Week 5: Presentation 1

This week, our team held a presentation about the possible design of solar panels and rack. Need for design changes and its potential challenges were discussed during the presentation. Below is the feedback from Dr. Furman, Eric, and Mr. Swenson (co-founder of INIST).

1. Solar panel efficiency: Include the chart that was used in the previous year's paper.

2. Units: Power is measured instantaneously (kW) | Energy is measured over certain time (kWh) | Use SI Units

3. Calculation: Look into Eric Rosenfield's calculation figures on Summer 2017 paper | Calculate required power to operate the pod

4. Gantt chart: Explain in more details (Look into Keon's team presentation; detailed Gantt Chart)

Week 4: Initial Sketch of Rack Design

The solar team had an extended talk with Professor Furman and Eric Hagstrom regarding certain design choices and parameters today.  One particular area of concern was the total weight of the certain panels across the 18 meter track.  The total combined weight of all the solar panels must not compromise the structural design choices made by the full scale track team.  While using thinner, more flexible solar panels would certainly reduce the weight, flexible solar panels are not nearly as efficient as the desired mono-crystalline panels.  One discussed solution was the possibility of a new design, as seen below, in which the structure in which the solar panels are housed also act as a support to the railways, much like a suspension bridge.  Work was also done on the presentation that will be shown in one week's time.

Week 3: Lightning Talk Presentation

On September 6th, every subteam in Spartan Superway had a five minute presentation on each team's goals/visions. Eric and Dr. Furman provided some feedbacks to each subteam. For our group, Eric mentioned that we would need to look into more specifications in our solar panels racking system. For instance, we need to figure out the length of one unit for the rack. Also, we need to consider the direction of the sunlight in our design to generate maximum electricity throughout the daytime. Dr. Furman advised our group that we would need to work with design students to keep aesthetics of the racking system. Another factor our group need to consider is the vibrations; we need to make sure the pods or the rack would not vibrate too much for passengers' safety. Our group will be looking into 2016-2017 Spartan Superway Report to find more relevant information.