PALO ALTO — Arctan, a solar-powered car built by undergraduate members of the Stanford Solar Car Project, cruised to a top 10 finish this week at the 2015 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge.
The biennial 2,000-mile race across the unforgiving Australian Outback began Oct. 18 in Darwin in northern Australia. Arctan reached the checkered flag in Adelaide in southern Australia six days later on Friday, placing sixth overall and second among U.S. entrants in its class.
Stanford was among 30 teams from around the world that competed in the Challenger Class. The single-passenger cars are built for sustained endurance and total energy efficiency.
Arctan is the 13th vehicle to be created by the Stanford Solar Car Project. At the unveiling in July, team leader and mechanical engineering major Guillermo Gomez said the 400-pound car could reach a top speed of 80 mph and had less than half the drag of a bicyclist.
The 45-member team was hoping to build on the success of Arctan’s immediate predecessor, Luminos, which placed fourth overall and first among U.S. entrants in its class in 2013.
But just finishing the race appeared to be enough. The team was greeted in Adelaide by Stanford Solar Car Project alums and supporters with beer and doughnuts, according to a blog post by Kelsey Josund.
“Since we’re done racing Arctan, we even put one on the array!” wrote Josund, referring to the doughnuts. A photo included with the post showed a team member eating the treat off the solar array.
In an earlier blog post, Josund described the race as smooth and eventful. On the first day, a smoky brush fire along the Stuart Highway impeded charging, as did cloudy weather between Alice Springs and Kulgera on day three.
The University of Michigan placed fourth overall and first among U.S. entrants in the Challenger Class.
The Netherlands’ Delft University of Technology and University of Twente finished first and second, respectively; Japan’s Tokai University finished third; and Belgium’s University of Leuven finished fifth.
Other U.S. entrants came from MIT and Principia College.
