Smoothie III

Event Year: 2025
Event Location: Orange County STEM Saturday
Competition: Junior Solar Sprint
Division: 4-6 (JSS Green)
School: Sally Ride Elementary
Team Name: Smoothie 3
Project Name: Solar Car
Team Size: 4

Team members:

Alan B., Alexander B, Autumn D., Luis L.

Let’s go Smoothie!

Our team has looked into previous Smoothie designs to see what improvements we can do to make it run well and fast.

Observation	Action Taken	Outcome
Smoothie’s body was too wobbly and unstable.	Tested different materials to ensure they were sturdy but lightweight for the solar car’s body.	Found some straws that did not bend when placing the solar panel and were lightweight.

Observation	Action Taken	Outcome
Smoothie’s car frame was uneven making it unable move.	Had to disassemble and realign straws into a better position for wheels to be able to move.	Smoothie’s wheels now could move without resistance.

Observation	Action Taken	Outcome
The axle was not connecting to the motor and Smoothie couldn’t move	Had to reposition the motor to get closer to the axle.	Wheels now had power to move Smoothie forward.

Observation	Action Taken	Outcome
Smoothie was running in circles when powered up.	Had to make front straw smaller so that wheels wouldn’t wobble when powered.	Smoothie stopped running in circles.