End of Day 1

Posted Sun, 10/25/2009 - 9:09am by Steven Durbin

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- Race Updates

After one day of racing, the team as traveled 746 kilometers. They are currently located 10 Kilos south of Elliot, 240Kilos from Tennant Creek and 747 Kilos from Alice Springs. Following the Umicore crash, Infinium remains in 2nd place, still about 30-40K behind Tokai and 50Km ahead of Nuon.

Comments

by Jurien (not verified) - 10/26/2009 - 9:25am

End of Day 2: 1. Japan ........ 1.540 km 2. Michigan...... 1.470 km 3. Nuna........... 1.449 km 4. Twente.......... 1.291 km 5. MIT ........... 1201 km Nuna said we zagen aan het eind van de dag de caravan van Michigan rijden, toen ze ons zagen naderen gingen ze versnellen, wij konden wel versnellen, maar omdat onze computers geen capatiteit aangeven, vonden we het te gevaarlijk om meer vermogen te geven. Well, sometimes you have to take te risk, so why didn't they ? Twente was ookal nie zo bangelijk moet je weten ! Germans, wir haben problemen mit der converters, ja das gibst doch nicht !? Well, das macht spaB, einmal spitze und vielleicht ubberagend, aber, aber.....etctera etc. Heido !, Jag har en pestbui ingen mening att översätta som talar! hejdå!, Jurien

by GSH (not verified) - 10/26/2009 - 6:20am

The GSC web site's Google Map has Michigan just North of Alice Springs. Nuon is gaining on Michigan and Tokai Challenger's lead is increasing. Unless they run into trouble, it looks like Tokai will be the "upset winner".

by Tim Allan (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 8:48pm

Just got off the phone from Bob Allan (comms expert). The team are at Tennant Creek and are experiencing a dust storm.

by tibfib - 10/25/2009 - 9:15pm

Tim- I took a quick peek at the current visible as well as the radar available in the region, and it looks like the farther south they get the less intense and concentrated the airborne sand is. Not sure if thats relay-able to them or if they know that already... Nate ('07 Weather)

by TC Lambert (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 8:44pm

The GGC Real Time Map has an update. they show Tokai at Tennant Creek at 10:35, Michigan at 11:14. That's 39 minutes apart, and it would mean Michigan took almost 3 hours to go 240 km, an 80 kph average. Why so slow?

by Maggie Hayes (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 8:47pm

Preliminary, unprofessional, completely speculative analysis says that it looks cloudy in the pictures

by Pickles (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 8:48pm

The ones posted by Tokai

by Pickles (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 8:38pm

According to the GGC standings page http://globalgreenchallenge.com.au/ggc/?p=rankings UofM is through the Tennant Creek control stop, leaving at 11:14 local time, 39 minutes behind Tokai.

by dolamber - 10/25/2009 - 8:45pm

For the math oriented, we were 15 minutes down at Dunmarra, so over 355 km we lost 24 minutes.

by TC Lambert (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 8:06pm

Looks like Principia is past Dunmarra now. Tokai and Michigan should be in Tennant Creek. Next stop Barrow Creek. Is Barrow Creek a new stop? I don't remember it from two years ago. Then you want to get to Alice Springs before day end. Team Nuon may have trouble reaching Alice Springs, which means they would face an extra control stop tomorrow.

by Steve and Alisha Cook (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 8:43pm

TC Can you personal email me please. steve@cityplastics.com.au

by Max Ross (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 8:22pm

That seems like rampant speculation! I have been doing lots of that recently. In my mind, we reached Tennant 7 minutes behind them (thereby winning 2 bucks from Brian. Then again in my mind, I am still driving the car...

by TC Lambert (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 8:32pm

Its not either speculation. It's arithmetic! Okay, maybe it's arithmetical speculation.

by TC Lambert (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 8:37pm

More arithmetical speculation: Team Nuon must go about 859 km to reach Alice Springs. That would require an average speed of about 107 kph. I don't think they can hold that average all day. One stoppage or slowdown and they'll be late. I predict they're gonna come up short.

by dolamber - 10/25/2009 - 8:02pm

Looks like Tokai has slowed down to 90kph http://bit.ly/4EEhRR

by Elson Liu (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 9:13pm

Did someone here tell Google to change the translation in Tokai's blog to "dust storms"? It said "fog" earlier, which defies common sense and the current weather reports for central Australia...

by TC Lambert (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 8:30pm

I get Tokai has to go 688 km to reach Alice Springs today. With 2 control stops on the way eating up an hour, they have about 8 hours to get there, so they need to average 86 kph. If they want to arrive early enough to spend the 30 minute wait in AS, then drive on, they'd have to make it in under 7 1/2 hours, which would require 92kph or more. Looks to me like they just want to end the day in Alice Springs. Michigan wants to end the day there, too, but has about 748 km to cover. So they need to average about 93.5 kph. Does this mean they will start out tomorrow effectively tied?

by TC Lambert (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 8:13pm

That was kinda hard to understand. Are they saying Tokai entered Tennant Creek at 10:05? That would work out about right. If they are only doing 90 kph, Michigan should catch up little by little.

by TC Lambert (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 7:32pm

A weather note: Someone reported temperatures of 39.8 C (104 F) during the race yesterday. Today's high in Tennant Creek is supposed to be 37 C (99 F), but only 30 C (86 F) in Alice Springs. A little cooler and more comfortable for the drivers as they head south. Wind may be a concern though: 24 kph (15 mph) with gusts of 35 kph (22 mph). That could make it a dusty day, which will cut the solar intensity a bit. (And it was wind that pushed Umicore off the road into a tree.)

by Douglas Arrison (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 7:00pm

Was inspired by yesterdays race and discussion (and the land down under, I lived there for a year in 1993) that I penned a blog post - "5 Reasons to Love Solar Car Racing" http://bit.ly/xHuby Any feedback is welcome and appreciated... Cheers, and Go Blue!

by TC Lambert (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 6:56pm

Next control stop is Tennant Creek, 988 km from the start. about 240 km from Michigan's starting point for day 2. Should reach it in about 2 1/2 hours, 9 pm our time.

by FN (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 6:58pm

Tokai could be there as son as 8:30PM EST. Has anyone noticed these "captcha" phrases are getting more and more complex? Soon I'll have to do calculus...

by Pickles (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 6:47pm

So is it just me or does the rankings page on the GGC website not updated?

by Chris Hammond (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 6:53pm

No, it's useless. My solution is to have 15 Firefox tabs open, all auto-refreshing every 2 minutes.

by Taylor (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 7:34pm

How'd you set up the auto-refreshing? Did you need an add-on, or use about:config in some tricky way?

by TC Lambert (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 6:35pm

I think Principia forgot to turn on their Spot tracker. Andy! Help! Call somebody!

by Andy Berner (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 7:18pm

it's fixed :)

by Steve and Alisha Cook (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 6:41pm

Hi TC glad to see you are awake again after probably sleeping all day

by TC Lambert (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 6:46pm

Gotta work tomorrow, though, so I can't stay up all night. Bummer.

by Maggie Hayes (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 6:09pm

So excited the new race day has started, will stay glued to the computer looking for updates. Go team!

by hAl (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 4:55pm

MIT is very talkative http://mitsolar.blogspot.com/2009/10/first-stage-stop.html

by Wsctube.blogspot.com (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 3:56pm

Hello, One can find the dutch youtube movies with subtitles on http://wsctube.blogspot.com You have to start the subtitle manual http://w.wsctube.com

by Wsctube.blogspot.com (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 3:54pm

Some translated dutch movies (Nuna, Solart Team Twente, Umcore). With english subtitles http://w.wsctube.com/ http://wsctube.blogspot.com

by Vincent Groenhuis (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 3:50pm

Andre has written an English translation for the video of Nuon Day 1. You can watch it at: http://w.wsctube.com/2009/10/nuon-day-1-departure-from-darwin.html

by hAl (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 3:07pm

Nuon video for day 1 (in dutch) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Rwswc14kqE 1:08 Nuna slow from trafficlights because of troubles with regenerative brakes 1:42 Michigan passing Nuna doing repairs (they broke a MPPT) 2:40 Umicore disaster 3:20 Nuon reaches 686 km

by FN (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 2:41pm

Tokai blog with updates http://bit.ly/ISZOy Original is in Japanese so link is using Google Translate.

by Hafiz (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 5:05pm

It doesn't read like a blog. More like an announcement blog. If it is a blog, then the Japanese must have had invented a time machine (a solar powered time machine perhaps? I'd think Mirai helped them!). One of the entries is dated January 30, 2010.

by dolamber - 10/25/2009 - 5:07pm

What do the regs say about time machines? Are they legal if solar powered? They're might be cheating.

by Tim Trueman (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 2:17pm

"With a full battery pack, Ra 7 zipped down the road at a good clip. Until, that is, we started to notice some oddly low voltages in the battery pack. The array was turned on and the sunlight was strong, but the pack wasn’t charging like it should. The truck toting our crate zoomed ahead of the caravan to scout out a safe place to pull over, and we stopped for a quick electrical check. There, he found a startling (and slightly humorous) mistake: our array was not actually connected to our battery pack" Whoops! O:)

by dolamber - 10/25/2009 - 2:23pm

Oh no, that's awful. I hope they didn't run their pack down too much.

by FN (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 2:20pm

Ya, that must have been embarrassing for someone. Fully update here http://groups.google.com/group/principiasolarcar/browse_thread/thread/74...

by Jim Kirk (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 12:54pm

Great start! You are making us all proud! Keep up the good work! Starting tomorrow, U of M Credit Union will have a link to your page so all of our members can follow the team's progress. GO BLUE!

by Tea Accessories (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 12:39pm

Awesome day one. Do you have any idea how Umicore crash? Sorry to hear it.

by TC Lambert (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 1:35pm

The story appears to be that what the Australians call a willy willy, a dust devil, hit Umicore's solar car and blew it off the road, and it hit a tree. The driver is OK. They probably could repair the car, but not before the race is over. Also, Aurora apparently blew a tire, spun, and damaged the chassis enough that they can't repair it in time to finish the race. This has been the worst solar race for accidents and serious breakdowns that I can remember.

by TC Lambert (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 12:37pm

Tokai appears to have a really good solar car. Infinium may have edge with those concentrators, though. They will help with morning and evening charge. Michigan may start the coming race days with more juice in the battery pack. In the Southern Territory, the chance of cloudy skies increases. That may give Michigan a chance to close the gap, too. This may get close. Umicore and Aurora may be out of it, but Michigan and Nuon are not. Twente and MIT seem to be doing really well, too.

by Jose (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 1:46pm

If its fully sunny and its a drag race, I dont think we can make up that difference barring Tokai having a breakdown (or for that matter Nuon having some too). But if it turns into a strategy driven race with some weather thrown in, we have a chance to plot a better race plan than Tokai.

by Chris Churchill (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 12:29pm

Someone caught most of the entries on video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJPuwbHQ6to

by Maggie Hayes (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 12:13pm

I love waking up to all this new news and media, I just couldn't stay up 4 more hours to see how things went. You guys are in awesome position, keep it up, there's a long way to go! What the saying "fast and steady wins the race"

by Dylan's mom and dad (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 11:59am

Dylan's aunt found a picture of the team at the starting line on yahoonews: Solar powered cars line up at the start of the World Solar Challenge ... - Yahoo! News Photos http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/World-Solar-Challenge/photo//091025/photos...

by Elson Liu (not verified) - 10/25/2009 - 12:47pm

I think Agence France-Presse got that photo from the Global Green Challenge Flickr photostream. (It's this one.)

University of Michigan Solar Car Team

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End of Day 1

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