As the days until the 2010 American Solar Challenge continue to drop, the UM team continues to prepare for a full day of racing. Over the past couple of weeks we have spent many hours running countless laps around test tracks and around our workspace, however now it is time for Infinium to hit the road once again. Over this past week we have slowly been growing closer and closer to real race prep, first by practicing caravaning with our own vehicles, and this past week by using Infinium with our mock upper surface.

The time has come to practice using the car in race configuration in the wild, off of the test tracks and exposed to the elements. This will give our drivers a good feel for what it will be like next week during our Mock Race, and in a month when ASC begins. It also gives our strategists an opportunity to collect data on Infinium's performance, allowing us to drive the optimal speed during the real race. Tomorrow, the team will meet at our Ypsilanti workspace and begin a full day of racing using the car in race configuration for the first time. Here's to hoping for good weather and a smooth day of driving, Go Fast. Go. Smooth. Go Blue!

In order to meet the challenges of transporting our 20-person Race Crew and many of our spare parts across Australia, the Solar Car Team requires a fleet of versatile vehicles for its race caravan.  The University of Michigan team would like to thank Ford Australia for supporting the team by lending us four vehicles that satisfy even the toughest of the race's demands in the upcoming Global Green Challenge.

The team's semi trailer approaches Ford Australia's Head Office

During the afternoon of September 18th, Ford Australia hosted the team at its Head Office in Melbourne. Infinium and two of the four vehicles Ford Australia provided to the team were on display outside of the Head Office, and we had the pleasure of meeting with many Ford employees. Ford Australia's President and CEO, Marin Burela, joined us to see the solar car and to wish us luck in the Global Green Challenge. Mr. Burela, who previously oversaw Ford's small cars operations globally, spoke excitedly about the Ford Fiesta and Ford's other fuel-efficient vehicles that will be taking part in the Global Green Challenge's eco-car event. Our team is looking forward to competing alongside the consumer vehicles entered into the challenge.

Ford Australia President and CEO Marin Burela speaks with Solar Car Team members

Of the four vehicles Ford Australia is providing to the team, the Ford Territory SUV is a perfect fit for the needs of our Lead, Chase, and Weather vehicles. With three rows of seating, each Territory can carry either seven passengers or five passengers with ample room for extra equipment.  The 30 storage compartments in each car provide plenty of space for any spare parts or tools we may need. Our Chase vehicle even has an LCD screen mounted to the ceiling, so our strategists will be able to use the screen to display telemetry data coming from Infinium. The last of the four support vehicles, Scout, is a Ford Ranger pickup capable of hauling a large cargo load plus a full cab of team members. With these quality vehicles and the generous support from Ford Australia, our team caravan is well-prepared to respond to the challenges we will face in the outback.

Solar Car Team with Lead vehicle, a Ford Territory

The night before unveiling was packed full of good times as we scrambled to add polish to Infinium. A few of us stayed up really late making sure all the details were ready.

Aubrey was up the latest of all, sewing together the massive block M veil. He is quite the seamster, as he likes to be called. Hopefully the team will get many more years of use out of his hard work!

Eric spent several hours sanding and painting the steering wheel and control plate. Not only does the steering wheel allow the driver to control the car, but it also allows our engineers an outlet for creative expression.

Jeff was up also, preparing Infinium's LED lighting for the big day. The LED's are mounted on aluminum core printed circuit boards to provide maximum heat dissipation. This was the team's first attempt at aluminum core PCB's, and it turned out well! Thanks to Saturn Electronics for manufacturing the special boards and Visteon for providing the LED's.

Picture by Eliyahu Gurfinkel, The Ann Arbor News

Senior John Federspiel, left, and sophomore Ethan Lardner, members of the University of Michigan Solar Car Team, wheel the 2009 model into its place for a promotional photo session on North Campus on Thursday morning.

University of Michigan students ready latest solar car for its day in the sun
by Dave Gershman, The Ann Arbor News
Saturday June 06, 2009, 12:01 AM

It's sleek, it's fast, and, yes, it's powered by the sun.

University of Michigan students have high hopes for the latest solar car.

"To win the World Solar Challenge in October," said John Federspiel, who will be a senior in mechanical engineering in the fall and is the crew chief on the solar car project.

The annual race across Australia, which draws college teams from across the globe, will be the first test of the car, dubbed Infinium.

U-M has placed third three times, though it has won a similar race, the North American Solar Challenge, five times.

Read the rest of the article at the Ann Arbor News

After several months of polish, 3D Super Ultimate Solar Car Raycing is ready to be released! 3D Super Ultimate Solar Car Raycing is a 3D computer game which allows you to experience raycing a solar car in the Australian outback. Originally, the game was written for a class project in 2008. Then, the game was featured at the North American International Auto Show 2009. Now, it can be enjoyed by you at home!

Head over to the game's web site to download it. http://solar2.engin.umich.edu/game

Screenshot from 3D Super Ultimate Solar Car Raycing game.