Monday, September 29, 2014

Battery Brainstorm

This week we will be planning on a new design for where the batteries for SK2 will be placed.  Originally, the batteries where all located in the front compartment, but we are realizing the problems with this design.  With all weight in the front, with no suspension, hitting a bump or pothole will damage SK2.  Instead, we are going to decrease the amount of batteries used from six to four, and only have two in the front.  The other two will be placed behind the driver's seat, in a rack that we will design later.  That way most of the weight will be placed in the center of the vehicle.

In other news, we are also working to get a solar go-kart in operation as a side project.  Are goals this week include . . .

Mounting charge and motor controllers

Designing new battery rack

Installing potentiometer
Matt leads the brainstorm on where to relocate the batteries on SK2

Checking out the go-kart and where the batteries,
motor controller, charge controller, etc. need to be placed

Friday, September 26, 2014

Setting Better Solar Goals

This week we were not able to finish mounting the charge and motor controller.  Our progress is slow so on Wednesday we decided as a group that it is important that we all focus on being more efficient.  Everyone is to have some sort of job everyday that they can work on and we will begin to set more concrete weekly goals.  Our first new goal is to get SK2 rolling by the end of next week.

In other news, we took off the wheels on SK2 so that we can remove the inner tubes from them.  The SK2 will be able to go faster without them, and they are not essential to SK2's operation.

At the end of the week we had a friendly competition! We split up into three groups and tried to see which group could build a set of rolling shelves the fastest.  The winner is still debatable at this point so I would say Matt, PJ, and Jason won.

Using screwdrivers as leverage to remove the tires from their respective wheels
Using brute force to remove the tires from their respective wheels while Matt supervises.

Monday, September 22, 2014

Leave no SK behind


This week we are focusing more of our attention to SK2 by mounting the Outback and motor controllers.  The controllers will be one of the first piece of hardware added to the actual frame.  After they are mounted we will be able to add other pieces to SK2, such as the motor and steering aparatus.  With that said, we plan to get SK2 rolling by next friday. It is a tall order but we are confident that we can do it. 

 On the other hand we are also waiting the new bearings for SK3's wheels.  Our overall goals this week are . . .

a) Find the hardware to mount controllers

b) drill the holes for the controllers

c) mount the controllers

Peter Drilling holes in SK2 for the motor controller

Zach looks for the right bolts to mount the motor controller and charge controllers

Friday, September 19, 2014

Tie Bars and Brake Lines, Oh My!

This week we cleaned the brake system on SK3 until they were spotless.  We were also successful on researching new brake lines for SK3, but according to Matt and Mr. Martin, we are waiting for money from the county before we continue.
The tie bars for SK2 were too small, so next week we will have to look again for ones that fit.  We also decided where to place the Outback and motor controller and have begun drilling.
This week everyone learned about soldering wires together from Jaret, which is an important skill when it comes to repairing motors.
Cleaning brake pads with degreaser and microfibers

Jaret teaches us how to solder wires together

Monday, September 15, 2014

Getting Down to Solar Business

This week we plan on continuing the construction of SK2.  We also need to continue cleaning the brake system for SK3.  The details of our plans include . . .

a) Placing the charge controller and motor controller on SK2,

b) Cleaning the brake pads on SK3,

c) Researching new brake lines for SK3,

d) Placing the tie bars on SK2.
Our Monday meeting going over the plans for the week.



Me and Jack researching HOPE C2 brake lines




Friday, September 12, 2014

Both front wheels have been disassembled on SK3 and the process of rigorously cleaning is almost done, if we leave any dirt or grime it could lead the way to rust and or degrading of the brake's.

Jack Cleaning the last of the brake/brake pad's

Monday, September 8, 2014

Cleaning SK3

Since SK3 is the main competition solar car, it takes a lot of work to keep it up to standard. This week we need to take of the wheels and completely clean the axle and bearings of brake fluid that had leaked out during competition.
The First Axle ready for cleaning

Friday, September 5, 2014

Setting up solar

We spent the majority of this week cleaning up the work area and getting the solar car prepared for the visitors on Friday.  All we were able to get done on SK2 was the addition of the back wheel.

Although we did nor make much progress on SK2, we were able to learn how to assemble the existing solar car by attaching the hood to the body of the car with zip ties.  We also cleaned the individual cells so that they could absorb more energy.
Kirsten cleans a layer of Texas dust from the solar cells.

Jason secures the top of the car to the bottom with a zip tie while everyone watches.

Monday, September 1, 2014

Clean up time

The plan for this week is to make further progress on the construction of SK2.  What needs to get done this week is . . .

A) the placement of the back wheel

B) the placing of the charge controller

. . . and if there is time we will try to connect the steering.  Later this week, important people from the school board will be coming so we will also be cleaning up the work area.
Clearing off the work table and separating the woods from the metals from the plastics.

Jaret dusts off the heavy machinery