astronomy

University of Calgary Solar Car Team

University of Calgary Solar Car Team is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand University of Calgary Solar Car Team rather than just read about it. In short: The University of Calgary Solar Car Team is a multi-disciplinary student-run solar car racing ("raycing") team at the University of Calgary, based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It was established to design and build a solar car to compete internationally in the Formula Sun Grand Prix (FSGP), American Solar Challenge (ASC) (previously named the North American Solar Challenge) and the World Solar Challenge (WSC).

Key takeaways

University of Calgary Solar Car Team belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
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Connect University of Calgary Solar Car Team to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of University of Calgary Solar Car Team from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The University of Calgary Solar Car Team is a multi-disciplinary student-run solar car racing ("raycing") team at the University of Calgary, based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It was established to design and build a solar car to compete internationally in the Formula Sun Grand Prix (FSGP), American Solar Challenge (ASC) (previously named the North American Solar Challenge) and the World Solar Challenge (WSC). The team is primarily composed of undergraduate students studying Engineering, Science, and Business. The mission of the University of Calgary Solar Car Team is to educate the community about sustainable energy and to serve as an interdisciplinary project through which students and faculty from various departments can collaborate in supporting sustainable energy.

History The University of Calgary Solar Car Team was established by the University in the fall of 2004 in response to the North American Solar Challenge 2005 whose finish line was in Calgary, Alberta. The team's first vehicle was completed in 9 months and managed to place 13th despite their limited experience.

Soleon

Miracle workers The team performed a "miracle" by managing to establish a strong student base with which to construct the car, procure significant sponsorship and successfully build a highly successful vehicle with limited experience all in approximately 9 months. Established teams have two years to refine existing designs between races.

The X1 (prototype) In preparation for its first rayce, the University of Calgary Solar Team constructed and tested a prototype of their designs before building the final car. The X1 was a mock-up of and predecessor to Soleon. The X1 was used for driver training and allowed the team to test various design decisions to help ensure a successful final product. The X1 was constructed from a steel chassis with a fibreglass shell which was coated with gelcoat which made the vehicle approximately twice the final weight of its sister car.

First race results In its first year of existence, the University of Calgary Solar Team successfully competed in the NASC and the WSC. In the 2005 NASC, Soleon, their first generation rayce car placed 13th out of 17 cars that made it to the finish line. In the 2005 WSC Soleon placed 10th overall (out of 18) and first in its class. After hearing about this success, Seymour Schulich was inspired to donate $25 million (another $25 million was matched by the Alberta government) to the University of Calgary Engineering department, which was renamed the Schulich School of Engineering.

Schulich I

2007 WSC race Since the success of Soleon in the 2005 races, the team had to redesign for the new regulations for WSC, and prepare for the harder competition it faced from changing class to the higher, more competitive Challenge class. This class included higher efficiency solar cells, upright seating, and teams that had been raycing for the last 20 years. After shipping their new car to Australia, during testing before scrutineering, the car had a rear tire blow out on the race track in Darwin, resulting in the car spinning around and losing its tail section after impacting a guard rail. The team then rebuilt the tail section in one night before racing. Despite the higher competition and race track crash, the team managed to be the first (of six) Canadian teams to cross the timing finish line, finish 8th (out of 19) in the Challenge class, and 15th (out of 37) overall.

2008 NASC race Schulich I was improved after WSC 2007 for racing in the 2008 North American Solar Challenge. The rayce from Dallas, Texas to Calgary lasted ten days, with the University of Calgary Solar Team placing 6th (out of 15).

Schulich Axiom

2010 ASC The University of Calgary Solar Car Team's 3rd generation car, Schulich Axiom, was first raced in the 2010 ASC. The race spanned 1770 km from Tulsa, Oklahoma to Chicago, Illinois. The team finished in 6th place (of 18 teams) and received both the Sportsmanship and Mechanical Engineering awards for the competition. With regulation changes for the 2011 WSC, the team re-engineered the design of Schulich Axiom and completely rebuilt the solar car. Some of the changes made include switching to silicon solar cells and reducing the weight of the car.

2011 WSC The 2011 WSC took place October 16–23, 2011 and was a road endurance race from Darwin, Northern Territory to Adelaide, South Australia, a total of over 3000 km. The University of Calgary Solar Team entered the Schulich Axiom and placed 18th (of 37 teams), completing a distance of 1840 km.

Schulich Delta

Design and Construction: Focused on Practicality Schulich Delta, the team's fourth generation vehicle, was designed over the course of eight months, constructed over another three months. Delta was a radical departure for the team, featuring two doors, cup holders, four wheels, a passenger seat and cargo space for the very first time. It was also Canada's first cruiser class car.

2013 WSC The team entered the Schulich Delta to compete in the Cruiser class in the 2013 World Solar Challenge that took place on October 6–13, 2013. The team placed 8th in the Cruiser Class.

2015 FSGP After some improvements to Delta's design, the team competed in the 2015 Formula Sun Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas where it was the first cruiser-class vehicle to ever compete at the event. The event took place between Sunday, July 26 and Friday, July 31, 2016. The team completed 84 laps, placing 9th overall. Its fastest lap was 5:33.886.

Schulich Elysia

Design and construction The University of Calgary's sixth generation vehicle looked to make significant improvements of their cruiser class vehicle while keeping practicality their main focus. The team started the design phase in 2016 and crafted a catamaran inspired frame to help increase aerodynamics and reduce weight. Furthermore, the team implemented NACA ducts and fans to greatly improve on battery cooling performance. Another main focus was on the "every-day" user by implementing a touch-screen centre console info-tainment system, cupholders, back up cameras as well as speakers. The team also implemented a sophisticated charging system that includes the electric vehicle standard SAE-J1772 connector which allows the car to do Level 1 or 2 charging from the wall.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

University of Calgary Solar Team Logo

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with University of Calgary Solar Car Team

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what University of Calgary Solar Car Team claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to University of Calgary Solar Car Team before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about University of Calgary Solar Car Team ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of University of Calgary Solar Car Team

In research: University of Calgary Solar Car Team appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses University of Calgary Solar Car Team in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: University of Calgary Solar Car Team is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Photovoltaics, Solar car racing, University of Calgary, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for University of Calgary Solar Car Team outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study University of Calgary Solar Car Team in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what University of Calgary Solar Car Team means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
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Frequently asked questions

What is University of Calgary Solar Car Team in simple terms?

Why does University of Calgary Solar Car Team matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study University of Calgary Solar Car Team?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on University of Calgary Solar Car Team.