RVCE Solar Car Team
The RVCE Solar Car Team, Bangalore, India is an entirely student-run group that designs and builds solar electric vehicles.[1] The team currently consists of 40 students from R.V. College of engineering (RVCE) pursuing their Bachelor of Engineering in various fields- mechanical, Electronics and Communication, Electrical and Electronics, Computer Science, Chemical and Industrial engineering and Management engineering. The team was established in 2013, with an objective to primarily help promote the use Solar technology, as well as inspire the younger generations to think green. The team represented India in the World Solar Challenge 2015.
History
The RVCE Solar car team was founded in September 2013, by a group of 17 enthusiastic students from different departments of RVCE. Guided by Prof. M.S. Krupashankar and Lt. Mahendra Kumar, the team designed and built their first solar car "Soleblaze" from scratch. The team is now one of the largest, and most successful student teams in RVCE. The team made successful collaborations with about 30 leading companies from the industry, including Infosys, TCS, SunEdison, Wipro, SunPower, HHV Solar, Reinforced Plastic Industries, National Instruments, Altair, Weather Analytics, TE Connectivity, SanE, 3M, Mahindra Reva, Tritium, Keysight Technologies, Vicor, Molex, Ikoras Solar, Lapp India, Schneider Electric and many more. The team also received personal guidance from industry veterans, including Mr. Chetan Maini, founder of Mahindra Reva, Mr. Narayan Murthy, co-founder of Infosys.[2]
Projects
Soleblaze-1
Soleblaze-1 is the first prototype of the RVCE Solar Car Team, that was built by the founding team. The project was launched in October'14 [3][4][5][6] The car represented the country in the WSC'15. It was one of the few teams that cleared static scrutineering in the initial attempts.[7]
Specifications:
| Length | 4485mm |
| Breadth | 1790mm |
| Height | 1235mm |
| Weight | 277 kg |
| Suspensions | Double wishbone suspension (Aluminium 6060 T6) |
| Steering | Rack and pinion steering system |
| Brakes | Dual circuit hydraulic brake system, Regenerative braking |
| Chassis | Spaceframe Aluminium 6063 T6 |
| Body | Carbon fibre 1.5mm shell |
| Solar array | 6m2, Monocrystalline Silicon Cells SunPower C60 Cells wired in 3 parallel strings boosted by an MPPT |
| Drivetrain | Mitsuba 2 kW, Direct Drive in wheel motor. |
| Batteries | 20 kg Lithium Ion Batteries Energy Capacity Estimate-5kWh |
| BMS | Tritium battery management system |
| Telemetry | National instruments- Compact RIO |
Due to logistics related issues, the team could not race in the event.
Soleblaze-2
The second generation of the team, is now working on building the second prototype, a much improved version of the first car. The project is in its initial design stages, and is expected to be launched in April'17. The team working on the project consists of 38 students from various departments in RVCE.
See also
References
- ↑ http://www.solarcar-rvce.in/about.html
- ↑ http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/science/bengalurus-solar-car-fails-in-australias-world-solar-challenge/articleshow/49534000.cms
- ↑ http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/rvce-students-in-world-solar-car-challenge/article6530695.ece
- ↑ http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-06/news/64142910_1_nath-solar-powered-car-chetan-maini
- ↑ http://indiatoday.intoday.in/education/story/students-designs-solar-car-to-compete-in-world-solar-challenge/1/449510.html
- ↑ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/RVCE-students-readying-solar-car/articleshow/44903045.cms
- ↑ http://www.deccanchronicle.com/151027/technology-latest/article/courier-dashes-hopes-bengaluru-students-world-solar-challenge