Quantum Energy and Sustainable Solar Technologies LEVEL: NUMBER OF TEAMS: TEAM MEMBERS: OBJECTIVE: MATERIALS: WELCOME: BACKGROUND: Middle School/High School One (1) team per school can participate at the MESA Day state competition. Three (3) teams can participate at MESA Regionals. Three (3) to Six (6) Students per Team To design and race a solar car using commonly available materials and certain supplied materials (solar panels, DC motors, etc.) to challenge their peers in head-to-head competition. Performance placement and design notebooks will be used to select finalists and overall winner. Mandatory materials: One solar panel with accompanying devices (e.g. alligator clips and motor). Optional materials: To construct the body or other parts, teams should consider using a broad variety of low-cost, reused materials (CDs, lids from food containers, straws, rubber bands, etc). Judges reserve the right to reject designs which allow the car to be controlled remotely or designs which use materials that appear hazardous or may present safety issues, including but not limited to damage to facilities or injury to persons nearby. Welcome to the exciting world of the QESST Solar Car Challenge! You have taken on a fun, exciting program that captures the imaginations and creativity of young people, while providing an opportunity for volunteers to share their skills and ideas. There may be some headaches along the way (especially if the sun doesn't shine), but the result will be a great sense of accomplishment. The feedback you will receive from the students, teacher/mentors, and volunteers that participate in this program will make all your hard work worthwhile. Likewise, these specifications are written to help support your design process. We look forward to your participation in the QESST Solar Car Challenge. Have fun! Sustainability is the defining challenge of our time. Unprecedented global growth and consumption have created dramatic impacts for society and our planet. How we respond will determine whether the 21st century is one of rebirth and prosperity or an unprecedented disaster for people and nature alike. In the coming decades, transportation in the U.S. is expected to change radically in response to environmental constraints, fluctuating oil availability, and economic factors. The 21
transportation systems that emerge in the 21 st century will need to be innovative and will depend on the imagination and skill of today s young people. As future scientists and engineers, you could lead the development of new vehicle and fuel technologies. To do so, you will need to consider mobility, environmental, and economical needs. CAREER PORTRAIT: STUDENT PORTRAIT: ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Dr. Christiana Honsberg joined the electrical engineering faculty in 2008. She received her B.S., M.S, and PhD from University of Delaware in 1986, 1989, and 1992, respectively, all in electrical engineering. Before joining the ASU faculty, Honsberg was an assistant professor at the Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering at the University of New South Wales Australia, then associate professor and director for the high performance solar power program at the University of Delaware. She currently holds patents in the U.S., Japan, and Europe. Nicole Kotulak received her B.A. degree in Physics from Notre Dame of Maryland University in 2009. She then joined the University of Delaware as an NSF-IGERT Fellow and received her M.S. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2011 for her work on the growth of GaP on Si via Liquid Phase Epitaxy for applications in very high efficiency photovoltaic devices. She is currently at the University of Delaware, continuing her research on the surface passivation of Si and hybrid device structures for high efficiency photovoltaics as a Ph.D. candidate under the Quantum Energy and Sustainable Solar Technology (QESST) program a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center. Special thanks to QEEST for designing and supporting this competition. DESIGN PARAMETERS: 1. Vehicle Parameters a. Safety. The vehicle must be safe to contestants. For instance, there must be no sharp edges, projectiles, etc. b. Vehicle Dimensions. The vehicle must fit the following dimensions: 30 cm tall, by 60 cm long, by 30 cm wide. c. Energy. The sun s light is the only energy source that may be used to power the vehicle. No other batteries or energy storage devices are permitted. d. Enhancing Devices. Solar energy enhancing devices, such as mirrors, are permitted, but must be firmly attached to the vehicle. e. Steering. The vehicle must be steered by the guide wire using one or more eyelets, or something similar, affixed to the front of the vehicle. The vehicle must be easily removable from the guide wire, without disconnecting the guide wire. f. Body. The body of the car must be three dimensional. The solar cell cannot be used as the body of the car (e.g. teams may not bolt the axles and wheels to the solar cell directly). g. Sustainability. Vehicles are strongly encouraged to be sustainable and mostly use recyclable parts. h. Labeling. All entries must be clearly labeled with the entrant's school. 22
2. Design Notebook and Budget Parameters a. Design Notebook. Make sure to keep track of all aspects of your design process in your design notebooks. For team notebooks to be scored, they must have at least 30 numbered, complete pages of high-quality design work. These pages should document all aspects of your design process for at least 3 design cycles (including brainstorming, prototype drawings, materials comparison charts or other data sets, and a clear summary of the reasons for the team s major design choices in each cycle). We strongly recommend using the MESA Design Notebook insert to help you keep track of your design progress. b. Budget. Prior to attending regional or state competitions, please be sure to insert a copy of your budget sheet into your design notebook. There is no maximum amount that can be spent on the solar car. A budget sheet will be required at the time of the race that lists all materials used for the construction of the solar car and the amount spent per item. The budget should include all materials used or tested for all revisions of the development of the solar car. If the material was free or donated, estimate the cost based on market price for the item. (See the MESA USA National Competition for an example of a budget list). TESTING PARAMETERS: 1. Attendance. Three (3) team members are required to be present during testing. 2. Site Preparation. A Host Site is the organization/person that plans and organizes a QESST Solar Car Challenge. The Host Site responsibilities are inviting schools to participate, distributing materials, finding sponsors, managing accounts payable/accounts receivable, recruiting and training technical as well as race day volunteers, scheduling, and managing race day. 3. Track Specifications. There will be two track events for this challenge: the sprint challenge and the long distance challenge. You can enter in one or both of these challenges. a. Sprint Challenge (Middle School) i. The length of the race course is 5 meters over flat terrain. ii. Race lanes are 60 cm wide. iii. The guide wire will be located in the center of the track and will not be more than 1.5 cm above the track surface. iv. The tracks are rubber mats that will be laid on grass. b. Long-Distance Challenge (High School) i. The length of the race course is 10 meters over flat terrain. ii. Race lanes are 60 cm wide. iii. The guide wire will be located in the center of the track and will not be more than 1.5 cm above the track surface. iv. The tracks are rubber mats that will be laid on grass. 1. Race Format and Rules a. At race time, the vehicle will be placed behind the starting line with all its wheels in contact with the ground. A sheet covering, provided by QESST, will be used to cover, but not touch, the solar panel until the race begins. b. An early or push start may result in either a disqualification or a re run. The determination will be left to the judges. c. All vehicles will be started when the official signal is given. The winner will be the first vehicle to cross the finish line or the farthest car down the race track when the race is called. d. During the initial heats, the judges may declare multiple wins or losses. e. One team member must wait at the finish line to catch the vehicle. f. Team members may not accompany or touch the vehicle on the track. Vehicles stalled on the track may be retrieved after the race has ended. 23
a) Lane changing or crossing will result in disqualification. b) Challenges must be made before the judges begin the next heat. All challenges must come from the team members who are actively competing and must be directed to the judges. The decision of the judges is final. c) The vehicle and team member must remain at the finish line until the order of the race has been established. d) Judges will inspect all cars prior to the final heat or at any time during and after the heats. SCORING CRITERIA 1) Design Performance Score. Teams will be ranked and teams will be assigned a performance score based on their ranking. The first place team will receive 100 points, 2 nd place 95 points, 3 rd place 90 points, etc, for all finalists. 2) Design Process Notebook Score. All finalist teams will also be scored on a close inspection of their design notebooks and budget sheets. Design notebooks will be scored using the standard Arizona MESA Design Notebook Rubric on a scale of 0-20 points. 3) Combined Score. For finalists, the design process notebook score will be added to their performance score to determine the event winners. The winning team will be the team with the highest combined points. 4) Tie-breakers. In the event of a tie, design notebooks will be more closely assessed to determine the highest overall quality between competitors. 5) Design Awards. QESST may also choose to offer additional design awards relating to the following kinds of categories: 1) Beyond the Champion Car; 2) Fastest Car (winner of the fastest single heat); 3) Best Designed Car; 4) Most Sustainable Design; 5) Best Engineering Design Notebook; or any other designated category. SPECIFICATION CHECK: 1. Teams will submit their solar car, design budget and design notebooks for review and scoring. 2. Immediately upon submission for the competition, each design will receive a specification check to determine whether it conforms to MESA rules. Any design which fails the specification check for these 4 areas may be disqualified from racing and receive a performance score of zero: 1) Vehicle Dimensions, 2) Energy Sources, 3) Energy Enhancing Devices, 4) Safety, and 5) Budget for Materials. 3. Impound. All components will be impounded at specification check. No alterations will be allowed after this time, but fine-tune adjustments will be allowed later, within the allotted time frame. JUDGING AND EVALUATION. 1) Facilitating a Smooth Event. The heart of the event is the race, and it must run smoothly. It s important that the judges know the information on this page, and the next page thoroughly. The monitors need to understand the steps of the race, and their rolls in enforcing the track monitoring. The four steps of the race are detailed below, followed by more specifics and dispute information. a) STAGE: i) The Lead Judge will call for a heat to STAGE. ii) The students will bring their cars to the start. iii) The judges will check each car at the start line. iv) The Judge will indicate any no shows. b) START: i) All spectators will be moved back & the announcement is made that the heat is about to start. ii) Each student will set their cars behind the start line, turn on the motor and shield the sun from the car s solar panel by using the cover, provided by QESST. iii) The Lead Judge will signal the start, the students remove the cover over their car, and the race begins. 24
iv) If a car cannot get going on its own, it will be permissible to let the student gently push the car to start the momentum. c) RACE: i) Students that are racing cars are not to leave their position at the start, or end, of the track during the race, even if their car has become hung up on the wire or has stopped during the race. Judges and Monitors are to assist moving cars along the track. ii) Judges are not to be distracted. They are required to watch every race thoroughly. ANYONE interfering with a judge or the judge s eye contact with the race should be told (by the judge or monitor) to leave or stay stand back during the race. d) FINISH: i) At the end of each race the judges will agree on first and second place finishers. ii) The Judge will acknowledge/announce the first and second winners, so as to avoid disputes later. iii) The Lead Judge will indicate first, second, and third place winners. iv) The Judges will begin staging for the next heat. v) Should there be a dispute see below. e) SPECIFICS: i) There should be one start judge and at least one finish line judge during the race. ii) Cars must have passed inspection prior to racing their first heat. iii) Cars may go through design competition after the race, but are encouraged to complete this prior to the race, primarily in case of potential damage to the car. iv) Competition is by process of elimination. The first and second place winners will continue on the winner s side of the ladder and eight losers continue on the other side. v) A car is eliminated when it has two losses. It s possible that a few cars won t have two losses before the final heat, but when the final race is run, the race is formally over. vi) A loss can occur by losing a heat or by not racing the designated heat. f) DISPUTES: i) Should there be a dispute, the Lead Judge should briefly address the dispute with parties making the protest and the other judges at the time of the dispute. g) JUDGES: i) Judges will be fair. Judges will call a false start and restage the heat, if needed. ii) Judges will discourage any interruptions to your duties, because distractions will cause a delay in the event. iii) Judges will refer people to the committee chairmen, registration or other volunteers for questions and help. RESOURCES: These and other resources are available on the AZ MESA website at http://azmesa.arizona.edu/competition%20resources 25
School: Student Names: For Official Use Only Specification Check: Pass Fail The solar car is clearly labeled with the entrant s school? Yes No The solar car is within the maximum dimensions? Yes No The solar car body is not solely comprised of the solar cell? Yes No No alternate sources of energy are used (e.g. batteries)? Yes No Energy-enhancing devices, if used, are securely attached to the vehicle? Yes No The car has a hook able to attach to the guide wire Yes No The solar car is safe to compete? Yes No A budget sheet was provided for the materials used for the solar car? Yes No A design notebook was provided documenting 3 design cycles (@ >30 pages)? Yes No If vehicle fails specification check, they will receive zero performance points. Performance Ranking: Tournament Champion Car Yes No Fastest single race time recorded Best Car Design Yes No Most Sustainable Car Design Yes No Final Ranking: Performance Points: Design Notebook Score: Final Combined Score: Lead Judge Signature: Student Signature: Comments/Suggestions: 26
Rubric for Engineering Design Notebooks (EDN). Note: Judges will only choose some categories to assess each team s Engineering Design Notebook. EDN Goals 4 3 2 1 0. EDN Organization 0.1 Structured. Includes Table of Contents, Glossary & Appendix so readers can easily find key elements of EDN as well as resources researched (citations) & vocabulary learned. 0.2 Readability. Notebook answers potential questions of reviewers. Highly readable notebooks are thorough, clear, legible & detailed (e.g. length & date of tasks documented) and provide summary updates when needed. 1. Explore 1.1 Problem Statement. Accurately articulates, in their own words, the design objective (includes success criteria, constraints) 1.2 Depth of Free exploration. Prior knowledge, brainstorming & hands-on exploration documented. 1.3 Research in STEM. Explores how math & science concepts inform project (e.g. math formulas, laws of physics, etc.), and how they might optimize their design considering the variables and constants involved. 1.4 Research in Design. Evaluates aspects of other designs that might be utilized or modified in this design (e.g. shape, functionality, efficiency, impact, cost, or other design parameters). 2. Design 2.1 Design rationales. Includes clear rationales throughout notebook on design choices (materials used, modifications, etc.). Choices are predominately based on data from past trials, research and design considerations rather than trial & error. 2.2 Design plan. Prior to testing, team articulates project plan timeline, testing procedure & performance prediction (or hypothesis). 2.3 Design sketching and/or photos. Prior & during build, team sketches 2-D or 3-D perspective drawings. 3. Test 3.1 Observation. Clearly reflected through data & written observations (tables, graphs, labeled drawings, etc.). 3.2 Reflection/Analysis. Assesses pros and cons of design/materials, testing procedure, etc. Returns to restatement of purpose. Applies test results and analysis to pose a theory, recommend and argue for a next step, predict a design impact, or draw an insightful conclusion. 3.3. Team Assessment. Notebook shows evidence of team selfassessment, peer assessment, design status presentations to various audiences, etc. 4. Overall Use of Design Process 4.1 Use of Engineering Design Process and/or Scientific Method is carefully & consistently documented so that steps are logically & sequentially connected. Comments/Suggestions: Column Totals (for selected categories) Thorough organization utilizes defined sections. All questions reviewer might pose are clearly answered. Specific articulation of problem, success criteria, constraints Numerous examples of brainstorming and hands-on exploration observations. Clear documentation of math & science concepts considered. Clear analysis of other design pros/cons. Thorough rationales given (based on data or research) for each design choice. Detailed articulation of testing procedure & performance prediction or hypothesis. Numerous representations of each design iteration. Numerous presentation of relevant quantitative & qualitative data, graphs, charts that follow design progression. Detailed reflection shows how design considerations and logic flowing from research, test analysis, etc. Detailed entries show assessment of team s design process as evidenced by notebook. Consistent, high-quality documentation of all aspects of design process Basic... Minimal... No... Most... Few... No... Basic... Weak... No... Regular... Few... No... Regular... Scant... No... Regular... Scant... No... Basic Scant No Occasional Scant No... Total: Final Score (out of ). 27