It would be too easy to say that Michigan won the race as usual. but of the last five American Solar Challenge races you could just as easily say that the score has been Mighty Michigan 3, Missouri S&T 2.
S&T upset Michigan in rainy '99 and shattered the Wolverines' Route 66 record in 2003; Blue won '01 (with then-UMR breathing down its neck), '05 (with Minnesota, MIT, and S&T close behind), and now '08, holding off a heroic charge from S&T progeny Principia.

The Miners ran across the ceremonial finish line in 7th place, joined by S&T Provost Kent Wray, the guy in the white hat (in more ways than one).
The final rankings are: Michigan, Principia, Bochum (Germany), Waterloo, Minnesota, Calgary, and then Missouri S&T. Rounding out the field finds Iowa State, Red River, Arizona, Kentucky, Queen's, Northwestern, Dunham (England), and finally heroic Oregon State with its lovable home-built plywood trailer and $60K day-to-day budget. Oregon State finished ahead of Texas-Austin, MIT, and a long list of other notable institutions that came up short and weren't able to get a car in the race. You can find the actual race times (and plenty of S&T provided photos) at americansolarchallenge.org.

S&T's decision to trailer Monday afternoon, even under sunny skies, worked out to be an excellent strategic decision because they were able to pour just enough energy into their battery pack to keep their grip on 7th place and run ALL of Tuesday's final stage under SMVI's power, even though roughly 40% of the Medicine Hat-to-Calgary route was not very sunny. They must have calculated their power just right because Solar Miner Vi coasted across the finish line on electrical fumes. No power left at all, they tell us.

The '08 Miners has a rough year but still managed to complete the grueling, sometimes sunless race, in the middle of the pack, taking 7th place out of 15 teams to hit the road. Their lack of experience (except for Chris Pieper's race-time leadership and '05 alum Tim Robillard's sacrifice of his vacation time) meant that when things went wrong the students were less likely to understand the myriad of electronic hints that Solar Miner Vi threw at them. When array connections broke the students mistook the lowered output as a result of cloudy weather rather than the broken sub-array connections that were discovered on the last two days of the race, and who knows how long the sub-arrays were compromised. When your array is incomplete you are racing (fighting?) with one arm tied behind your back, and no amount of battery excellence will save you. S&T's decision to manufacture their own circuit boards in-house may also have held back the team as there were hundreds of potentially fault connections that could have been been the reason for their telemetry and turn signals problems. The crew has already started a long list of things to change in the next car, so there has been a tremendous amount of learning that has taken place, and that's what S&T's experiential learning programs are all about.

This was a year that many schools fielded inexperienced teams because of the three-year gap in state-side racing, and at least another dozen schools (some quite well-known) didn't even get their cars completed in time or make it through qualifying trials in Texas. The late announcement that Toyota's sponsorship rescued the event shrunk a two-year build and test cycle to a mere 7 months. S&T's solar superstars barely got the car finished in time and had no where near the hundred (thousands?) of miles on the car necessary to work out all the kinks. During this race nearly every top-grade team, such as Minnesota, Bochum or Principia, had sudden breakdowns that kept the runner-up order in constant turmoil, so even if you've completed your shake-down testing there is still no absolute assurance that you'll sail through at top (legal) speed.

The University of Calgary will host the awards ceremony at noon today, and as soon as all the t-shirts are traded and hamburgers consumed, S&T will hit the road to Great Falls, Montana for the night.
They'll arrive Friday evening in Rolla and clean out all their gear before disappearing until semester's start in three weeks.

The weather for today's return trip? Cloudy! Go figure..........

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Somehow it is a fitting end to this race that we have lot of clouds today. This has been the least-sunny race since the '99 rain-fest from D.C. to Orlando won by upstart Missouri S&T, the first of our TWO national championships.

'08 won't be our year, obviously. Yesterday's standings have us in a respectable 6th place, considering that nearly all of the faster teams have been running in the Australia's World Solar Challenge in the non-NASC years. There are also several listings where the higher-ranked team has a longer elapsed running time than lower-ranked teams, so we are are confused in that matter. The Miners have fielded a simple and reliable mechanical chassis that has run beautifully, but the electrical side hasn't held its own. Late yesterday they found that three sub-arrays had somehow lost their connections so the car has been running on only 70% of its potential power. They don't know how long that has been the case because they were attributing the low power to so many cloudy days. Add to that the gradually shrinking battery back and you'll understand the Miners may be arriving at Calgary on solar fumes, so to speak.

We'll have more from the S&T Gypsy Caravan in the morning.

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The Solar Miner VI crew had high hopes of running all 300 miles to Medicine Hat, Alberta today, and were well on their way to doing it. No breakdowns, no clouds, no rain, no traffic, no nuttin'.

They were maintaining just the right speed that would put them into Medicine Hat around dinner time, and were running in a loose pack of Waterloo, Bochum, Minnesota and Calgary so it really seemed like racing. Why then, did they pack it in? Very simply they could have run all day but that would have left their battery pack too low to recover in just a few evening hours, and that strategy would have forced them to trailer tomorrow to the eventual finish line. Embarrassing choice, that.

S&T has had to make this choice several times on this race. Our best showing was the run to Sioux Falls, when they placed more importance in getting to the stage point just under the wire. The strategic cost they paid the following day was that clouds prevented them from rebuilding the pack while they were running. Not only did it hurt them that day, but it put them in a hole all the way to Winnipeg and even on to Brandon, Manitoba.

Tomorrow we'll head to the finish line in Calgary, 187 miles away, if we remember correctly. Michigan appears to have vanquished the field, as has oft been their history. As of early this morning Principia had a very slight chance of catching Big Blue, and it looked like Hochshule Bochum, Waterloo, Minnesota and Calgary in that order were going to be the bridesmaids (again). Today's racing threw that book out the window when Principia suddenly vanished from the radar and Waterloo was flying along VERY strong. Rumor had it (and trust us, this event LIVES on rumors until the standings are published each morning) that wundercar Principia hit a big pothole and was sidelined, but the RA VII crew arrived in Medicine Hat around 7:00 p.m., quite late for such a fast runner.

Continue reading "Miners Sprint Well Under Clear Skies, But Trailer In To Race Another Day" »

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We haven't had time to recognize all of the other teams in this event, but the Brits from Durham University have finally been spotted on the road. Durham, possibly along with Oregon State and its shoestring budget, has had the toughest time on the race. They've done had a lot of trailering because of various problems, but they've kept their ubiquitous stiff upper lip. We wonder if they'll party like their '01 English counterparts did at the end of that race. Hope so, 'cause they will have earned it.

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It is a cool, quiet morning on the Canadian prairie, and there is strange unbroken shade of pale blue from horizon to horizon. No one seems to know what to make of it.

At least one Miner nearly came jumped of his sleeping bag when a freight train rolled by at 2:00 in the morning. We promise you, when a train roars by just 50 yards away, it sure feels a LOT closer in the dark.

The Miners will head back toward Regina a few miles, set up the car and charge exactly where they stopped last night. They should be through Regina's check point shortly after nine, past Moose Jaw by early afternoon, and into Medicine Hat, the race's final stage point by suppertime. If they don't make that they'll have to trailer in to participate in tomorrow's last stage start, and it probably won't be until then that we'll know what the race standings are. We hope the final standings will have S&T at the head of the middle pack, but there us no way to tell at this point. We are sorry to report that Principia's amazing run at race leader Michigan will probably fall short, as Ra VII is reported to be 60 miles farther east than S&T. Principia has run a very clean and organized race, and should be considered the event's best performing team, in our opinion.

Just so we don't forget, we want to recognize the contributions of Jennifer Claybrooks of Mizzou's Hydrogen Car Project. The Tigers' demonstration car was one of several that didn't manage to qualify for this tremendous race, so she joined the Miners and proved a ray of sunshine when it was most needed.

Lastly, we thought we'd post a photo of Jennifer, because without her help.............

Continue reading "Final Full Day Of Solar Car Racing" »

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The toughest job on this race today must be that of the race officials, because solar cars are scattered from west of Regina to who knows HOW far back toward Winnipeg. One frustrated organizer said at Regina that they really needed some COMPETITION!

Today's start from Winnipeg was, of course, under cloudy conditions and only about half the field actually drove from Red River's campus start line. Solar Miner VI has been running for days on low batteries and the lack of sunny weather has denied the Miners the chance to refuel en route. To make matters worse a battery module failed last night, dropping the pack's capacity about 8%.

S&T made the decision this morning, as did many other teams, to trailer their car from Winnipeg to the Brandon check point, where they FINALLY caught up with open skies. They figured the trailer penalties were better than driving the Trans-Canada Highway at 15mph, and we're sure our Canadian hosts would agree.

At Brandon the Miners got about two solid hours of charge time, enough to feel confident enough about the available sunlight to hit the road, and under partly cloudy skies they struck out behind Michigan and Calgary.
From that point we didn't hear a thing on the team's radio, and in this race no news is scary 'cause you never know which car will emerge from the distant prairie horizon. Much to our delight it turned out that Solar Miner VI, under the care of Nathan Steckel, sailed about 200 miles from Brandon to very close to Regina with just two quick stops to fix loose wires. In terms of physical placement S&T ended up third in line at evening time. Where a team ends up each night has virtually no bearing on the official standings, but we can tell you it sure feels better to have more cars behind you than ahead of you.

Meanwhile the real drama unfolded among the teams that drove from Winnipeg. Michigan, Waterloo, Principia, Red River, Bochum, valiant Oregon State and maybe one or two more challenged the clouds, probably because there was a tiny glimpse of blue sky way off to the west. Michigan, of course, took off, with Bochum and Waterloo close behind. A dozen or so miles down the road Principia roared past
Waterloo as if they were standing still, and then disappeared. Unfortunately Principia turned up later on the side of the road, peering into their battery box with great concern.

At that point News Chopper 1870 headed up the road to find the Miners charging at Brandon, and at day's end eventually found them charging under COMPLETELY clear skies! WHAT A RUSH!!

Continue reading "A Racing Free-For-All, Eating Grasshoppers, and Feeding Saskatchewan Mosquitoes" »

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At the dawn's early light, there is very little light unfortunately. Clouds and showers blanket the Trans-Canada Highway from Winnipeg to the first check point in Brandon, but the fact that today's green flag is a stage stop means the race leaders' advantage will be a bit muted because all cars will have a chance to reach the sun fairly early in the day. That is good because the race pace has slowed due to so many clouds over so many miles. We'll report any news as soon as we can.

P.S. At 7:00 a.m. big, noisy thunderstorm is sweeping through Winnipeg, very close to the stage start at Red River College. There is a glimpse of relatively clear sky well of to the west, so let's keep our hopes up.

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As expected, the the clouds were thick and low early this morning behind Mac's Hardware in Winnipeg.
The usual round of re-checking yesterday's problems kept a few S&T folks busy so the rest of the Miners, who had become so practiced at the daily loading plan, took some time for jump rope fun.

Meanwhile Solar Miners' brain trust distributed the day's route changes, but sometimes when you have a late change of plans not everyone gets the message.

S&T didn't expect to go very far or fast today because of rain, heavy cloud cover, and their low battery power, but they certainly didn't expect to get lost (stupid route changes!). About 25 miles north of WInnipeg slow-moving SMVI missed a turn and lost about seven miles one way. By the time they figured it out and got back on course it was pretty much time to load the car in the trailer and haul it the rest of the 225+ miles to Manitoba's capitol city.
The Miners weren't at all happy with the course of events because this was the first time since 1999 that the car had to be trailered on a race, but it did get them far enough north to find some clearer skies and get several good hours of charging under their belts. This writer is not sure of SMVI's power status, but there is at least another day of cloudy weather ahead so no matter who wins this race the 2005 race record is probably safe.

Tomorrow starts the second-to-last stage start of the big race. We'll leave Red River College at 9, and head west until we hit the Rockies some 600 miles later. It's tough to tell the standings right now, but a lot of teams trailered into town today, and we don't know when the trailer penalties will be announced.

Continue reading "The Miners Were Really Jumping Today In Winnipeg!" »

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A quick glance out the window reveals bad news for solar cars, so look for very slow racing today. Thick, low clouds, with rain to follow will give the Miners headaches today because their batteries are not in such hot shape, so making it north to Winnipeg won't be easy. But at least all the cars around here will have the same problem.

Stay tuned.

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Missouri S&T was in a nip-and-tuck race for most the way north from Sioux Falls today. Our Miners were running in an extended pack with Bochum, Waterloo, Calgary, and Minnesota, teams that seemed to continually change order due to quick repair stops, driver changes, or good old-fashioned racing effort, but later in the day some high clouds moved in for a few hours, seriously cutting into SMVI's fuels supply (with which, by the way, they did NOT leave Sioux Falls). About that time the Miners' intermittent electrical problems began to raise their ugly little symptoms again. First, the solar car driver's radio went dead, necessitating a quick stop, then the turn signals began to act up because of a loose cable. Most of those issues could be resolved during driver changes (Matt Bloom, seen leaving his driving shift, Adam Lewis, and Mike Janeske held the reins today), but a critical loss of telemetry played havoc with race strategy because the EE's had no way of knowing what shape the batteries were in and couldn't tell the driver how fast to go.
Anyway, they pretty much held their race position until they approached Morehead, MN and then had to cut their speed nearly in half, which sliced into their race position much more than they'd hoped. They gave up about an hour to an hour and a half on their racing friends, limping into Fargo in 7th place just ahead of Iowa State, Red River, and Arizona.
We're not going to gloss over things; tomorrow looks troubling. S&T's batteries are not in a fully-charged state, and the forecast is for overcast skies with rain showers in the afternoon, and the sprint to Winnipeg is around 250 miles.

While all that news is a discouraging, the crew took in the beautiful Minnesota countryside with a ceremonial pass-by of the world's largest lutefisk in Madison, MN, the Official Lutefisk Capitol of the World.

Just down the road in Canby, where the team camped on the '05 race, SMIV got a great reception from a group of lovely ladies who seem to think that SMVI/Joe Miner is really sexy.

Lastly, here are some staff members of Mac's Hardware in West Fargo, ND. They were kind enough to let the Miners use their back lot to work on the car and set up Chef Letha's gourmet buffet. Mac's is unbelievable! Not just a hardware store, but a grocery/army surplus/furniture/hunting/home decor/farm and things we didn't even know existed store. If you have an aircraft carrier stuck in the mud, they have the stuff you'll need to pull it out.

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WOW! First it was Appalachian State, now it's 500-student, liberal arts Principia that has upset Mighty Michigan, and all in just one year! We might be a bit too excited, because Michigan still holds the upper hand in this race by about 22 minutes, but in the Neosho-Sioux Falls race our RA VII friends from Elsah topped Michigan by just over 14 minutes, cutting Blue's lead nearly in half. And that was on the most challenging, hilly part of the race!

Right now the overall standings (and times) are as follows:

Michigan 22:15:52
Principia 22:37:15
FH Bochum 25:23:41
Waterloo 27:26:41
Minnesota 28:18:27
MISSOURI S&T 28:32:29
Calgary 30:50:54
Red River 34:01:57
Iowa State 39:28:01
Kentucky 40:11:04
Arizona 42:38:32

No times have been posted for Queen's, Northwestern, Oregon State or Durham University.

While MIchigan left Neosho first and arrived in Sioux Falls the same way, race officials can assess penalties for unsafe driving, SPEEDING, or other rule violations. There are no print-out of traffic fines but rumor has it that Blue was....................oh, never mind, you can guess.

The Miners are doubly excited because they have fixed their air gap adjustment, which is similar to the speed selector on your automatic transmission. If you are stuck in a low gear your fuel consumption goes through the roof, and the same applies if your fuel is solar/battery power.

Matt Bloom is scheduled to start today's sprint into Minnesota, and Andrew Lewis will take over later in the day.

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It's 6:00 a.m in Sioux Falls and there is not a cloud in the sky, the first clear morning in what seems like forever. Temperatures are supposed to be only in the mid-80's; perfect for solar racing.
Today we'll head to a check point in Fargo, ND, and then on to Winnipeg, over 500 miles away. We won't make that mark in one day, but we hope to say "Hi!" to some of the folks in Canby, Minnesota we met along the way in 2005. Prairie Home Companion fans (Public Radio KMST, Saturdays at 5:00 p.m., Sundays at noon) will be thrilled to know we'll pass the huge statue of a lutefisk in Madison, Minnesota, the Lutefisk Capitol of the World. Maybe we'll have time to see what Minnesotans call Paul Bunyan's anchor nearby. To quote a local from 2005's trip, "its just a big bunch of rocks, don't ya know, but dat's what we tell da kids!".

Posted at 06:17 AM | Permalink | add to del.icio.us| Comments (1)

The Miners have been through a lot over the past few months and have had their share of heated arguments and frustration, especially over the electrical system problems that have vexed the team since Texas. Team cohesion and strong, dedicated leadership are all critical to the success of any organization. Overcoming conflict should be high on the list of any successful working group,

for as they say "many hands make light work". Veteran teams usually manage to keep people focused on the strategic goal and make personalities subservient to the project, perhaps because they blend the right personnel with proper training for each role.

Early yesterday the Miners were a pretty whipped bunch, and few dared to hold their heads high. A near-disasterous fire followed by rain and heavy clouds figured to keep Solar Miner VI well back in the pack and unable to reach Sioux Falls by day's end. As the day wore on, however, the clouds (the real ones and the ones hanging over the team's heads) began to dissipate and the crew focused more and more on race strategy. Blowing past Minnesota and staying virtually within sight of Calgary reminded them that they were, indeed, in a real race. It was also fingernail-biting time as the Miners got closer to Sioux Falls, because they still had to perform a last-hour driver change and deal with rush-hour traffic.

When they poured out of the vans at the stage stop you'd have thought they had won the entire race, as they were dancing, laughing, shouting, and jumping all over themselves, a joy long missing from this group. That attitude remained strong through dinner, and especially through today's R&R opportunity; even the normally grouchy ones were broadly smiling. Perhaps the best indicator of the emotional turn-around was that they were playing practical jokes on each other, as laughter is a huge emotional relief valve.

In contrast, we have seen some teams at various student competitions tear themselves apart because of clashing egos or non-existent organization. In those cases one individual may shoulder the entire burden of keeping the team pointed in the right direction, but the odds of the team performing well, or even remaining intact, are quite poor.

In Sioux Falls today we did see one part of a team that seem to overcome ALL obstacles, and perhaps they could serve as a shining example of all that we seek in life. To see their progress, continue below..........

Continue reading "Team Dynamics And Interaction" »

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Got you to look, didn't we? :)

Really, the morning clouds that have plagued this event for several days have caused headaches for the race officials. Teams are spread out over very long distances so the biggest problems for check-point and stage-stop volunteers is sometimes sheer boredom*. The reason for the disparity in racing success, in this writer's view, is that most of the teams are fielding essentially rookie crews. Few schools have been able to hang on to their experienced talent because the last major US race was fully three years ago. A few teams, notably those with very deep pockets, have continued to race in Europe and Australia and have done a superb job of keeping highly-skilled race crews intact. Hopefully Toyota's unrestricted sponsorship will return this race to a 2-year cycle so that teams can hang on to, and improve upon, the experiential learning that is such a wonderful by-product of this event.

Continue reading "Cheering Crowds Line Sioux Falls Streets For Solar Car Arrivals" »

Posted at 02:28 PM | Permalink | add to del.icio.us| Comments (1)

You play horseshoes with solar car tires

Every time your caravan stops, there is a fight to get the shotgun position in the support vans

When you say you'll sleep in, you really mean until 7:30

When the most (or least) irritating passenger in your chase van is the official race observer

You are so tired that when you actually get to a hotel, the shower's water pressure knocks you over

When total strangers take such pity on your team's two-week-long diet of peanut butter sandwiches, they take your whole team out for pizza

When your radio call sign for your chase van is "Short Bus" (no kidding!)

When you check out early from a dumpy hotel because someone else ate the waffle

When you spend your time scheming how to put your team's logo on other solar cars

The girls on your team can smell bad and still smell REALLY good in comparison

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Six teams (Michigan, Principia, Bochum, Waterloo, Calgary and S&T, in that order) are elated that each made the stage stop last night, because any teams arriving around 10 this morning faced traffic like this. As of about 2:00 p.m., Minnesota, Iowa State, and Red River have hit town, and while the weather is nice right now there is still a high threat of afternoon storms. This is a real concern because race rules prohibit charging the cars' batteries until 6:30 tonight, and briefly in the morning just before the 9:00 a.m. start.
The Miners are of course working on their high-tech systems, such as laundry, and a few have taken the chance to visit some big-city department stores, like Target. Team Leader Chris Pieper, last of the triumverate of solar car-driving S&T brothers*, is getting some much needed rest, and Adam Lewis is down the hill making new cables. School kids from the Sioux City area are getting and up-close look at the cars, and gear-heads from other car clubs are in town and are being upstaged by the high-MPG tourists.

Continue reading "Welcome to Sioux Falls, Solar Cars!" »

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They are calling for possibly severe storms this afternoon, with heavy rain, high winds and hail. Looks like it'll be a rough rest day, a lousy public display, and will cause fits for the remaining eight or nine teams still out there on the race route.

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The NASC makes each team carry a substantial amount of safety equipment from fire extinguishers to orange vests, and it is for a very good reason. Very early this morning, right after all the big storms blew through, a small number of Lithium-Ion batteries being charged indoors burst into flames. Our Miners jumped into action, evacuating the area and subduing the fire with CO2 and dry-chem extinguishers, and bags of good ol' sand that the NASC insists teams keep near their cells. The crew was pretty shook up, but settled into alternate sleeping areas for what amounted to about three hours of shut-eye.
That pretty somber bunch crawled out of their sleeping bags at 5:30 a.m. to get SMIV ready for the run to Sioux Falls, only to discover the rain and lightning was still in the area and that charging was essentially a waste of time. Their planned goal of reaching the next stage stop tonight seemed pretty bleak, as the distant patches of blue sky remained just that; distant. S&T kept a modest speed to preserve battery power but kept the speedometer display creeping ever-so-slightly higher, helped by a pretty stiff tailwind. In Omaha SMIV had another non-AMC gremlin leave them stranded for much longer than their allotted check-point 30 minutes, allowing Calgary, Iowa State, and powerful Minnesota to drop the Miners lower in the standings. They had a few quick "glitch stops" farther up the road but by now were able to get the car back on the road awfully fast, 'though that's not the kind of practice you necessarily want.
The clouds began to do some serious clearing so S&T gradually built speed and consistency, and quickly found themselves crawling up the Golden Gophers' figurative tailpipe just north of Sioux City, IA. After a quick Gopher pause S&T and Calgary were running so close together that their support vehicles were often intertwined.
The support crews kept comparing the target speed to the remaining miles, and figured it was a lost cause. But just when NASC officials moved to take down the stage-stop equipment, someone yelled "There's a solar car coming in!". We looked at each other and figured "Nah, it can't be!", but suddenly Solar Miner care barreling through the day's finish line just 2 1/2 minutes before the official close! The Miners piled out of the support fleet high-fiving and hugging, a complete reversal of the morning's morale, and that carried through heading off for some real fun a few hours ago. Tomorrow they'll get a good day's rest (while working on the car, of course), do laundry, and maybe even get a real restaurant meal!

Posted at 10:54 PM | Permalink | add to del.icio.us| Comments (2)

Today's after-action report from the students feels like a roller coaster ride. They started the day on hilly terrain stuck behind two teams that only managed 25-30 miles an hour while the early starters ploughed ahead in light traffic. Once S&T cleared I-44 they began to build speed in ideal racing weather; blue skies and a great tailwind. They only stopped briefly, once to re-tape the left fairing, and again to change drivers. They also gained a step when Minnesota suffered problems at the check point, and that moved the Miners back into 5th in the order behind Michigan, Principia, Waterloo, and Bochum.
Their morale rose with their sustained speeds of 45-50 mph, and was further improved by Miner supporters that popped up along the route to cheer the crew on.

S&T ended the racing day in Auburn, Nebraska, just 20 miles south of Nebraska City. Why is that important? In 2005,when then-UMR stopped for the night at a shopping center, a fellow strolled over to see what the fuss was about. It turns out he was Bryan Kriefels who lived just across the highway. Bryan is related to Nancy Uri, who works at S&T right next store to the solar car offices!! Bryan invited the whole team to camp on his lawn, fix dinner in his work barn, and best of all, TAKE SHOWERS!!

This trip when we stopped in Auburn, we called Bryan and invited him to come down to Auburn for a visit. Instead he insisted we bring the whole team up to stay in house, use his kitchen, work on the car in his big metal barn, and TAKE SHOWERS!! Oh, does this guy have the golden touch!!
This turned out to be lucky beyond words as a huge storm swept in from the northwest just an hour later, with heavy rains and howling winds; no time to be on a tent, don't you think? We'll have to drive back to Auburn in the morning to start from the same stopping point.

IN THE MEANTIME, Waterloo is stopped right here in Nebraska City, just 20 miles ahead of S&T, and we hear that Bochum is also nearby. Minnesota is 20 miles behind us, so tomorrow's racing should be pretty exciting. Hang on, and hope for clear weather!

Posted at 11:18 PM | Permalink | add to del.icio.us| Comments (4)

Minnesota has charged back from its late start to arrive in Topeka in 5th place, with Calgary right behind. S&T came in so close after that it seemed they all arrived at once. Differences in solar racing might be as simple as catching a red light here in town or being unlucky enough to wait out a coal train at a rail crossing. The Miners now report that all their batteries are in good shape, and they are running almost completely from the array.

HOLD ON!!! Just as we wrote this Minnesota was getting ready to lower their array when two fire-cracker-like reports from inside their car echoed all the way across the parking lot, and two of their crew jumped away from the car. No way that can be good!! Calgary now slips into the next departure slot, and S&T is putting the array back to follow out right behind. Minnesota's crew is walking around holding their heads and trying to figure out what just happened. Pray for them.

It is 4:03 and Solar Miner just pulled out! We'll be back with more updates tonight.

Posted at 03:43 PM | Permalink | add to del.icio.us| Comments (0)

Michigan has opened up a big lead over the rest of the pack, but surprising Principia is breathing down Big M's neck. Michigan left the Topeka check point with about an hour advantage over the liberal arts school from Elsah, Illinois. Veteran Canadian team Waterloo came in just minutes after Principia blew back out of the Toyota dealership's parking lot, with the beautiful Bochum arriving just shortly after.
This morning's start from Neosho had some surprises as three teams, including sentimental favorite (more on that later) Minnesota, lost power at the start and were moved to the back of the starting line. S&T, tagged for 5th place, moved to 4th due to Minnesota's absence. Just east of Neosho there was a nearly mile-long gaggle of solar car teams, that couldn't spread out until they crossed I-44 near Joplin.
Most of the slower cars may have run their batteries way down under Sunday's Oklahoma clouds, and due to charging limitations probably weren't able to get to full power. They have to use some of the array's power to build up the batteries instead of pushing the car as fast as it can go, because if they run their batteries too low the electronic protection systems kick in and shut the car down.
All of this complex balancing act forces each team to develop a race strategy; how fast to go, what to do if clouds are building, and how much power they'll need tomorrow. Each driver must also drive very efficiently to get the most out of the car, just as you should with your own vehicle. Don't jump on the gas, then brake hard, right? Isn't that what your Driver Ed teacher said? When he wasn't screaming in terror, I mean?

Posted at 02:39 PM | Permalink | add to del.icio.us| Comments (2)

We'll leave these photos without specific comment, but we think these shots will give you an idea of the emotional roller coaster that solar car drivers experience.

Posted at 03:58 PM | Permalink | add to del.icio.us| Comments (1)

It is only the second day of the race and your solar car has already have left "magic smoke" in three different states.

Your best sources of repair parts are the other 16 teams

Texas-shaped gravy waffles

You only get 300 miles out of a set of tires

Instead of camping, you get a hotel room that gives you the best of both worlds; air conditioning, and bugs and odors that would come from camping next to a hog farm.

You use a convertible as your media vehicle, and when you stop to take race photos you lock the car doors; with the top DOWN.

You leave your camera bag on the ground and an S&T solar car alum drives right overtop of it with a pickup truck. Look, I already apologized about that incident from the last race, so get over it, OK?

You stop in an Oklahoma farm store for parts, and the locals ask if the Texas Longhorns are in the race. You tell them "no, they failed to qualify", and they respond "Aaaaawwwwwwww, what a shame!"

Your GPS unit tells you where the auto parts stores are located, but not when they close, and lastly......

........you stop by the side of the road to take pictures of dead armadillos.

Posted at 03:30 PM | Permalink | add to del.icio.us| Comments (0)

As of noon today about half of the solar cars have reached the race's first stage stop, hosted by Crowder College. Solar Miner VI rolled into Neosho at about 9:30, just behind Bochum and Minnesota, leaving us in 5th place unofficially; Michigan and Principia survived half a day of cloudy racing to slip into town last night just before the stage stop closed.

Even though we have glorious weather right now (cloudless, cool, and breezy), new race rules limit battery charging time so SMIV won't be operating at full speed tomorrow, and that may be true of other cars as well, as they are all suffering from a cloud "hangover". They'll head up through western Missouri at 9:00 a.m tomorrow before turning west towards Topeka en route to the next stage stop in Sioux Falls, South Dakota by Wednesday.
S&T is expecting a busload of supporters to arrive from Rolla this afternoon, and S&T is hosting dinner for ALL the teams and their supporters. The bus is also carrying emergency repair parts that were quickly scavenged from various campus workshops this morning. Even the Rolla City Police Department chipped in by rushing some replacement radio microphones to the bus just before it left campus, so the next time you get pulled over in town, thank the nice officer.
The Miners' race crew has unexpectedly grown with the addition of three race team members from Western Michigan University. It has long been a race tradition that when a team fails to qualify for the race, those students are offered temporary membership on other racing teams. WMU's car had its solar array blow off its car during track testing, and the team was unable to repair the car in time for qualifying. Some WMU students jumped at the chance to experience the race, and their new S&T shirts are arriving on today's bus.
That's an indication of the inter-team support common to these events. The night before the Plano start Minnesota blew up a power tracker, and Principia gave up their spares to keep the Golden Gophers in the race. Michigan was seen helping fellow Big Ten rival Minnesota with some programming issues, and we assume that Michigan is helping the Go-phers Go-Faster, but ALL teams are having their electrical issues.

Posted at 03:10 PM | Permalink | add to del.icio.us| Comments (0)

S&T's mascot is the famous Joe Miner, who carries a pickax in one hand, and a slide rule (that's a 60's era computer for all you young-un's) in the other; he completes his outfit with a six-shooter on his belt to protect his mining stake. 138 years later we have a special team member, Sgt Letha Young of the S&T Police Department, riding "shotgun" on the team. Letha left her service pistol back home and took vacation time to join the team as a driver but, uh, an engineering oversight left the car just a little too long to allow her to reach the pedals.

Anyway, Sgt Young has jumped in to help with organizational tasks, such as making sure we all pick up after ourselves, pack our little brown lunch bags, and wash our hands and faces. She even covers our first aid needs, teaches police-style radio communication discipline, and in general has made order out of this educational chaos. Said one student "she's been taking care of us WAY too well!" :) You'd think she'd been a Marine, but she has a great smile when she tells us what to do. THANKS, Letha! You deserve some rest................

Posted at 01:12 PM | Permalink | add to del.icio.us| Comments (0)

S&T's solar racers probably had the biggest contingent of friends and alumni of any team in Plano, TX this morning for the race start. The Miners were probably relieved to escape Texas' boiling heat, but not at the cost of cold-front generated clouds and rain, The first hour or two of the run was uneventful, but once in Oklahoma the clouds thickened and intermittent showers swept over the race route. The Miners didn't break out into good sunlight until nearly six hours into their trek northward. While the rain didn't turn out to be a problem, Solar Miner Vi has been plagued with puzzling electrical problems that seem to involve an improperly-rated fuse circuit. They hope to find the solution and the extra parts necessary to keep them rolling along. Tomorrow is a stage stop, less than an hour down the road, where most teams have a chance to rest up and repair their vehicles, so that should buy us enough time to get it taken care of.

WIreless service is being a problem here way out on old Route 66, so we'll sign off for tonight, but we can't resist showing you this little political comment.

Posted at 10:58 PM | Permalink | add to del.icio.us| Comments (1)

We just left the starting line behind Michigan and Minnesota. (Michigan's chase vehicles look like a presidential motorcade.) Our laptop is actually working in the van at the moment, so maybe we'll be able to provide a mid-day update later.

P.S. In addition to getting great updates and fantastic photos at this site, you can listen to timely audio interviews from the road and watch videos (eventually) at http://solar42.mst.edu/ .

Posted at 09:21 AM | Permalink | add to del.icio.us| Comments (0)

Real briefly, it is 6:00 a.m. and there's a heavy band of rain ahead in Central Oklahoma. Here's hoping that Solar Miner VI and its retinue can find a gap to slip through and get to Neosho tonight.

Posted at 05:53 AM | Permalink | add to del.icio.us| Comments (0)

At the Comfort Inn Garage, in stifling heat and humidity, patching up Solar Miner VI, that's where.

Using popsicle sticks and carbon fiber to repair SMIV's belly pan/wheel fairing, or patching up irksome circuits, everyone is excited about finally hitting the road. What you can't see is lots of other Miners scrambling around in the dark packing vehicles. See you at at the 9:00 a.m. start, Y'all*. (*that's Texan for "ladies and gentlemen").

By the way, the Plano Comfort Inn does not know it HAS a garage. If we are vewwy, vewwy qwiet maybe they won't look out back and have a coronary.

Posted at 10:40 PM | Permalink | add to del.icio.us| Comments (0)

The NASC has just announced that Missouri S&T has taken a strong 3rd place in the lap count, good for a 9:02 a.m. start, just a minute behind powerful Minnesota and two behind Michigan. Storms threaten tonight, but we hope they'll scoot through in time for clear sailing to Neosho.

Posted at 07:37 PM | Permalink | add to del.icio.us| Comments (0)

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Posted at 06:11 PM | Permalink | add to del.icio.us| Comments (0)

They haven't made the official announcement but we believe S&T track miles earned them a spot in the top five cars for tomorrow's race. Today's day-long sauna (100 degrees) was the public solar car showcase, and several owners of electric conversion cars showed up to add another element to the festivities. Miner alumni and their families showed up in droves to meet the students and show their support to S&T's unorthodox racing team.
The final start order will be anounced tonight, and the guys will likely be spending another night at the Comfort Inn Garage tweaking the last of their systems. The group photo will be taken at 7:30 a.m, followed by the rush to get all the cars in line and the multitude of support vehicles staged across the street. While we'll be spending most of the day in Oklahoma tomorrow, the NASC organizers will do their best NOT to mimic the Oklahoma land rush when they drop the green flag.
If all goes well (and in this heat nothing is certain), Solar Miner VI might make it all the way to Neosho, Missouri, the first stage stop in the 2,400-mile run. Teams will arrive In Neosho starting tomorrow evening and on into Monday, where they'll repair what broke, and have a new staged start Tuesday morning.
This event is attracting a lot of interest. We heard today from a Miner supporter back in Rolla that a photo of Solar Miner VI was published by CNBC. Way to go MINERS!!!

Posted at 05:24 PM | Permalink | add to del.icio.us| Comments (0)