Looking forward to it
Especially since I live in South Australia. Hopefully no bushfires this time.
In 2011, The Reg's Special Projects Bureau followed the World Solar Challenge through the dead heart of Australia. This year, we'll do it again. 2013's World Solar Challenge hits the road on October 6th and The Register's Vulture South team will hit the road too, tracking the racers from the top end through the never-never and …
I noticed in the article that there seems to be two types of competitor in the competition. Those who are trying to make solar cars a reality now and those who are trying to win the race.
That said Cambridge as one of the ones trying to win the race appear to have a reasonable grip on engineering and it's nice to see a bunch of students getting their hands dirty. My only criticism is I didn't see any suspension on the Cambridge car if not maybe next time they should include a geography student in the team. Australian Outback roads are not kind to unsprung cars a few miles and the thing will be a pile of nuts and bolts. Otherwise good job.
The two types are commendable, and I want to see the 'realistic' cars have a good go at getting through it.
Regarding suspension, ever ridden a road bike? suspension is removed in favour of speed, and you can run some road bikes over some rather large potholes, and still come off okay. Since suspension dampens the ride and removes energy, this is a problem for a race.
Now, if they can use that suspension to convert it into energy, then they have a better set of shocks, and that would be interesting. if nothing else, it could power a fan for those inside of their plastic bubbles.
It's possible in less than 90km according to my quick attempt in Google Maps. So, I think Stella should comfortably be able to achieve their goal. If not, I can suggest an alternative platform for next year.
It's 79km if you take the coast road. (Beat that!)