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After losing a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the biennial Bridgestone World Solar Challenge returned this year, pitting state-of-the-art, solar-powered cars against each other in a test of endurance and speed that took place across the Australian continent, according to New Atlas. Reports.
The BWSC stretches from Darwin, on the edge of Australia’s Northern Territory, to Adelaide, deep in South Australia. This unfolds over the course of a week, with groups of competing engineers camping out along the course at night waiting to compete in the morning.
This year’s winner was the Belgian team Innoptus, who competed in the Challenger elegance with their Infinite vehicle. The team finished the course in a total time of 3. 4 hours, 4 minutes and 4. 1 seconds, beating the next competitor by more than 20 minutes and the 2019 winner’s car by about five.
“We got to Adelaide first and that’s because we followed our own strategy over 3,000 kilometres,” Innoputus team principal Cedric Verlinden told New Atlas. “We had to anticipate a number of things – there were wildfires along the way, which meant less energy came in, other things like clouds and weather were constantly changing – but we need to stay true to our strategy and think ahead at all times. making sure that we are now the first to cross the line here in Adelaide.
Wildfires, in particular, have been a complicating factor, with dense smoke blocking the soft sunlight that the competition relied on to power their vehicles. The scenario reflects recent fires and smoke pollutants in the United States. With only a maximum of four square meters of solar panels to force the car, both one and both soft beams are counted.
Innovations developed for competitions like this don’t just stay on the race track. Solar-powered customer cars are becoming a reality, and the more effective and convenient those systems are, the less difficult it will be for the average driver to go single miles without generating air pollution, all solar power.
This year, Infinite has made the most of the available light, thanks in part to the fin used for stability, New Atlas reports.
This is the second time in a row that a Belgian team has won the competition. Other competitions this year included academics from Deakin University in Australia and Solar Team Twente from the Netherlands.
“In fact, Solar Team Twente didn’t make it easy for us,” Pauline Vanvuchelen of Innoptus told New Atlas. “We tried with all our might until the end to be a few minutes ahead and we did it. The fin was our secret weapon and we did it very well. “Well.
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