7.21- "We're not in Kansas anymore"

At 6:30 AM in Blue Earth Plaza, the sun cast long luxurious shadows from the three to four story buildings clustered around the green plaza. The sky was blue and pink and the moon was beginning to descend.  The forecast was for sweltering heat. By 8:00AM it was 95°. We enjoyed our two day stay in Manhattan, Kansas. Today we would be driving through Nebraska. Solar car teams walked their cars from the park to their trailers and the race began some twenty miles away. Today was the day we were going to test our new sprocket—fingers crossed. We were given our challenge of the day which was to invite a spectator to go for a ride in the car.

Ben, our judge, ask Alex to sign off as safety officer for the day. 

Socks of the day—watermelon.

While trailering the car, one of the students heard an interview on the radio that had been done by KMAN radio. I looked on the KMAN website hoping to be able to post a link to the interview but was unable to find it. If anyone is able to find it, please leave the link in the comment section. We began the race in a bank parking lot in Randolph, Kansas. Curious spectators always gather and team members proudly talk about the race and the car. 

Steve and Chris began the first leg of the race.  We were anxious when the car approached its first hill, but it made it up going approximately 35mph—yipee! Unfortunately, shortly thereafter, one of the fuses blew. Overall it was a good day; the car traveled a little over 40 miles for the day which is the most we have covered in one day. Going at slow speeds through Kansas and Nebraska allowed us to enjoy their bucolic scenery. 

We saw quite a few soybean fields. I noticed very tiny purple flowers on the plants. In the late summer these dainty flowers are transformed into  pods.  

We had a required fifteen minute stop in the town of Marysville, Kansas. With temperatures approaching 100° the large shade trees were a relief. The Marysville Chamber of Commerce welcomed us with sweet cookies and cold water. Some of the ladies in the chamber told me that Marysville used to have seven trails crossing the  Big Blue River including the Oregon trail. 

The  Big Blue River.

The park had impressive oak trees. I propped my phone up as a size comparison. 

A young boy named Isaiah went for a ride in the car, and fulfilled our task for the day.

Lauren also enjoyed a ride.

We had a few good runs in Nebraska. Lunch was a welcomed break. We ate and made an adjustment to the steering. Today's race ended in Fremont, Nebraska where the Chamber of Commerce had hot dogs for us and a place in the Walmart parking lot to display the car. 

Chris putting in a fully charged battery in place for tomorrow morning. 

Alex answering a question about the race. 

 Cameron had a long conversation with this man.

Elijah explaining how the car runs. 

 A team from Detroit

 Mr. Smith found some relief from the sun in a small patch of shade

7.20.16 - Manhattan, Kansas- Day of Rest

Today is a rest day in the race. We spent most of the day replacing the sprocket and the battery terminal that melted yesterday. Thankfulness and appreciation are in the forefront of my mind. Yesterday, when we arrived at the hotel, all the cars were positioned in Blue Earth Plaza, a lovely park surrounded by small shops and nice hotels in downtown Manhattan, Kansas. Within minutes of me walking into the park, a woman approached me and introduced herself as a member of a local car club. She told me that the Chamber of Commerce assigned a liaison to each team and that our liaison would meet us soon. Shortly thereafter, Kenny Foust introduced himself and answered questions about the town, where to eat, where the nearest big stores were, etc. He stayed with the team for quite some time and certainly made us feel welcome. This morning he arrived on his bike at 8:00am to see if we needed anything. Thank you to the Manhattan Car Club, Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, and Kenny Foust, our liaison.

Kenny chatting with Alex.

We are truly grateful to Westar Energy. They let us use their shop, loaned us tools, offered useful advice, and wheeled in a large fan to blow on us while we worked in heat near 100°. The men whose shop we invaded were very accommodating—we can not imagine what it would have been like to have to do our repairs in the hotel parking lot under a baking sun. 

Manhattan, Kansas was under an extreme heat warning, so this large cooling fan wheeled into the shop offered immediate relief.

A Westar employee conferring  with Elijah and Mr. Harris (not shown) on shimming the motor as a means to prevent the chain rubbing on the frame. 

Most recently, we have been communicating about the motor controller with Software Engineer Ben Rounds, Jr., Curtis Instruments and Patrick Cody, Customer Support Engineer, Curtis Instruments. We have also been in contact with Mike Otis, SUNY New Paltz, and Tom Nash, Electrical Construction and Maintenance instructor at Ulster BOCES regarding the charging stations. Participation in the Solar Car Challenge would have been very difficult had it not been for the following:  Marty McGill of Haas, Lincoln Electric, and Kathy Looman of the Gene Haas Foundation. Thank you all!

Mr. Smith, Jackie Gleelan, Marisa Jankowski, Elijah Leveque, Nick Vincent, Chris Garrison, Cameron Miller, Steve Scribani, Mr. Harris, and Mr. Lucks.

Mayor Usha Reddi, welcomed us all to the city of Manhattan, Kansas. 

The water pool at Blue Earth Plaza is stream of water on the edge of a piazaa.  It has small cement slides  for sliding or sitting and dangling feet. Streams of water playfully project out of the stream. By the late afternoon, the stream was full of children playing in it.

Socks of the day—flora.

Alex guided the car from the Blue Earth Plaza lawn to our trailer. We were off to the garage provided by Westar Energy.

I was impressed with the students; they each gravitated towards a part of the car that needed attention and worked together to complete the job. 

Elijah took on the task of replacing the sprocket. This involved not only replacing the sprocket, but removing teeth from the chain, and shimming the motor to compensate for the change in chain length.

Shim under motor.

Jackie, Cameron, Alex, and Marisa worked together to repair the Dacron fabric that covers the frame.

Blue, gooey, bonding glue.

It's bonding time—together forever!

With no more dripped glue to worry about, Alex puts away the "blanket of eternal misery".

 Marisa is using a heat gun on the Dacron. Heat causes it to become taut.

Nick soldered the new terminal end.

Alex riveting.

Chris working on four pin trailer connectors.

Elijah added split hose to act as a buffer between the motor control wires and the Lexan case.

A judge had to oversee all the work we did today. 

The team worked diligently throughout the day, and at last the car was ready for a test run. Here's a video:

We all were pleased to see our car speed away up a slight incline in the parking lot. No more chants, of "I think I can! I think I can!". The chain was a tad too long, so Elijah ground off a pin. We did not want to impose any more on the employees at Westar Energy, so the complete adjustment was made on the trailer back at the hotel.

5:30 PM Solar Car Challenge Meeting- We were pleased to learn that in yesterday's race we took first in our division. Team captain Cameron Miller accepted the trophy from Dr. Marks. 

After a very satisfying lunch at a Mexican restaurant, we returned to Blue Earth Plaza where all the solar cars were on display. In this photo, Alex is responding to questions from the public. 

Elijah sleeps.

Purple Sage

Westar Energy provided a BBQ dinner to all participantsi n the Solar Car Challenge. It was held in a restored historic train depot and was delicious. 

Tomorrow will be another 6:00AM day. The race will take us to Freemont, Nebraska. During the day, you can track us here : we are #9 on the map. We are all very excited for tomorrow to come and are hopeful that all the hard work done today will increase our power and milage.