News

  • UK is number 6 to complete scrutineering!

    07/09/2008 - 23:59

    Wonderful news: the solar car team has now accomplished more and progressed further with Gato del Sol III than with any of the previous cars. We have completed scrutineering with a complete set of green lights so that we can qualify this Thursday and Friday and ultimately start in the race! All we have left to do is drive approx. 120 miles on circuit one of the Texas Motorsport Ranch. Any distance covered greater than that minimum will be tallied to determine the pole positions of the cars starting the main race itself. After securing greens for all aspects of our car, our confidence has never been higher. Below is a picture of a board showing all teams and their progression towards getting their car race worthy, as of mid-evening July 9th.

    Numbers under smiley face: order which teams earned all green
    Green: good to go on the race
    Blue: good to run on the ~120 miles of qualifying, but still needs work to race
    Yellow: good to run dynamic testing such as brake test and slalom, but nothing more
    Red: needs work to run any kind of testing

  • UK is all green

    07/09/2008 - 22:37

    We made it through scrutineering!!! It was a long three days, but the team worked hard making it the 6th team to move on to the qualifier, which begins Thursday and ends Friday. With a few more minor details to work out, the team heads into the qualifier with high hopes of making it into the North American Solar Challenge for the first time out of two past attempts.

    If the team makes it into the race, be sure to check out the race website to track the progress of the team. With any luck, we will be in Calgary before we know it.

  • Scrutineering

    07/09/2008 - 00:39
    Forgive me in advance for such a short post but free time has been very minimal these past three days. I am taking time away from sleeping right now, so I hope I don't get carried away and keep it brief.

  • Scrutineering Status

    07/07/2008 - 07:09

    It is kind of hard for everyone to stay up to date about the current status of scrutineering for each team, so NASC has added a page to their site to solve this problem. http://americansolarchallenge.org/event/asc2008/scrutineering.html

    So, keep track of your Wildcats.

  • University of Ky. solar car race team seeks sponsors

    07/06/2008 - 19:59 - source: LawReader.com [Original article]

    University of Ky. solar car race team seeks sponsors. Get your firm’s name on the car as it races from Texas to Calgary, Canad

    The University of Kentucky has an entry in a race to demonstrate the use of solar cells to power automobiles. The U.K. solar powered car is called Gato Del Sol III. (Gato is Spanish for “cat”, the name translates into Cat of the Sun or Sun Cat.)

    The race begins in Plano, Texas on July 13 and will end in Calgary, Canada on July 22nd.

    You can learn more about the race and how to help the U.K. entry at www.uksolarcar.com.

  • We are in Texas!

    07/05/2008 - 21:57

    It has been a long journey, but we finally made it to Fort Worth Texas. The car and equipment are in one piece and we are beginning preparations for tomorrow. In the morning, we will travel to the Texas Motorsport Ranch to begin the 3-day scrutineering phase of the race. Here, the race officials will look over our car and determine whether or not it complies with the rules and is safe to drive on the road. We are extremely optimistic that this will go smoothly.

    But until then, we still have work to do. The team is working very hard to make sure all the finishing touches are completed before tomorrow.

  • Wildcats are now in Texas!

    07/05/2008 - 16:14
    After many hours of packing and prepping, the solar car team loaded up and finally took off from Lexington around 4 p.m. on the July 4th. We were hoping to take off sometime between noon and two, but it turned out packing a whole garage full of equipment into a trailer was a little trickier than we first imagined.

    Just before we set off, we made sure to get a group photo of the gang (should make an excellent comparison photo with our team after this is all over). We also presented our team leader, Matt, a present for the huge commitment he has given to our team, a solar powered caliper.

    We reached Little Rock, Arkansas around 2:15 a.m. central time and checked into a Days Inn. Waking up at 8:30 in order to catch the continental breakfast, we were on the road again by 10.

  • UK's solar vehicle qualifies for Texas-to-Alberta race

    07/04/2008 - 19:52 - source: The Courier Journal [Original article]

    LEXINGTON, Ky. -- A team of University of Kentucky engineering students hopes to be rolling soon on a 2,400-mile road trip from Plano, Texas, to Canada, driving a car powered only by sunlight -- and a lot of hard work.
    Advertisement

    Gato del Sol III -- UK's third entry into the North American Solar Challenge -- will be the school's first car to make it through the preliminary scrutiny and qualifying rounds and will join 23 other solar-powered vehicles on the transcontinental trek, promises team president Matt Hatfield of Louisville.

    "This car is not failing this time. I guarantee that," said Hatfield, 23, who graduated in May with a mechanical engineering degree and who helped build Gato del Sol II in 2005.

    UK is the only school in Kentucky participating in the race.

  • And so it begins.

    07/02/2008 - 13:46

    Hello and welcome to the blog of one of the team members of University of Kentucky's Solar Car Team. My name is Mark, and I have been an active member of the team for about two and a half years. I am a mechanical engineering major, and I have just finished my junior year at UK.

    Although we have an official website, www.uksolarcar.com, I feel that this site will be more appropriate for my goals. I want this blog to serve as more of a journal from my perspective, something less formal than our official site. The purpose of this blog is fairly simple:

    -I want this blog to be used as a way for fans of our solar team to be kept up to speed with our car.
    -I also can see this site being used as a method for recruiting for the team, as students at UK or even prospective students can see what the team is all about, and be more willing to come on by and visit.
    -Lastly, I can see this website as a venue for team members (old, current, and new) to discuss and problem solve issues that we may be dealing with.

    We keep pretty busy at the solar car garage, Gato Del Sol III is our car and we all share a determination to participate and finish in the upcoming race, the North American Solar Challenge. This coming July 4th, we take off from Lexington and start our trip to Dallas. Posting on this site may become sporadic at best during the race, but I'll try to reach wifi hotspots and snag our mobile broadband as much as I can.

    -Mark

  • Vehicle Testing for NASC

    06/25/2008 - 00:07

    As NASC 2008 nears, the team continues to test every system of the car, Gato del Sol III, and make improvements in order to get the vehicle ready to race. Its been a tough eight months, but the team has shown the dedication and skill to overcome obstacles and produce a car that can make other engineering schools envious. For a brief glimpse into what our testing has been like, check out our YouTube page with videos showing the car's progress within the past couple of months: http://www.youtube.com/user/UKSolarCar

    Also be sure to visit our video page showing the past car, Gato del Sol II: http://www.engr.uky.edu/solarcar/node/3

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