Sunstrike
Event Location: Virtual
Competition: Junior Solar Sprint
Division: 4-6 (JSS Green)
School: Orlando Science Schools
Team Size: 3
Car Name: Sunstrike
Project Log
Time: 30 minutes
Members: Arjun, Omar
Date: 9/22/2021
Tasks: Got the kit and inspected items, then we started planning how we would design the car. Achieved a few good sketches.
Obstacles: Trying to come up with good designs and deciding which gears we would use.
Time: 45 minutes
Members: Arjun, Omar
Date: 9/29/2021
Tasks: We decided we would go with the 40:10 gear. We started cutting the holes for the gears so that they can fit on to the motor.
Obstacles: Choosing which gear we would go with and trying to make the hole so it fits snugly on to the motor.
Time: 20 minutes
Date: 10/6/2021
Tasks: We put the axle through the gear and wheels and glued the back axle on the the body.
Obstacles: Getting the wheels onto the back axle (it’s tough) and making sure the gear is aligned. We also made sure the back axle was straight.
Time: 20 minutes
Members: Arjun, Omar
Date: 10/13/2021
Tasks: We glued the front the axle to the body of the car, then we put the wheels on the front axle, we also glued the motor onto the body of the car.
Obstacles: Making sure we glued the front axle straight.
Time: 30 minutes
Members: Arjun
Date: 10/20/2021
Tasks: We cut a styrofoam ball in half and glued it onto the center of the car. The styrofoam ball was support for our solar panel.
Obstacles: Cutting the styrofoam exactly in half and making sure the styrofoam that when we attach the solar panel to the styrofoam, it does not interfere with the wheels.
Time: 35 minutes
Members: Arjun, Omar, Atharv
Date: 10/27/2021
Tasks: We also added the battery pack to the car so that if it isn’t a sunny day we can still run the car.
Obstacles: Making sure the wires don’t interfere with the axles and the wheels.
Time: 25 minutes
Members: Arjun, Omar, Atharv
Date: 11/3/2021
Tasks: We got Velcro and placed it on the Styrofoam ball. The motor also was starting to come off so we had to glue it again.
Obstacles: Making sure that the Velcro was dead center. Also, the Velcro kept coming off so we had to try multiple times.
Time: 40 minutes
Members: Arjun, Omar, Atharv
Date: 11/10/2021
Tasks: We tried it outside, and we used the exact distance that they use in the competition, and saw that it curved a bit.
Obstacles: The car curved a bit, and we lined it up so it could get the most sunlight.
Time: 30 minutes
Members: Arjun, Omar, Atharv
Date: 11/17/2021
Tasks: We had to fix up the axle because the wheels kept hitting the car.
Obstacles: We had to reglue the entire axle.
Time: 25 minutes
Members: Arjun, Omar, Atharv
Date: 11/24/2021
Tasks: We tested the car inside, but Omar let it crash into a chair, so Atharv and Arjun reglued the motor.
Obstacles: We had to reglue the motor back into its original position.
Time: 40 minutes
Members: Arjun, Atharv
Date: 12/29/2021
Tasks: We created our account.
Obstacles: Very painful process.
Time: 40 minutes
Members: Arjun, Atharv
Date: 2/5/2022
Tasks: We started creating this website.
Obstacles: Remembering what we did.
Time: 1 hour
Members: Arjun, Atharv
Date: 2/8/2022
Tasks: We worked on this website… a lot.
Obstacles: Nothing really, it was fun.
I like the detail of your journal. This can help you understand how to improve your car even more as you go. I look forward to watching the car in action when we have the opportunity to race.
Great effort!
good car indeed like the color
Great work!
That’s great! Great detail and good effort.
Cool design!
I love the detailed journal. That really shows that your team built this, not a teacher, parent, or sibling. I cannot wait to see this run in person in April in Cocoa!
Good work! I can see from your journal that a lot of time and effort was put into your car.