Under Construction...
2006-2007 Academic Year
2006 Competition Results
CMU Solar Splash placed 14'th of 15 teams in the 2006 competition in Arkansas and was recognized as the Notable Rookie Team of the Year. The reliability of the system was a major success in 2006. The boat had no malfunctions and operated as expected in each event. The boat maneuvered well in the qualifying and slalom events and it lasted through the duration of the endurance event. The CMU team overcame logistics obstacles by constructing a cart for pulling the boat in and out of the water. CMU Solar Splash established its place in the world competition of solar boating.
A Rookie Team
2006 was the first year Carnegie Mellon students competed in a solar powered boat competition. The team members were sophomores and juniors. None of the members had experience with boat design or construction. Completing a boat in one year was a large challenge, especially since all fabrication was done in the spring semester and most fabrication was completed after spring break.
See the 2005-2006 team members
Planning and Building
The team was divided into three main groups: the hull group, the electrical group and the motor group. Other groups and positions were recognized on paper, like the system integration group, but these three groups accomplished the majority of the work. The hull group researched and chose the hull design from commercially available plans. Likewise, both the motor and electric groups researched and purchased motor and drive train components that were low cost and available off the shelf.
The ASME Solar Splash organization sells technical reports from winning teams of previous years. The information presented in the reports often act as a guide to the team?s development process. The CMU team purchased reports from 2000 and used them to gain an understanding of the technology and processes required to develop a solar powered boat for competition in Solar Splash.
The Drive Train group retrofitted an electric motor onto a propeller unit designed for a gas engine. Group members became proficient in using CAD software while designing the motor mount assembly. The fabrication of the motor mount required hours of machining in the student machine shop and group members developed valuable milling skills. A component of the propeller mount was made from composites. This was a learning experience for the group and provided a preview of the process necessary to build a fiberglass hull.
The hull group selected a hull which allowed for the attachment of an outboard motor. The hull choice was made with the intent of planing during the sprint event. Hull construction was a long process. The space, a Squirrel Hill garage, was adequate to hold a 14 foot long 3.5 foot wide boat, but with limited room remaining for people to stand and work. The hull has been identified as the main focus for next year, and a new manufacturing process will be devised.
The Solar Array and Power Management group used similar technologies as other solar splash teams. Research was performed to identify competitively priced, high performance components. The panels and batteries were not optimal, but they performed as desired. The power system was integrated into the boat, but with little understanding of the performance of each component, leaving testing and analysis to future work.