The Lightning Sharks
Event Year: 2022
Event Location: Cocoa-FL
Competition: Junior Solar Sprint
Division: 4-6 (JSS Green)
School: NSU University School
Team Size: 2
Blue Marshmallow Lightning
Top View without Solar Panel 
Side View 
Side View 
Back View 
Front View 
Project Log
Design Drawing: Top View 
Design Drawing: Side View
This is what I thought my solar car would look like when I first started
Event Location: Cocoa-FL
Competition: Junior Solar Sprint
Division: 4-6 (JSS Green)
School: NSU University School
Team Size: 2
Team Information
| Car Name: Blue Marshmallow Lightning | |
| Team Name: The Lightning Sharks | |
| School Name: NSU University School | |
| Team Members Names: Hannah L. and Jack R. |
Design Documentation
Project Log
| Date | Hours | Tasks Worked | Obstacles Encountered | Modifications to Car |
| 9/8 | 1 | Solar car video, looked at materials, sketched my car. | | |
| 9/15 | 1 | Picked out materials and cut my base. sanded base. | Hard to cut base | |
| 9/22 | 1 | Painted base. | Couldn’t work on car after I painted. | Color of car base |
| 9/29 | 1 | Cut a hole in the body of the car for the gears. | | |
| 10/6 | 1 | Hammered the wheels | | |
| 10/20 | 1 | Glued wheels on to base and put rubber bands on wheels | | Wheels were glued on to base. |
| 10/27 | 1 | Worked on motor and circuits. | | |
| 11/3 | 1 | Worked on motor and motor gear and put it on car. | | motor and circuits |
| 11/17 | 1 | Replaced motor | Car crashed so had to re attach motor | |
| 12/1 | 1 | Put on binder ring | | Binder ring |
| 12/8 | 1 | Worked on the supports for my solar panels. | | panel supports |
| 12/15 | 1 | Was testing the car and I dropped it. | Dropped it and it broke | |
| 1/12 | 1 | Worked on placement of motor | Motor metal tab broke so had to replace the motor | motor (again) |
| 1/19 | 1 | Ran the car and tested my car | ||
| 1/26 | 1 | made sure my car went straight and was ready | ||
| 4/6 | 1 | Ran my solar car | ||
| 4/20 | 1 | ran my solar car and fixed my motor that fell off | motor fell off | motor (AGAIN) |
| 4/23 | .5 | Ran my car to make sure it ran OK | ||
Design Drawings
Finished Car Specifications
| Car Size with Panel | Length: 31cm | Width: 13 cm | Height:7 cm |
| Weight with Panel | 289 g | ||
| Wheel size | Front wheels: 4 cm | Back wheels: 4 cm | |
| Gear Ratio | motor gear: axle gear 10 : 56 = 5 : 28 |
Materials Used
| Approx. Cost | |
| New: | |
| Pitsco Ray Catcher solar panel, , small white gear | 38.25 |
| motor | 5.25 |
| wheels, tires, an axles, axel gears – Solar Made accessory bag | 3.99 |
| balsa wood | 2.31 |
| spacers for bearings (4) | 0.26 |
| battery pack with switch | 3.85 |
| piece of black binder for eyelet | 0.07 |
| alligator clips (2) | 0,14 |
| Consumables: | |
| masking tape | |
| hot glue | |
| solder | |
| Recycled: | |
| piece of pool noodle | |
| pipe cleaners |
Test Results / Trial Runs
| Test Runs 1 – date: 4/6/2022 Weather conditions: Partly cloudy When the sun was out we ran on panel. Observations of results: My car ran straight and fast. Any recommendations for improvements: |
| Attempt | Time, s | Distance, m | Speed, m/s |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 – panel | 6.07 | 14.5 | 2.39 |
| 2 – panel | 5.80 | 14.5 | 2.50 |
| 3 – panel | 5.60 | 14.5 | 2.59 |
| Test Runs 2 – date: 4/20/2022 Weather conditions: partly cloudy We ran on solar panel Observations of results: My car wheel came off. Any recommendations for improvements: |
| Attempt | Time, s | Distance, m | Speed, m/s |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 – panel | 7.19 | 20 | 2.78 |
| 2 – panel | 6.50 | 20 | 3.08 |
| Test Runs 3 – date: 4/23/2022 Weather conditions: Cloudy Ran on battery Observations of results: My car ran well Any recommendations for improvements: |
| Attempt | Time, s | Distance, m | Speed, m/s |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 – battery | 7.56 | 20 | 2.65 |
| 2 – battery | 7.40 | 20 | 2.70 |
| 3 – battery | 7.00 | 20 | 2.86 |
Vehicle Features Video
Additional Information
I am glad to see that you kept at it. Things are not always going to work perfectly the first time and you kept going and your hard work paid off!