Tour Day 6

Day 6 was our resting day and we traveled to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway where we visited the Indianapolis 500 Museum.

Also while at the track we were able to watch a little of the qualifying and see a spin out on turn one.

In all a very fun and restful day for the team as we prepared for Kids Fest on Sunday.

Tour Day 5

We visited Center Grove High School in Greenwood, IN on Friday of our tour. We talked to numerous students about the car during their lunch hour.

We also performed a decent amount of road testing on SR37 to help in our optimization of the vehicle. After the testing a problem with our solar array was found that will limit us to the range of our battery pack until we are able to fix it. Although this is dissappointing to the team we still plan to finish out the tour and be back in West Lafayette on Sunday after Indy500 Kids Fest.

Tour Day 4

Today we visited a Cummins plant in Columbus, IN and talked to numerous people about SPOT II and solar racing.

After that we visited a second Cummins facility on State St. in Columbus, IN.

After leaving Columbus we drove to Greenwood, IN to do some work on the car. Although we didn't quite travel the planned route, we still felt the day to be overall successful and hopefully we improved the efficiency of the car through some much needed improvements.

Tour Day 3

We visited Fort Wayne Snider High School where we talked to several classes of Physics students about the car.

After leaving Snider High School we drove south for nearly 100miles in the solar car and eventually ended up at Belden CDT (one of our sponsors) in Richmond, IN.

After leaving Belden in Richmond we left for Columbus, IN where we spent the evening. Overall another successful day talking to lots of people about the tour.

Tour Day 2

Today the PSR we visited Valparaiso High School in the morning and talked to over 800 students about Science, Engineering, and the Solar Car. We were able to drive the car for the students as well as show them all of the inner workings of the car.

After Valparaiso High School we visited Benjamin Franklin Middle School in Valparaiso, IN, where we spoke with approximately 150 students

After leaving Valparaiso we left for Elkhart, IN where we visited Prodesign, Inc. After leaving Prodesign we drove to Fort Wayne where we stopped at Tippmann Group.


The picture above shows Matt checking the amount of light we were getting as we were charging the batteries using the upper body. In all we had a very successful day and got to talk to lots of students. We hope to have a good day tomorrow visiting Snider High School in Fort Wayne and Belden Electronics in Richmond, IN.

Tour Day 1

The Purdue Solar Team began packing up in the pouring rain at 6:00am. Although wet, we managed to get all packed up and leave around 8:00am.

Our first stop in Winamac was Galfab Inc., a class of High School students from Caston High School visited us there and we were able to say lots about the solar car.

After visiting Galfab we left for Winamac High School and talked to over 100 students among several groups.

After leaving Winamac High School we left for R&S Welding and Fabricating and lunch. We then left Winamac for Thomas Jefferson Middle School in Valparaiso, IN.

At Thomas Jefferson Middle School we talked to lots of students about the solar car and the enitre process of Design, Build, Test, and Race.

In all we had a very successful first day of the tour although hampered slightly by the early morning rain we managed to have an enjoyable day. We look foreward to having another successful day on Tuesday.

Hard at Work

The Purdue Solar Racing Team is hard at work make all of the last minute preparations for the tour. We're preparing for a wet and rainy week, and as

such we came up with this quick setup contraption to keep everything and everyone dry. We're making last minute electrical adjustments to help the efficiency and performance of the car. There's lots going on at the Purdue

Solar Garage come by and check it out between 2-3pm today.

Meet the Tour Team

Purdue Solar Racing has 10 people attending different portions of the 2006 Tour of Indiana. The 10 members are David, Matt R., Kevin, Alex, Matt H., Jeff, Warren, Zheng, Jake, and Randy.

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David (Driver)

David is a senior in the school of Aerospace Engineering and plans to graduate in December 2006. David has been a member of the team for one year and is the 2006 Tour Coordinator and webmaster as well as a member of the Aero Team.

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Matt R. (Driver)

Matt is a senior in the school of Aerospace Engineering. Matt has been a member of the team for two years and is the Aero Director-elect.

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Kevin

Kevin is a graduate advisor in the school of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Kevin has been a member of Purdue Solar Racing for 5 years and is responsible for oversight of the entire electrical and control system.

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Alex

Alex is a freshman in the school of Engineering and a member of the ME team. Alex has been a member of the team for one year and is responsible for various mechanical operations.

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Matt H. (Driver)

Matt is a senior in the school of Mechanical Engineering Technology and will graduate in August 2006. Matt has been a member of Purdue Solar Racing for two years and is the current president of the club.

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Jeff

Jeff is a freshman in the school of engineering and a member of the EE team. Jeff has been a member of Purdue Solar Racing for one year and his primary responsibility is with the telemetry system on the car.

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Warren

Warren is a Junior in the school of Electrical and Computer Engineering and is the current President-elect for Purdue Solar Racing. Warren has been on the Purdue Solar Racing team for three years and has also served as Secretary, and Vice-President.

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Zheng

Zheng is a senior in the school of Aerospace Engineering graduating on May 13, 2006. Zheng is our aerodynamics and CNC expert and has been on the team for 4 years.

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Jake
Jake is a senior in the school of Mechanical Engineering and a member of the ME team. Jake has been a member of Purdue Solar Racing for three years and is responsible for the suspension and motor operation of the car. Jake will meet up with the team on Wednesday evening in Columbus.

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Randy
Randy is a recent graduate of Purdue University and former 4 year member of Purdue Solar Racing. Randy is responsible for oversight and advising tour operations. Randy will travel with the team Tuesday and Wednesday of the tour.

2006 Tour of Indiana Schedule

The Purdue Solar Racing Team will be embarking on the 2006 Tour of Indiana beginning May 15th, 2006 and will travel approximately 850miles in 7 days.

May 14th, 2006 - Sunday
02:00-3:00 Visit the PSR team at the Purdue Solar Garage in West Lafayette as we finish final preparations for the tour

May 15th, 2006 - Monday
07:45am – Leave West Lafayette
09:50am (8:50am local) – Arrive at Galfab / Caston HS Students
11:00pm (10:00am local) – Winamac High School Outreach
12:05pm (11:10am local) – R&S Welding and Fabricating
02:45pm (1:45pm local) – Arrive at Thomas Jefferson Middle School for Outreach
(130miles)

May 16th, 2006 - Tuesday
08:30am (7:30am local) – Outreach event at Valparaiso High School
10:45am (9:45am local) – Outreach at Benjamin Franklin Middle School / Lunch
02:00pm – Brief stop at University of Notre Dame
03:15pm – Arrive at ProDesign Performance (Elkhart)
05:30pm – Arrive at the Tippmann Group
(200miles)

May 17th, 2006 - Wednesday
08:00am – Snider High School Outreach
01:00pm – Ball State University / Lunch
03:30pm – Arrive at Belden CDT Electronics Division
(180miles)

May 18th, 2006 - Thursday
10:00am – Display car at Cummins
01:00pm – Arrive at Indiana University / Lunch
04:00pm – Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
(250miles)

May 19th, 2006 – Friday
08:00am – Center Grove High School Outreach
(20miles)

May 20th, 2006 – Saturday
Morning drive around Indianapolis
(60miles)

May 21st, 2006 – Sunday
08:00am – Indy 500 Kids Festival
07:00pm – Arrive at West Lafayette, IN
(60miles)

The goal of the 2006 Tour of Indiana is to encourage students to pursue Science and Technology, so show the possibilities and practical knowledge of engineering, and to encourage the use of renewable energy.