What a week! Mock race was really cool experience. Driving the solar car on open roads and trying to hone my skills at maintaining speed on hills and turns was so much fun. As a member of the electrical division, it was really amazing seeing how well the electrical system performed over the 4 days of racing, and it really made me realize how great of a job the last team did in designing it. I think the mock race gave the team members, new and old, a good idea of what we will be expecting in terms of problems such as troublesome “just before the top of the hill” red lights / stop si… i mean RED signs (haha) and swapping out spares quickly to save time.

Also, looking back, I feel like I joined the team at the right time. I joined while the team was still racing Infinium in Australia and now I will be racing Infinium in ASC2010. Racing a car you didn’t build may seem less fun, but I think this will help us to design our next car. I feel that having a good sense of what kind of obstacles the car will face in a race is absolutely essential when designing the car. The process of the team preparing itself and Infinium for ASC gives us the opportunity to generally get familiar with what our next car will need to overcome.

Overall this week was tons of fun, even though we all probably felt disgusting from the blistering heat and 2 days of Base-X with no shower.

After leaving Ann Arbor a week ago the Infinium has finished a Mock Race of the 2010 American Solar Challenge route.

Driver Ryan Mazur exits Infinium at the finish line in Naperville

Infinum reached the end of timing in Naperville late this afternoon. The team was able to complete the route in 4 days which was a huge success for our team.  Over the course of our race Infinium was on the side of the road for very little time, which allowed us to cover so much ground.  Our team has improved so much over the past week.  Going on mock race gave our team challenges we could not have simulated in Ann Arbor.  It has also allowed the entire race crew to bond and become a closer group.

Now that the team has returned to Ann Arbor there are still several things we can work on to improve our performance.  As a team we will iron out some mistakes to finish ASC with an improved time.

Last night the team camped on the Mississippi River. The surrounding landscape created a tremendous view in the morning sun.

Yesterday evening we held a team meeting, and decided to modify the schedule to finish Mock Race one day early. Today we will treat Normal, IL as a 15 minute checkpoint and then sprint the final leg to the finish line in Naperville, IL. By finishing today, the race crew can return to Ann Arbor tonight. Everyone is looking forward to a shower after camping in the humid weather.

The weather is great this morning which will allow Infinium to reach Normal in the early afternoon.

The team rolled into Rolla just before noon today and we observed a 1 hour control stop. During this stop we were able to meet the Missouri S&T Solar Car team and enjoyed chatting about the race and our vehicles.

U of M meets Missouri S&T

After our stop Infinium rolled back onto the road. On our way to Alton, we passed lots of people. It was interesting to see all the different reactions. Some people waved, took pictures, cheered, and there were even a couple “Go Blue!”‘s yelled at us. It is amazing to see how many people are exciting to see and learn about solar technology.

The Alton control stop is located right next to the Mississippi River which requires Infinium to cross the Clark Bridge. We were able to get a nice video of Infinium crossing this bridge. I hope you enjoy.

After camping for the night in the base-x tent, our team awoke to a beautiful day.  The cloudless morning sky allowed for a good morning charge.

Team Members hold the array and work on Infinium during the morning charge

While charging, our team re-packed the semi trailer and made some modifications to Infinium’s radio.

Infinium is now out on the open road closing in on Rolla, MO.  Today we will be treating Rolla as a 1 hour control stop and Alton, IL as a stage stop.

After a long day of travel, the Team has settled down for the night at The Potter’s House of Camdenton, Missouri. Senior Pastor Tom Ford and Guy Lombardo have kindly allowed the Team to set up camp behind the church. The Team’s caravan vehicles, tent, mobile kitchen, semi trailer, solar car and equipment are set up across the large parking lot and lawn. All of the Race Crew’s twenty-odd members will sleep in the Team’s Base-X tent tonight. We plan to reach Rolla tomorrow.

Infinium traveled smooth from Topeka to Jefferson City, having only 6 minutes of downtime.  As a precaution, Infinium pulled over to replace the rear wheel and motor due to some scrubbing.  The modifications our electrical engineers made yesterday saved the team several additional minutes on the side of the road.

Our team observed the 2 hour control stop at the capital building in Jefferson City, and is now back on the road heading to Rolla.  We will not be able to reach the stage stop today, so our visit with the team from Missouri S&T will have to be pushed back to tomorrow afternoon.

After observing the stage stop in in Topeka, Infinium left this morning heading towards Jefferson City, Missouri.  We are expecting good weather, but the speed limits on this part of the route are very low.  The combination of slow speeds and a 2 hour control stop will make it very difficult to reach Rolla today.

Our team spent the day in Topeka observing the mandatory stage stop. Normally on these days we would only be allowed to charge from 7AM-9AM and 6PM -8PM, but we made good use of our afternoon. Mechanical engineers went over bolt checks and improved our tire changing procedures.

Mechanical engineers check Infinium’s front suspension

Electrical engineers were also busy today rewiring part of the car to optimize how Infinium’s rear wheel (containing the motor) could be change if it were punctured. 

Tomorrow Infinium will be back on the road heading towards Jefferson City.  We will observe the 2 hour control stop before heading to the stage stop in Rolla.  Rolla, MO also happens to be the home of the Missouri S&T Solar Car Team.  Hopefully we will be able to find some time tomorrow evening to meet their team.

Scale models of the Team’s past 10 cars are now available! The models come in scales of 1/16 (featured above) and 1/24 and can be purchased for $150 and $50 respectively. If you would like to purchase a scale model, please contact the team by email at solarcar@umich.edu.