Those attending the Innovation Land 2014 were not only able to learn about the first Colombian solar-powered vehicle developed by EAFIT and EPM, but to attend the presentation about the second phase of this initiative, which aims at the creation of a second prototype that will be completed in January 2015.
Therefore, after successfully participating in the car race in the Australian desert in 2013, a second stage of this challenge began with the opening of the call for new students, new business strategies, the creation of the working team, and the knowledge transfer between the first and the second vehicle teams.
According to Gilberto Osorio Gomez, professor and researcher at EAFIT’s School of Product Design Engineering, the design of the car is already under development and its body, components and race strategy have been planned.
"We have now started to bring this project into fruition. Initial purchases have been made and the car is expected to be ready in January. The vehicle will be tested in Valle del Cauca or Santa Fe de Antioquia. It would then be taken to Australia in June or July where more testing will be done before the beginning of the race in October," professor Osorio explains.
As stated by Jorge Ignacio Velez Perez, professional from the Division of Research and Innovation at EPM, the company wants to continue sponsoring the project, due to the corporate goals in connection to the electrical power services it provides, and their interest in new forms of energy such as solar power, electric motors and sustainable mobility, besides the creation of a professional network for the creation of technology.
"Our aim is to participate in a car racing project based on a very significant technological framework that will allow us to prepare for what is already taking place around the world in terms of the generation of more environmentally friendly and cost efficient technologies.”
According to Jorge Ignacio Velez, the key is to have a competitive offer that is not only friendly or ecological, but also an offer that can be definable in a good-value offer to customers, i.e., through the implementation of solar panels for water heating, lighting equipment or electric motors either for industrial, commercial or residential use.
Prospect
The design of the racing car is governed by the rules of the race that change depending on the outcomes of the previous race. That is to say that the World Solar Challenge 2013 required a set of specifications different to those of the World Solar Challenge 2015.
"The car is now more demanding in regards to its design and, although there is not much change in terms of the shape, the driver will not be seated in the center, but on the side. As this is an efficiency-based race, it will have better-performance wheels, different mechanics, and new batteries with a different capacity in order to build a lighter vehicle", Professor Osorio states.
Esteban Betancur Valencia, with a Master's degree in Engineering from EAFIT and who is currently undertaking a PhD applied to the vehicle, announced that the new prototype will have a 10 % less aerodynamic drag, as compared to the previous one, meaning that air will exert 10 percent less pressure when running that will lead to a significant gain in speed.
"The highest expectation is to be able to get to Australia and achieve a good place, although we know that it is too big of a challenge because there are teams that have been competing for many years, but the idea is to break the stigma that they are always the first and make sure that a Colombian team will be ranked among the top 5 competitors", according to Mariana Maldonado Ochoa, a Product Design Engineering student at EAFIT, and leader of the bodywork subsystem.
In addition to the specific achievements with the solar car, professor Osorio notes that expectations aim at the research field, to look into the possibilities of clean technologies and transfer this knowledge into more practical applications in different sectors such as construction, mobility, furniture and housing.
"The development of this project is driving the creation of other applications. For this reason, we hope we will start generating parallel projects and continue participating in the World Solar Challenge, a race where the best world universities compete," professor Osorio says.
"We want to draw the companies' attention to become involved in the project as sponsors of young participants and in the development of new, research and innovation technologies", professor Osorio states.
| Interdisciplinary work |
| This interdisciplinary team is led by Jorge Barrera Velasquez, as technical coordinator. The team is comprised of two EAFIT professors, two engineers from the Division of Development and Innovation at EPM, administrative personnel, four engineers who conduct training on the project (one from the PhD and three from the Master's programs) and, on this occasion, a call was opened for students in all academic programs and semesters, with a team of about 30 students coming from both Universidad EAFIT and Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana. |
Journalists’ contact information
Marcela Olarte Melguizo
Journalist Information and Press Area
Telephone: 574 2619500 Ext. 9931 Mobile: 3113547204
Email:
molartem@eafit.edu.co