Friday, November 28, 2014

Wrap up 11/28

This was a short week so we are ready for thanksgiving break. The welder sheath is not becoming unclogged so we might need to order a new sheath to continue welding. Hopefully we can finish fixing the go kart soon to have it up and running.

Recap on this weeks goals:

  • The pedal is not welded due to problems with the welder feed.
  • The shop is looking nice and clean to go into the 5 day break.
  • Go- Kart is still not running, but is getting closer to running.

Monday, November 24, 2014

Goals on 11/24

This is a  short week so we will have two short posts. The parade went very well!! The car drove without any problems, and very fast. Overall people were impressed with our head-turning car so hopefully we can get a few donations out of it. Unfortunately when turning into the parking lot I turned too sharp and the solar car hit my car and left a dent... hopefully we can fix it.

Goals for this week:

  • Weld pedal for go kart
  • Clean up the shop 
  • Get go kart to running conditions


Friday, November 21, 2014

Wrap up 11/21

This week our main goal of getting the car to run under its own power was very successful. The brakes worked pretty well, at least to supplement the regenerative braking in getting to a complete stop. We also were able to fit the car on to the trailer fairly easily, and strap it down. All we needed to do was back it in onto a ramp on the back and strap it to the trailer. On our test drive around the magnet loop the car worked flawlessly.

Goals Met:

  • Car ran... Pretty fast especially since the batteries haven't been charged 
  • Car stopped.. could be faster need to upgrade the brake system since it is evident that it is not sealed
  • Car fit nicely on the trailer

Monday, November 17, 2014

Goals of 11/17

This week we are getting ready for the parade, we need to make sure the car is fully functional, well at least the electric part of the car.

Goals:

  • Car needs to go
  • Car needs to brake
  • How are we going to attach it to the trailer?

Friday, November 14, 2014

Wrap up on 11/14

This week we looked at getting a trailer to take the car, the one we found will work for the with some minimal adjustments for side height clearance. The brakes are getting worked on, we got one side done now need to work on the other side. The car is almost ready for the parade. We worked on some welding this week .
Goals completed:


  • Trailer coming in 
  • Brakes are installed
  • Welding is getting better

Monday, November 10, 2014

Goals of week 11/10

This week our goals are to have SK3 ready for the holiday parade. We need to procure a trailer to participate in the parade. Our brakes have been taken apart from the beginning of the year for cleaning and maintenance so this week we have to put them back together.
Our Goals:

  • Get trailer for car
  • Re install brakes on car
  • Bleed brakes for use

Friday, November 7, 2014

Wrap up on 11/7

This week we met our goals of cleaning up the entire tech lab, its pretty spotless and the cleanest we've ever seen it. The tools and hardware are all off the floor, and the dirt has been swept up and disposed of.
What has been done:

  • Floor swept: inside and out, even carpet
  • Hardware picked up using magnet
  • The tool boxes are all set up with one complete set of tools!


Monday, November 3, 2014

Goals of 11/3

This week our goals are to organize the functionality of the class. This includes making work schedules for each day and using the group to divide and conquer the tasks that this class requires.
Goals for the week:

  • Clean a lot
  • Sort all of the hardware and tools
  • Divide tools that are need from tools to give away


Friday, October 31, 2014

Wrap Up on 10/31

Happy Halloween everybody!!! Its been a long week with everyone hard at work sorting the various hardware into all the new bins and cases we have. No longer will people have to search a whole day to find just one bolt and nut combination.

Completed goals:

  • The hardware bins are sorted and labeled, even placed on shelves
  • The room is cleaned up with all the hardware up off the floor and the floors swept down and clean
  • We even have bins for little parts such as nuts and bolt, also for resistors

Monday, October 27, 2014

Goals of Week 10/27

This week we will focus only on reorganizing and cleaning the tech lab, with a shipment of new equipment we will have to keep things organized in order to utilize the new equipment to it's fullest. The organization equipment has raised our sorting and easiness of organization to the next level. Part will be organized by labeled color coded bins.

Goals include:

  • Create places for bins
  • Put like hardware and parts in bins
  • Label bins with new labelmaker

Friday, October 24, 2014

Wrap Up on 10/24

This week we accomplished a good portion of our goals. We are moving forward to completion of work and work organization. The class is accomplishing tasks when they are separated into smaller groups of people. Job distribution is an important part of success in the class.


Completed Goals:

  • The bird cage is pretty much cut up into smaller easy to weld pieces
  • The metal cleaning crew is working hard to make a large stack of cleaned metal rods and flat pieces
  • Our welding skills have been vastly improving with each piece blowing less bubbles and holes

Monday, October 20, 2014

Goals Of Week 10/20

         We will begin this week with metalworking Mondays in which everyone has an opportunity to clean, cut, and weld metal together. The whole class is working together and completing the tasks assigned.

   This week our goals included:

  • Completion of disassembling of the bird cage,
  • Improving existing welding skills, 
  • Create a more organized schedule of work

Friday, October 17, 2014

Wrap up of week 10/17

This week we began to seriously improve our welding skills and the results are very apparent. The pictures below show that our beads are now more defined and there is less excess beads as well as less debris. Learning to set up the machine is important to a good weld. We also began working on a rear battery mount for the older SKII solar car. 

Monday, October 13, 2014

Goals of Week 10/13

This week our goals are pretty achievable. We are working to make enough cleaned and prepared metal to begin practicing our welding and grinding as a class. We are cutting up the birdcage and taking off all the rust and paint using the wire wheels. There are two different shapes of metal we are using... Rods and flat metal.


  • Cut up metal into small pieces
  • Clean metal off for welding
  • Start welding together. 

Friday, October 10, 2014

Wrap up, Week 10 (10/10)

This week, we've had a few speed bumps, popped a few circuits as well as a lack of raw metal, We were able to recover from them and we found an old bird cage donated by Mr. Junco of Horticulture
and we were able to get a decent bit of practice done with the welding. We also attempted to weld aluminium but had no avail.

Monday, October 6, 2014

Goals of the Week 10/6

This week will begin practicing our metal working ability, We will spool the Mig Welder and begin doing practice welds. We will also be searching for raw metal to continue to practice.

  • Set up Mig Welder
  • Find and locate all scrap/raw metal
  • Begin Practice!

Friday, October 3, 2014

Wrap Up on 10/3

This Week didn't go according to plans, but a lot did get done. This week was focused on thank you letters and packages which are well on there way but still not all done. As we get closer to completion we are getting more excited.

Unfortunately we did not:

  • Set up a craigslist ad
  • Email Boat Companies


On a better note, this week we completed:

  • Bettering our proposal to send out to people; hopefully people that give money.
  • Set up and Updated the Laser Printer for Prototyping
  • Working on the little go kart


Monday, September 29, 2014

Welcome to the week of 9/29

This weekend ended on a strong note with a lovely boat ride aboard Paul's electric powered Duffy! This ride gave us a large amount of inspiration to continue working towards our goal and project of making a solar powered boat. We started out with a meeting and discussion in class geared towards the advancement of SK2, which, further expanded into working on the small electric go kart.

     Our Goals for this week are:

  • Create a Craigslist Wanted Ad for the boat project
  • Spruce up our proposal to give out to people
  • Email pontoon boat companies about getting a boat

     

Friday, September 26, 2014

Wrap Up 9/26

We worked on the CNC mill, and got it up and running to a decent bit. unfortunately the programs we are running are somewhat corrupted and not moving the X-Axis on the mill when running the program. The mill makes some oddly shaped circles and ovals when run. Hopefully we can find the right G-Code to use on the mill so it can read our programming right. Direct input into the mill allows the X-Axis to work correctly.

Monday, September 22, 2014

Welcome to the week of 9/22

This week is Homecoming week so school spirit is up through the ROOF! Since today is Senior Nerd Day we will be spotted in our natural habitat wearing our natural attire! So be on the look out... Additionally, we have a few goals for this week...

  • Get the large CNC mill up and running

Friday, September 19, 2014

Wrap up 9/19

This week was very single minded we focused mainly on preparing for our meeting with a Tesla

During this week we accomplished:

  • A successful meeting with Tesla
  • Made a connection for certain supplies
    • Batteries
    • Materials
    • Sponsorship
  • Examined the design of one of the best mass produced alternative vehicles



Monday, September 15, 2014

Welcome to the week of 9/15/14

This week, we are starting out with a meeting to lay out this weeks plans. With that said, some representatives from Tesla Motor Company are coming to visit us this Wednesday in preparation for a fundraising event at Florida International University.

After the aforementioned meeting, we decided that our goals for this week are:

  • Take apart braking system and hubs
  • Clean braking and hubs to an almost new state
  • Research new bearings, brake pads, rotors
  • Research new brake lines and fittings


Friday, September 12, 2014

Wrappin it up on 9/12

This weeks goals were well worked on, we came very close to realizing all of them. Only some minor details of this week's goals were left unfinished. Due to the lack of large events, this week enabled us to do a lot of in class work. Especially moving forward on past due projects and tasks.

During this week we accomplished:

  • Scheduled meeting date with Tesla
  • Removed and began to clean bearings on the car
    • The right bearings were in good condition but the left bearings are in dire need
  • Began budget for Solar Water Taxi and SKIII
  • Began project proposal for Solar Water Taxi
  • Met with new members of the solar knights
  • Worked on Sponsor Thank You Packages
     

Monday, September 8, 2014

Goals of the week 9-8-14

        After the successful dignitary event last weekend a relaxing weekend we are all ready to get back to work and start getting things moving around! We will continue with all project started last week as well as starting some new ones like creating a proposal for the Solar Water Taxi.

          This week we are setting goals of:
  • Finalizing upcoming events like the Recycling Energy Forum with Tesla, and Ft. Lauderdale auto show.
  • Remove and evaluate the current bearings on the car.
  • Create a budget for Solar Water taxi and SKIII
  • Begin proposal for Solar Water Taxi
  • Introduce new members into the group

Friday, September 5, 2014

Wrap Up on 9/5

Overall this week, a lot was accomplished in the classroom, especially in  terms of cleaning. At the end of the week, the room was virtually spotless, even all of the cobwebs in the corners! At the event we need to speak to all of the dignitaries as well as drive the solar car and solar go-kart. This was a great reason to fix both of these cars to a running condition.

On SK3 we fixed a few thing a couple of things such as:

  • Rewire batteries in series and put them back in the car
  • Remove the Large clump of accessories and related wires that were a mess
  • Put in a new steering tie bar that broke during the Texas race
On the Solar Go- Kart, things were a bit simpler but we still had to fix:
  • Put in the batteries
  • Rewire the batteries in series and parallel
  • Strap down the batteries to the car
  • Wire in the solar charging system
    • Unfortunately this was not completed due to a missing switch and switch mount






Monday, September 1, 2014

Goal for the Week! 9/1

This Week, we will continue where we left off last week! We are getting into rebuilding SK2 with the class. Hopefully by the end of the week we will have a basic rolling chassis which is ready for some drive and braking components.

We will also be preparing for some visits from some dignitaries coming to visit our school from the Florida Department of Education. Some dignitaries from Washington DC will also be coming. Rumors are spreading that the Governor of Florida, Rick Scott will be attending, hopefully he can help fund our projects.

Friday, August 29, 2014

8-29-14 Wrap Up

This week was quite busy for us, we started our college term as well as got our class informed about our car and class projects! All while working on getting the club restarted and up and running!

This weeks goals were not all met and completed, but were started on and are still pending completion.


  • Budgets were started on
    • SK3 Parts
    • Solar Pontoon Boat
    • Next Years trip! 
  • Sending thank you letters to previous sponsors
  • looking for new recruits/member
  • Finding new sponsors/events to take the car 

Monday, August 25, 2014

8/25/14 Lets BLOG!!!!

Hi, our names are Dylan and Matt!!! Were in Solar for our Senior project class! This is our blog! This year we will be presenting our team's projects such as the revamping of our Solar Racing Car (SK3) and our hopeful project of making a new solar powered pontoon boat!

This week we will be focusing on:

  • Creating budgets for our projects
  • Finding parts to make our projects better
  • Share an overview of progress made this summer with fellow students
  • Create a timeline for projects 
Thank You for reading our blog!