AURORA VEHICLE ASSOCIATION

 

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The Melbourne based non-profit Aurora Vehicle Association Inc. has become one of the world's most accomplished solar car teams. In the last 24 months, Aurora has set 8 new world records, including the longest solar car journey (13,054 km around Australia in 24 days), and has broken world records set by previous champions Honda (Japan), Biel (Switzerland) and Queens (Canada).

 

 

 

Aurora's solar car 2005

 

 

Aurora has entered every World Solar Challenge since 1987 and has the enviable record of one win, three seconds, a fifth, and a sixth place.

 

Spurred on through competition, Aurora was one of two teams to compete in all seven World Solar Challenge events, has consistently been the most competitive Australian entrant, the only Australian winner (1999), and second place getter in 1987, 2001 and 2003. Aurora currently (November 2004) holds 9 world records. Aurora encourages technical collaboration with many of Australia's scientific research establishments and universities and attracts as members, highly capable young people interested in developing the future.

 

 

 

  WSC 2005 Team:

 

David Fewchuk
Jack McArthur
Tom Baker
Andris Samsons
Kon Kotsonis
Derrick Rodgers
Peter Pudney
Rebecca Trump
Daniel Mills
Todd Palmer
Eli Thurrowgood
David Sims-Williams
Evan Wineland

 

 

  Suzuka 2005 Team:

 

David Fewchuk
Jack McArthur
Tom Baker
Derrick Rodgers
Therese McArthur
Dan Evans
Darren Trafford

 

 

 

Aurora's solar car 2004

 

 

The 2005 Car

 

Dimensions

Length:

4,628 mm

Width:

2,000 mm

Height:

946 mm

Wheelbase:

1,680 mm

Track:

1,600 mm (at rear wheels)


Chassis & Weights

Weight:

165 kg (without driver, with 18kg battery)

Frame:

Triangular, carbon fibre, circular cross section.

 

Single front wheel.

 

Two rear wheels.

Body materials:

Carbon fibre lower. Polystyrene and composites upper.

Suspension:

Rigid frame sprung to body at 3 places.

Steering:

Front single wheel with push-pull rods.

Wheels:

3 x 16 inch wheels.

 

Front is wheel motor.

 

Rears are GH Craft carbon fibre.

Tyres:

16 inch, low rolling resistance.

Brakes:

Hydraulic on all wheels.

 

Regenerative braking available from front wheel motor.

Aerodynamics:

Cd 0.1. Frontal area: .75 sq. metres.


Solar Array

Solar Cells:

Triple junction, Galium Arsenide, Tecstar Tec1 and Tec3i

Cell Efficiency:

24-26%

Panel Type:

25 individual panels produced by laminating process

 

At Gochermann Solar Technologies.

Panel Weight:

Less than 1 kg per square metre.

Array Power:

1,900 watts.


Motor

Type:

Developed by CSIRO-UTS-Aurora.

 

15 kg weight.

 

Peak power: 6 kw

 

Continuous power: 1.8 kw.

 

Operating range: 100-170V, 0-100 amps.

 

Efficiency: 98.0%.


Power Electronics / Batteries

Motor Controller:

High efficiency unit developed by Tritium.

Power Trackers:

AERL Buck Boost, high efficiency, 400 w. capacity

Batteries:

Kockam Lithium Polymer, 170 volts, 30 kg weight.

 

 

Aurora Vehicle Association members:

MathewAckland
Mark Anderson
Viv Baddeley
Tom Baker
Gordon Baker
Brian Ball
Cameron Ball 
Ian Bates
Bill Bennett
Stephen Bicknell
Julia Burns
Mark Burns
Bob Cadden
Glenda Cadden
Seona Candy
Rafael Carmona
Cameron Farant
Dan Evans
David Fewchuk
Frank Fittipaldi
Geoff Forsyth
Tom Forsyth
Lynda Gilbert
Mark Gilligan
Shane Good
Gary Grey
John Hoerner
Katie Holroyd
Clive Humphris
Sorin Ionascu
Bogdan Ionascu
David Knowles

Kon Kotsonis
Andrew Lamb
Simon Liley
Howard Lovatt
Jack Martinich
Steve Martinich
Adrian Marziano
Damien McArthur
Jack McArthur
Therese McArthur
Daniel Mills
Todd Palmer
David Peterson
Peter Pudney
Derrick Rodgers
Doug Rolfe
Andris Samsons
Mathew Sandford
Rosemary Schmedding
Chris Selwood
Robert Shandley
Jim (Dimitrios) Stavridis
Darren Trafford
Dennis Trewhella
Bradley Trewin
Eli Thurrowgood
Satish Vasan
Tony Vriens
Douglas Williams
Gray Wilson
Evan Wineland
Peter Young

 

 

 

 

Aurora's solar car Phaethon, Greece

 

 

AURORA TEAM HISTORY

 

 

1999 WSC

1996 WSC

1993 WSC

1990 WSC

1987 WSC

 

 

 

 

Foundation Supporters


101 Collins St.
Minter Ellison
Gochermann
Sumitomo


Major Supporters

 

3M
BOSCH
CSIRO
HOOK Plastics
Mazda
Yomiuri Shimbun (Japan)
AURORA Place
Huntsman RMAX
Michelin

 

Supporters

 

MoTeC
Auto Innovations
Eibach
AERL
Koni Toperformance
Kokam
Swe-check
City of Melbourne
C5
Scan-Xpress
BTB
Bob Pound
imc
Tritium
Airtec

 

 

CONTACTS:

 

 

Aurora Vehicle Association Inc.
c/- Minter Ellison
Rialto Towers, 525 Collins Street, Melbourne Vic 3000, AUSTRALIA
Ph: (+613) 8608 2889, Fax: (+613) 8608 1000, Mobile: 0411 250 464
Email:david.fewchuk@minterellison.com

 

 

 

LINKS:

 

Home  |  The Team  |  Supporters  |  Events  |  Press Releases  |  Images

New 24-hourRecord!  |  World SolarChallenge 2005  |  Suzuka Dream Cup2005

24-hour Blitz2005  |  Past Achievements  |  Aurora Email

 

 

 


 

 

ORGANISATION A-Z

CAR'S NAME

TEAM NAME

Aristotle Uni of Thessaloniki, Helios

Helios

Faculty of Engineering

Arizona Solar Racing Team - USA

Arizona Solar Racing Team

Auburn University

Sol of Auburn

Sol of Auburn

Aurora Team, Australia

Aurora

Aurora Vehicle Association

Bochum Solar Car Team

Das SolarCar der Fachhochschule

California Poly S University

SLO Burn  Sidewinder

San Luis Obispo

Clarkson Uni Solar Car Team, USA

The Solar Knights

Delft University - Holland

NUNA I & II 2003

Dell Winston School

The Hunter

Solar Car Challenge

Desert Rose, Northern Territory Uni

FUJI DESERT ROSE

Drexel SunDragon Home Page

École de technologie supérieure Quebec

Eclipse V (5)

Éclipse Vehicular Solaire 

École Polytechnique de Montréal

Esteban

Eko-Auto  Poland

Eko-Auto

Electron Analytic Corporation

Dark Horse

EAC Skunkworks

George Washington University

George Washington Uni Solar Car

Georgia Institute of Technology

Solar Jackets

Solar Jackets

Heliodet, Germany

Heliodet

Heliodet, Solar Car Team

Helios - Lille, France

Hélios IV

Hautes Etudes d'Ingénieur

Honda Car Company

Honda

Illinois State University

Surya, Ratha, Mercury

Illinois State University Team

Iowa State University

Fusion

Team PrISUm

Jonasun  Japan

Orbit

Solar Car Paviion

Kansas State University

Paragon

Solar Car Racing Team

Los Altos Academy of Engineering

Los Altos Solar Car Team

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Tesseract

MIT

McGill University Monteal, Canada

iSun

Team iSun

McMaster University

Phoenix

McMaster Uni Solar Car Project

Messiah College Grantham, Penns

Genesis II

Genesis II Solar Racing Team

Michigan State University

 

Solar Racing Team

Michigan Technological University

Solar Car Team

Minnesota S Uni-Mankato/Winona S Uni

Minnesota Solar Car Team

North Dakota State University

The Double Deuce

Sunsetters - Solar Race Team

Northwestern University

N'Uvation

Northwestern University

Nuon Solar Team, Netherlands

Nuon 3

Het Nuon Solar Team

Osaka Sangyo University, Japan

OSU model S

Solar Car Team

Prairie View A&M University

Solaris

Sun Panthers

Principia College

RA 6

Principia College Solar Car Team

Purdue University

SPOT 2

Purdue University Solar Racing

Queen's University Canada

Radiance  Gemini

Queen's Solar Vehicle Team

Red River College 

Red River Raycer

Red River College Solar Car Team

Rice University

Rice University

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Rose-Hulman Solar Car Team

Southern Illinois Uni Edwardsville

Cougar Cruiser

Southern Illinois University

South Bank University, UK

Mad Dog

South Bank Mad Dog Team

South Dakota School Mines & Tech

Solar Motion

South Dakota Solar Motion Team

Southern Taiwan University Tech

Southern Taiwan Solar Team

Stanford University

Solstice

Stanford Solar Car Project

Tamagawa University - Japan

Tamagawa Solar Challenge Project

Team Futura, Italy

FUTURA 2

Team Futura

Team SunLake - Japan

Phaethon model

Team SunLake TOYOBO

Texas A&M University

Columbia Sunraycer

Texas A&M Motorsports Team

The Power of One  - Toronto

Xof1

The Xof1 solar car team

Tufts University

ANNE E. B. II

Nerd Girls

University of Alberta

University of Alberta Team

University of Arizona

Drifter

Solar Racing Team

University of Calgary

 

UC Calgary Solar Car Team

University of California-Berkeley

CalSol 

California Calsol Team

University of Kansas

Solution, CATalyst

KSU Solar Car Racing Team

University of Kentucky

Gato del Sol II

Solar Car Team

University of Massachusetts 

Spirit of Mass 413

Lowell Solar Racing Team

University of Michigan

Momentum

University of Michigan

University of Minnesota

Borealis III

U of M Solar Vehicle Project

University of Missouri Columbia

Suntiger VI

The Mizzou Solar Car Project

University of Missouri Rolla

Solar Miner V

Solar Minor Car Team 

University of North Dakota

Subzero 3

Team SubZero

University of Ontario Institute of Tech

UOI Solar Vehicle Team

Uni of New South Wales SCR Team

UNSW Sunswift III

New South Wales SCR Team

University of Patras, Hermes

Solar Car Team

University of Pennsylvania

Keystone

Penn Solar Racing

University of Queensland

Sunshark

Queensland Solar Team

University of South Australia

Ned  KELLY

SA Solar Car Consortium

University of Texas at Austin

Solar Steer

Solar Vehicles Team

University of Texas at El Paso

 

Solraycers

University of Toronto

Blue Sky

Blue Sky Solar Racing

University of Toulouse

Heliotrope

Heliotrope Solar Car Team

University of Utah 

 

Vehicle Design Team Utah

University of Virginia

 

UVa Solar Car Team

University of Waterloo

Midnight Sun VIII

Midnight Sun Solar Race Team

University of Western Ontario

Sunstang

Sunstang USP Solar Car Team

USP Solar Car Team

USP Solar Car Team

Western Michigan University

Sunseeker 05

W Michigan Solar Car Team

Yale University

The John Lee

Team Lux

 

 

 

IF YOUR TEAM OR EVENT IS NOT LISTED HERE,  PLEASE CONTACT US.

 

 

 

 

SOLAR CAR EVENTS

 

 

American Solar Challenge

American Tour de Sol

American World Solar Challenge - Formula Sun          

Australian World Solar Challenge

Canadian Solar Discovery Challenge

Dream Cup Solar Car Race Suzuka 2003 - Japan

Japanese World Solar Car Rallye

North American Solar Challenge

Phaethon 2004

Solar Express - Solar Bike Race

Sunrayce

SunRace 2003 - Australia

World Solar Car Rally - Japan

World Solar Rallye - Japan

 

 

 

 

THINKING OF BUILDING YOUR OWN SOLAR CAR?  CHECK OUT THE PAGES BELOW AS THEY COME ONLINE........

 

 

 

1. Chassis - and seating

2. Mechanics - suspension, steering, brakes

3. Motor and drive train

4. Motor controller

5. Solar Array - usually part of body

6. Batteries or fuel cells

7. Electrical System - and instruments

8. Driver Controls - switches, lighting, etc

9. Bodywork - Screen, etc

 

 

 

SOLAR CAR PART FINDER 

 

 

 


 

A taste for adventure

Solar Cola - a healthier alternative.

 

 

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