Racing through the Outback
Bochum Technical University developed a solar car which completed the world’s largest solar race in Australia
Bochum Technical University developed a solar car which completed the world’s largest solar race in Australia in October 2007. The German team successfully finished the race in a fantastic 4th place. The complicated electrical engineering and electronics of this sleek avant-garde car was designed with EPLAN Electric P8. The World Solar Challenge is held every two years and runs from Darwin in the Northern Territory across the Australian Outback and concludes 3000 km later in Adelaide. A long and dusty path lay behind the Germans after they had reached the checkered flag four and a half days later with jubilation.
But before the race could be started, the car’s complicated electronics was precisely documented. Roland Libor, a sixth semester Electrical Engineering and Automation major, quickly found himself engrossed in the software – created macros and components, input electronic efficiency data as well as the order data from all electrical components, designated the cable and its length and weight, and created a connection and parts lists with the corresponding terminal diagrams.
Three factors were essential in becoming “Solar World Number One.” Weight, speed and aerodynamics. Therefore, from the very start only special high tech materials were used in the construction of the car such as the carbon fiber body that was handcrafted. In particular importance, the car’s onboard solar panels would have to adjust to the sun’s path across the Australian desert in order to reach and maintain the top speed of approximately 120 km/h. The right strategy was crucial for this success and EPLAN helped pave the way to it.
