March 2023 Updates
CONQUERING THE ROAD ONE SOLAR CELL AT A TIME.
Feeling Lucky!
St. Patrick’s Day Spirit
TEAM UPDATES
AEROBODY TEAM
The Aerobody team focused the past month on reinforcement. The team did a few vacuum bagging panel layups and trimmed into smaller sections of the bonding materials for the solar arrays. In addition, the Structures Team ran a honeycomb core panel bonding test with micro-balloon for the battery box.
Next month the team will focus on ordering the front and rear suspension arms, finishing the CAD design for the uprights, and finishing the wheels design.
HIGH POWER TEAM
The team has made great progress with the motors. The motor mount was assembled and the first spin test was conducted. Sunstang was able to showcase the motors in action at the Western University Spring Open House! Now the team is testing the motors using the Prohelion motor controller. High power also worked on manufacturing the Bus bars for the battery pack. This month the team finished designing the high-power box and the new solar cell placements complete with MPPT calculations.
Next month, the team will focus on impedance testing for all battery cells, followed by assembling the battery box. The the team will implement EVSE in order to test the battery pack charging. Lastly, the team will begin placing and connecting the solar cells onto the car’s aerobody.
DYNAMICS TEAM
This month the Software Team was able to create code needed for configuring and testing the motor controller. The team also continued to work on displaying CAN messages on the Raspberry Pi display and started to work on the BPS code.
Next month the team aims to finish motor testing, start testing the BPS, and combine the driver controls system with the motor controller system.
Fundraiser: Adopt A Cell
The Sunstang Team has been working hard all year trying to go to competition, and we need your support to make this goal a reality. You can do so through our crowdfunding initiative: Adopt A Cell.
Sunstang is Western Engineering’s solar car team that has been around since 1991, when it was originally conceived as an honors research project. Today, Sunstang is a mega-project club with over 80 student members from all engineering disciplines. Our team designs, builds, and manufactures a fully functioning solar-powered car that we race against other collegiate teams around North America. On top of this, we work hard to create a project-based learning environment for students of all skill sets while promoting the education of sustainable energy practices.
The current model is our most ambitious yet – we have shifted gears to make this build a fully electric, multiple occupancy vehicle, while still incorporating solar panels as a supplementary power source. We have dubbed this car “Legacy.”
In order to meet the demands of Legacy’s build, we are launching our Adopt a Cell fundraising program. Through our website under the “Sponsors” tab, by clicking “Sponsor Our Project” you can either ‘adopt’ a solar cell ($100 ea.) or make a one-time donation of an amount of your choice.
A tax receipt will be automatically provided for all donations.
Please consider supporting this initiative, our team greatly appreciates any and all contributions!