Event Year: 2023
Event Location: Cocoa-FL
Competition: Junior Solar Sprint
Division: 4-6 (JSS Green)
School: NSU University School
Team Size: 3

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Team Information

Car Name: The Mystery Machine
Team Name: The Solar Gang
School Name: NSU University School
Team Members Names: Hannah L., Ellie W., and Ava B.

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Design Documentation

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Project Log

Date	Hours	Tasks Worked	Obstacles Encountered	Modifications to Car
9/7	1	We drew a picture of what we thought our car car might look like. We picked out materials and cut the body of our car.	
9/14	1	We cut the car body and decided on which solar panel to use.		Cut car body
9/21	1	We figured out where everything would go on the car and cut the gear hole.		Cut hole for gear in car body
9/28	1	We made our ping pong ball holder. We used recycled materials.	
10/19	1	We decided to use large gears for wheels and put rubber bands on them for traction. We decided on a gear ratio. We created the wheel, gear, axel part for the back of the car. We used a hammer to put on the wheels.	
10/26	1	We made our front wheels. We also attached the wheels and axels to the car.		Front and back wheels added to the car body
11/2	1	Worked on motor and circuits. We added a small gear to the motor. We planned out how we would make the circuit with the battery.	
11/9	1	We cut and stripped the wires and added alligator clips to the wire. We added the wires to our motor. We decided to use a battery holder that has a switch instead of using a separate switch.	
10/30	1	We glued the motor and battery pack to the car. We glued on the ping pong ball holder. We were able to run our car for the first time today. It seemed to go straight. We got glue inside of the battery pack and had to replace it.	We got glue inside the battery pack and had to replace it	Motor, battery pack, and ping pong ball holder were added to the car body
12/7	1	Put on binder ring that will go around the guide wire. We had to figure out how to get it the right height. We decided to use a .5 cm high piece of wood under the wire to make it level with the ground and the correct height off of the ground.		Added the binder ring that will go around the guidewire
12/14	1	Worked on the supports for our solar panel. We decided to use balsa wood because it is light and strong enough. We decided to slant the panel so that it will make a good angle with the sun.	
1/4	1	We finished the supports and glued them on.		Added panel supports
1/11	1	We got our solar panel and added Velcro to the top of the supports and to the under side of the solar panel. We had to replace the supports because they weren’t strong enough. We decided to put single supports in the middle to allow the panel to be tilted either left or right depending on where the sun is.	Solar panel supports we’re not strong enough.	Changed supports and added solar panel
1/25	1	We timed our car today. Our car ran straight on panel even though it was not that sunny. We ran it on solar panel and got 2.68 m/s. Unfortunately, our back wheels and motor broke off when we caught it.	crashed our car and the wheels, axel, and motor came off
2/1	1	We had to reattach the motor and gears because it crashed at the finish line. Now it is not going straight.	Car is turning to the right	Reattached motor
2/3	.5	Our car went really crooked.	car went very crooked
2/8	1	Our car was turning to the right so we had to straighten the axels so that it would go straight.	Back axel was crooked	Adjusted back axel
3/1	1	Raced our car. We broke the car body in the back. Tried to fix the break but the wood was too small. Also, our car is not running fast enough to beat the other cars. We are not sure what to do to make it faster.	Wood for support was too small. Not sure what to change to make the car faster.
3/8	1	We glued a new piece of wood over the broken part of the car body for support.	Had to make new support for broken body.	Glued a piece of wood to support break in body.
3/15	.5	We ran our car today. It was cloudy and we ran on battery. We only had time to run it once. Our time was not what we were hoping.	Have to figure out a way to improve our time so that we come in the top 2.
3/22	1	We did time trials today. Our car ran great then on the catch the motor came loose. We decided to change our front wheels from gears with rubber bands to the small, white Solar Made wheels. They have a smaller diameter and thick rubber for traction. Since the car slants now we have to adjust our binder ring so that it was parallel to the ground.	Had to make a new set of front wheels and fix the angle of the binder ring.	New front wheels. Different angle on binder ring.
3/26	.5	Time trials. Our car ran well. We only had time to run twice. We had our best time today. Our wheel change made our car faster. On solar panel we ran 3.26 m/s.
3/27	.5	Time trials. It was really sunny today. Our car ran straight. It ran better on solar panel than on battery. Solar panel: 3.5 m/s.
3/29	1	Last day of time trials. Our car is running fast and straight on both solar panel and battery. We came in 1st place in this week’s school competition.
4/12	1	Worked on webpage.
4/13	.5	Worked on webpage.
4/14	2	Worked on webpage.
4/15	.5	Worked on webpage.

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Design Drawings

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Finished Car Specifications

Car Size with Panel	Length: 33cm	Width: 21cm	Height:11cm
Weight with Panel	281.1g
Wheel size	Front wheels: 3.3cm	Back wheels: 4 cm
Gear Ratio	motor gear: axle gear 10 : 56 = 5 : 28

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Materials Used

	Approx. Cost
New:
Pitsco Ray Catcher solar panel, small white gear	38.25
Pitsco 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
velcro
Recycled:
piece of pool noodle
pipe cleaners

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Test Results / Trial Runs

Test Runs 1 – date: 1/25/2023 Weather conditions: Partly cloudy and cloudy We ran on solar panel today. Observations of results: Our car ran straight on panel eventhough it was not that sunny. Our wheels broke off when we caught it. Any recommendations for improvements: Our car is running well, but we think that maybe we can increase the speed by changing our wheels.

Attempt	Time, s	Distance, m	Speed, m/s
1 – panel	7.86	19.45	2.47
2 – panel	7.88	19.45	2.47
3 – panel	7.25	19.45	2.68

Test Runs 2 – date: 3/1/2023 Weather conditions: sunny We ran on both solar panel and battery. Observations of results: Our car is running pretty well on both solar panel and battery. It is turning right a little bit. Any recommendations for improvements: We need to straighten our axels so that it goes straight again. We must not have put the axel on straight when we fixed it.

Attempt	Time, s	Distance, m	Speed, m/s
1 – panel	7.96	19.45	2.44
2 – panel	8.41	19.45	2.31
3 – panel	8.28	19.45	2.35

Test Runs 3 – date: 3/15/2023 Weather conditions: Cloudy and rainy Ran on battery Observations of results: Our time was not what we were Any recommendations for improvements: Not sure what to do to make it better.

Attempt	Time, s	Distance, m	Speed, m/s
1 – battery	8.25	19.45	2.36

Test Runs 4 – date: 3/22/2023 Weather conditions: Sunny Ran on solar panel Observations of results: Our car ran great then on the catch the motor came lose Any recommendations for improvements: We have to fix our motor

Attempt	Time, s	Distance, m	Speed, m/s
1 – solar panel	6.78	19.45	2.87

Test Runs 5 – date: 3/26/2023 Weather conditions: sunny Ran on battery and solar panel Observations of results: Our car ran well. We only had time to run twice. Any recommendations for improvements:

Attempt	Time, s	Distance, m	Speed, m/s
1 – battery	6.94	19.45	2.80
2 – solar	5.96	19.45	3.26

Test Runs 6 – date: 3/27/2023 Weather conditions: bright sun Ran on solar panel and battery Observations of results: Our car ran straight. It ran better on solar panel than on battery. Our wheel change made our car faster. Any recommendations for improvements: The car is running well.

Attempt	Time, s	Distance, m	Speed, m/s
1 – solar panel	5.55	19.45	3.50
2 – solar panel	6.13	19.45	3.17
3 – battery	6.38	19.45	3.05
4 – battery	6.66	19.45	2.92
5 – battery	6.81	19.45	2.86
6 – battery	6.44	19.45	3.02

Test Runs 7 – date: 3/29/2023 Weather conditions: Cloudy Ran on battery Observations of results: Our car is running fast and straight on both solar panel and battery. We came in 1st place in this week’s school competition. Any recommendations for improvements:

Attempt	Time, s	Distance, m	Speed, m/s
1 – solar	6.22	19.45	3.13
2 – battery	6.60	19.45	2.95
3 – battery	6.63	19.45	2.93
4 – battery	6.75	19.45	2.88

Vehicle Features Video

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Additional Information

This is our schematic of the electrical circuits. It is the same DC motor in both drawings.