The Suneater
Event Location: Cocoa-FL
Competition: Junior Solar Sprint
Division: 7-8 (JSS Blue)
School: Cornerstone Learning Community
Team Name: Gilberto, Kellen, Luke, Finn
Project Name: The Suneater
Team Size: 4
Our car was made by four people: Kellen, Finn, Gilberto and Luke. We have a solar panel that has shiny bubble wrap on it to reflect, which was added pretty early in the process, probably the third meeting. Our drive wheels have rubber bands for better driving on the track. We have a flap on the front which holds our passenger, the seat upside down and close to the floor so it doesn’t slip out, which we thought was pretty cool. Our team member Gilberto had the idea to put the on/off switch of the battery pack on the side of the solar panel’s supports to make it easier to access. Our solar panel is held on by Velcro pads so it can be taken on and off to be easier to modify the car.
Top view, showing our solar panel and reflective shields.
Bottom view, showing our bushings and thing that holds the wire.
Side view, showing our battery pack, motor, and passenger in its seat (upside down :D)
Front view showing our flap.
Gilberto about to stop the car from hitting the brick that holds the wire down.
Our videos show the car running on solar power and battery power, but unfortunately, they wouldn’t load, so we’ll have to find another way to add them. The car swerves dramatically, but we’ll fix it soon. Other than that, Supa Hot Fire is really happy with its car.
We apologize for the delay, but we’re glad to have shown you our car!
Car Name: The Suneater
| Team Member | Grade | Strengths |
| Kellen | 8th | design, planning, thermo nuclear aerodynamic genome testing. |
| Luke | 8th | physical, emotional, mental. |
| Gilberto | 6th | having strengths, stronger than an ant, is an older brother. |
| Finn | 6th | thinking, trying to keep the group going, not dying. |
Time and Design Progress
| Date | Time Spent | Activities |
| December 2, 2023 | 1 hour | Planning and picking base materials. |
December 16, 2023 | 1 hour | We enforced the base materials and worked on cutting out the place for our motor gear to go. |
| January 6, 2024 | 1 hour | We finished the wheels, and the car can now roll. |
| January 13, 2024 | 1 hour | We started working on the passenger, motor, and solar panel. we also tweaked the wheels to lower friction. |
| January 20, 2024 | 1 hour | Testing and adjustment |
| January 27, 2024 | 1 hour | Testing and adjustment |
| February 3, 2024 | 1 hour | Testing and adjustment |
| February 10, 2024 | 1 hour | Testing and adjustment |
| January 28, 2024 | 1 hour | Testing and adjustment |
| February 4, 2024 | 1 hour | Testing and adjustment |
| February 11, 2024 | 1 hour | Testing and adjustment |
| February 25, 2019 | 1 hour | Testing and adjustment |
| March 4, 2019 | 1 hour | Testing and adjustment |
| March 11, 2019 | 1 hour | Testing and adjustment |
Our videos show our car running on battery and solar power. Although the car swerves dramatically, (and we’re working on it), Supa Hot Fire is really happy with it’s car.
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Great job! I noticed you may be catching air in the front with your solar panel overlapping the yellow “hood”. Other than that, I liked it a lot and look forward to seeing you race. Your webpage is really funny and kept me engaged in learning more about your process and the things you did to make the car better. I think once you fixed the swerving issue, it went much faster.