Principia Solar Car

G’day!

After a very quick stop in the morning to fix a minor problem, we cruised to our second Control Stop in Dunmarra by 1:45pm in the afternoon.

As I ride in the chase vehicle, I’m able to listen in to Joe’s (our chase van driver) and Steve’s (our lead van driver) excellent communication with Justin over the radio. In addition to keeping Justin and Ra 7s safe from traffic, they are able to check up with him on how he and the car feels. We do have a telemetry system set up so that Justin can keep track of his speed in the car and so that we can follow his progress as we go. There is a laptop set up on a table in the back of chase where John, Paul, and Brian R. work on strategy in accordance to the weather and how Ra 7s is performing.

Following the Control Stop, Brian R. hopped in the car for his first time on the Stuart Highway. He got a good 2.5 hours of driving in before we officially stopped for the night. While charging our array and setting up camp, Team Bochum from Germany pulled in behind us! We are sharing our campsite along side them and have bonded some more with their team. What fun!

Overall, we had a very smooth day and only needed to pause for our Control Stop! As we have been having a few complications with a couple modules in our battery pack, the decision has been made to switch out two modules in the pack for a 27.6 minute penalty tonight. We hope that this will allow us to maintain a greater amount of energy in our pack and permit a higher average speed for the rest of the race. This is a penalty we’re willing to take as it should be better for us in total.

A brand new day is ahead!

Cheers,

Lacey

G’day Mates!

Yesterday was our first official day on the 2011 World Solar Challenge! Starting in 26th place out of 37 teams, we had a very harmonious start heading out of the city of Darwin. Many supporters made it out for the event and we had fun waving to all of them as we passed by. The traffic was very busy as each team embarked about 1 minute apart from each other. We passed a few teams that were stopped on the side of the road along the way and safely made it into the Outback. Our first Control Stop was in Katherine 316 Km down the road where each team must stop for 30 minutes. These spots are great places to fill our support vehicles up on petrol (gasoline), charge the array, give the driver a rest, and take a dunny (toilet) break.

During the day, the terrain was rather hilly and the weather partly cloudy. As we did not have full sun throughout the day, we needed to stop and charge a couple of times to gain some energy. By 5:15pm, we stopped 15 minutes early for the night on the side of the road so that we could get a little more time charging the array with the declining sun. We set up camp nearby our car and had a nice 1st night in the Outback!

Along the whole race, every team has an Observer with them in the car who keeps track of timing and makes sure that each team follows all the race rules. Currently we have Micah, a first time observer from Sydney. He has been teaching us a lot about the terrain and has pointed out some neat wildlife. This morning, he introduced us to Vegemite potato chips!

Today, we have started off in 21st place and have continued on our way down the Stuart Highway.

Cheers,
Lacey

P.S.- We encountered our first dingo running across the road outside of Darwin yesterday morning. Wild!

G’day!

We’ve officially qualified for WSC 2011!  After a qualifying lap this morning and a brake, u-turn, and slalom test, we registered Ra 7s in the Northern Territory and received our SUN32 license plate.  Justin did a wonderful job pulling our team through the qualifying round as teams were only allowed one driver for it.  We enjoyed watching the other teams support their drivers as they too qualified for the race around the track.

In the early arvo and evening, Lacey and Brian had some quality time getting in some training and practice around the track for their last time.  Our team worked efficiently and quickly so that we could use up the moments of this last day to the best of our ability.  We have certainly focused our energy and are all looking forward to experiencing the race unfold harmoniously.

By the end of today, we had our garage completely cleaned out and our race supplies loaded into our truck, scout, lead, and chase vehicles.  We will be launching off in the middle of the pack tomorrow morning shortly after 8:30am in Darwin’s city centre.

What an adventure ahead!

Lacey

G’day!

I’m pleased to report that the entire team has now rendezvoused in Darwin! My name is Sten and I’ll be helping Lacey out with the team updates. I was stoked to be a spontaneous addition to the race team in 2009 and incredibly blessed to be a part of it again. This time, Julie and I will be in the scout vehicle for the race. Paul and I flew in this arvo (afternoon) and headed to the track to feast our eyes upon our gorgeous Ra 7s and catch up with the team.

The team was busy working on the Battery Management System (BMS) today. Due to regulations, the size of our battery pack needed to be reduced and the BMS tweaked to compensate for fewer battery cells. Specifically the protection limits needed modifications for under and over voltage and current, over discharge and temperature. There was time for a couple of drivers to clock up some more kilometers on the track training before the track closed at 6pm. She’s quite the sight!

After a quick dip in the pool, we feasted on tacos and Tim Tams (Australian chocolate biscuits that are rather delicious), then had a Friday Evening Testimony Meeting. We felt a strong sense of protection as we listened to Katherine’s readings. We heard some beaut testimonies and helpful ideas to keep our thought safe and focused on reality. We’ve been working on the idea of “stability” too. I’m surely relishing being a part of this team of spiritual thinkers again.

Thanks heaps for your ongoing support.

One more day of preparation and we’re off!

Have a ripper day,
Sten

G’day Mates!

We had a jam-packed day today here in Darwin. As we knew our scrutineering time was at 11am, we got ourselves to our garage extra early to take Ra 7s out on the race track before heading over. Justin hopped into the car first and test drove the car with the array on! After a couple more laps and a few minor adjustments on the fairings, Brian, Katherine, and I were able to test her out too! The driving experience was completely different with the array on than when we were test driving with the lower body only. We are all still learning how she works and performs, and we’ve had to make some minor alterations along the way.

Scrutineering went along as smoothly as we could have ever hoped. We had only two minor additions that needed to be added to the car, which were both completed today. The entire process did take some time as we were there for three hours, but we are grateful for how nicely everything went.

By early evening, we were able to get out to the track one more time and run a few laps with Justin and then Lacey in the car. Overall, we completed approximately thirty-two miles today! How appropriate!

After leaving the track in the evening, we went down to the Mindil Beach night market where a few brave souls ate some octopi on a stick, saw a neat street performance showcasing a man playing four didgeridoos, and sat out on the beach listening to the waves crashing against the shore.

Tomorrow, we plan on getting the drivers more experience driving the car out on the track!

Over and Out,

Lacey

G’day!

By 8:30am, we got to our garage and started work for the day! After a few team members reviewed safety demonstrations with head and assistant safety (Katherine and Mark), our team practiced fitting the array to the lower body and onto the array stand. We will be doing this every day on the race, so it is imperative that we are extremely careful in this process.

By early afternoon, we had our batteries hooked up to our car and took Ra 7s out for her first run on the track! With Justin as the test driver, John, the other drivers, and a few other members of our team rode in our chase vehicle behind him on the track. We were able to see how Ra 7s performed and heard from Justin about how she felt. After a total of 8 laps, he stated that everything sounded and felt smooth. This was excellent news! Tomorrow, we will be doing several more test runs on the track and will accomplish more driver training as well.

As the sun was setting, Justin stepped the other three drivers (Katherine, Brian R., and myself) through ingress and egress. Ingress and egress are tests every driver must perform during scrutineering as they are required to prove they are able to get into and out of the solar car within fifteen seconds. Although it is a fairly simple process (removing the steering wheel, releasing the canopy and 5-point seatbelt, and hopping out), it is not always easy to maneuver one’s way out of the car while being extremely careful not to bump any of the fragile cells on the upper body.

Thursday, our tomorrow, will be a big day for us! We hope to spend a few more hours on the track with all of the drivers.

Cheers,

Lacey

P.S.- A close Aussie friend of mine let me know that “g’day” as a greeting would be most appropriate while “cheers mate” a goodbye. I have switched these so that they are more accurate to how a true Aussie would speak.

Cheers Mate,

What a day! We had our first Principia Internet Radio show this morning! Following the show, we made it over to the track by 8am and began our day by reading the lesson over our radios. Afterward, Joe and Justin took the drivers onto the track in our chase vehicle so that we could run the course before driving it in Ra 7s. There are certain techniques to driving a solar car efficiently, and the drivers were being coached on a few of those techniques.

The electrical team spent most of the day working on the battery pack while some others strengthened our steering system! Although we had a functional steering system before, we decided it would be in our best interest, and more efficient, to change a few things about it. As a few of the added parts needed to be engineered, we were able to borrow some vital parts/tools from a few other teams and have the project completed by the evening.

Harris Caprock, one of our sponsors, donates communication equipment and its installation to our team. John, from the company, met us at our garage today as he set up all of he equipment in our vehicles for us! He was with us all day, and even came out to dinner with us to a family-style Chinese restaurant tonight. We are grateful for his work and for Harris Caprock’s generous donation!

Another project today included the making of a “32″ numbered stencil and painting it onto the crate strapped to the bed of the truck. Katherine and I worked on this throughout the day, and it is now complete and looks great!

G’day,

Lacey

P.S.- Our official scrutineering day and time is Thursday at 11am!

Cheers Mate!

After getting the body of Ra 7s in good working order last night, those working on the battery pack spent all of today getting it set up and connected to the car. As not all hands were needed in the garage at once, Steve took many of us out to a gorgeous beach nearby! It was probably one of the largest beaches I’ve ever been on, and we had great fun hanging out with one another while getting Australian sand in-between our toes.

Later in the afternoon, the battery pack was up and running so we were able to get in some driver training! Katherine, Brian R., and Lacey got their first opportunity to drive the car with the batteries in place. They each practiced several figure eights and got the feel for how they should accelerate, turn, maintain speed, slow, and stop the car. Each driver is buckled into a five-point harness and will be able to stay in communication with our lead and chase vehicles (in front and behind Ra 7s on the race) using an ear piece and connected radios. The team had lots of fun seeing Ra 7s in working motion!

As we were packing up for the night, Delhi University needed some extra assistance carrying a 1,900 lb. crate off of a truck, so we, along with a few other teams, came together to help them! It was quite the sight seeing so many people gathered around one massive crate working together to help their fellow “components”.

As our electrical team works through all of the technicalities of our battery pack, we are so grateful for everyone’s continued prayerful support.

We hope you are able to enjoy our upcoming Principia Internet Radio broadcasts!

G’day,

Lacey

Cheers Mate!

We kicked off today with Kali’s b-day celebration at breakfast! With a birthday sash, tropical flowers, and beautiful singing voices, it was a smashing success. Once at the track, we tested our steering column and wheel alignment while a few others stayed back to work on our battery pack. Later in the afternoon, several of our team members met some more of the other teams! When walking around each day, we have a chance to look at the other solar cars, learn from others with a variety of backgrounds, and exchange ideas and spare tools and parts.

In the previous few days at the track, teams were working on different aspects of their car, some test drove their car around the open parking lot (as the actual race track does not open until tomorrow), and others interacted with the neighboring teams. There is a lot to see in a day at the track!

Currently, teams are gearing up for scrutineering (a series of tests that every team must complete before the start of the race) which will start this coming Wednesday.

Tomorrow marks our first PIR broadcast! You can easily tune in at 4pm Central time Sunday through Friday until the end of the race. You can also listen to the recorded broadcast if you can’t make it for the live one! Also, please see our pictures linked from picasa to our website!

G’day,

Lacey

P.S.- The Wallabies beat the Springboks, 11-9, in the quarter finals of the Rugby World Cup!

Hello Everyone!

Our first full day in Oz has been one of great productivity! We arrived fairly early at our garage this morning and went straight to work. Splitting up into different groups, we were able to get many tasks completed harmoniously. The weather today was fairly nice as a breeze was blowing throughout the day. At one point, a few of us were practicing tire changes and we commented on how grateful we were for the nice weather.

This evening prior to dinner, we completed some drivers training practice. As our batteries are in the process of some adjustments, we had teammates propelling Ra 7s around safety cones as the drivers gained more of an understanding for the feeling of the car in motion. Working up a sweat, we had lots of fun with each other!

One of our team members, Kali, has a birthday on October 8th! As the time is a bit different over here, we figure we will celebrate it tomorrow morning at breakfast (even though it will be the 9th Australian time). Shh, it’s a surprise!

If you know of anyone else who would be interested in receiving these updates, please have them signup!

G’day!

Lacey