The winning car from Team Greased Lightning, semi final race. Sun had moved enough for us to need to change the orientation of the panel. At the start of the race 1 switch cuts off the motor and another one charges up the capacitors. Once I let go of the switches the motor is turned on and a diode prevents further charging of the capacitors. Total weight without wings = 520g (a bit high as a lot of emergency repairs were made to it). Solar Panel: 363g, Maxon motor: 42g, 2x 5.5V 1.5F capacitors + switches: 20g. Frame was carbon fiber tubes glued together with molten glue. Rotating mass was minimized by having 2 front wheels rotate around a fixed (non rotating) front axle, and having a single driven wheel at the rear, supported on a short carbon fiber shaft.
Post time: Jan-12-2017