the U-M team won’t have to use up energy accelerating to pass people. That can be a real drain.

In 2009, the Infinium started out around #7, Kramer said. It finished third. So, by my math, if they can start out even third this year, their world title dreams just might come true!

- Nicole Moore, Ann Arbor

October 12, 2011
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America’s Number 1 solar car ready to race the world. (Click through to read the story).

America’s Number 1 solar car ready to race the world. (Click through to read the story).

October 12, 2011
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New York Times takes a look at the work being done by the Michigan Solar Car Team to get ready for the World Solar Challenge. (Click through for the NYTimes story).

New York Times takes a look at the work being done by the Michigan Solar Car Team to get ready for the World Solar Challenge. (Click through for the NYTimes story).

October 12, 2011
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Read what Wired magazine had to say about the Michigan Solar Car Team. Click the image to go to the story.

Read what Wired magazine had to say about the Michigan Solar Car Team. Click the image to go to the story.

October 12, 2011
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Watch the video, “A first look at Quantum” posted earlier this summer. 

Watch the video, “A first look at Quantum” posted earlier this summer. 

October 12, 2011
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A Big House welcome for the National Champion Solar Car Team. (Click through to read the Record Update story).

A Big House welcome for the National Champion Solar Car Team. (Click through to read the Record Update story).

October 12, 2011
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National champions introduce Quantum.

National champions introduce Quantum.

October 12, 2011

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