Centaurus

Centaurus II is the UMNSVP's 9th generation solar car. With this car, the team has continued the tradition of
designing and manufacturing its own solar array and electrical systems. By designing custom components instead of
using off-the-shelf parts, the team was able to optimize systems on the car more than would have otherwise been
possible.

Design of Centaurus II

Centaurus II is the University of Minnesota's 9th generation solar vehicle. Design work on Centaurus began in
earnest in the late fall of 2008, and major construction began in the fall of 2009. The car was completed in early June
of 2010, and took 2nd place in the 2010 American Solar Challenge.

Aerodynamics

Traditionally, solar cars have required the driver to lay down inside the car. However, the 2007 World Solar Challenge
and 2008 North American Solar Challenge regulations were significantly altered from before, requiring drivers sit
upright, which has prompted large changes in the exterior design of solar cars. The Centaurus II aerodynamics team
had to deviate significantly from past designs to accomadate this. Unlike Centaurus I, which had a flat bottom,
Centaurus 2 utilizes a curved underside to allow for a thinner main body section. A variety of designs were created in
SurfaceWorks, and tested in Ansys/CFX. Once a design was chosen, female molds were created in order to produce
the actual aeroshell through a wet-resin fiberglass over nomex core lay-up process. Fiberglass was chosen for both
the top and bottom of the car this year due to its light weight and lack of electrical conductivity.

Array

One of the many things that the team takes great pride in is the car's solar array. The UMNSVP is one of the very few
collegiate teams that research, test, string, encapsulate, and assemble their entire solar array in-house. Market
availability of bare cells forced the team to choose monocrystaline silicon cells from China Sunergy over slightly more
efficient silicon cells, or gallium-arsenide cells like those used in the Borealis series cars. The array team used a new,
proprietry 3M anti-reflective encapsulation process to construct Centaurus IIs solar array to exacting standards.

Electrical

The team is extremely proud that nearly all of the electrical components on the car are designed and manufactured
in-house. Building off of years of work done by previous teams, the Centaurus I electrical team had redesigned all of
the electrical systems on the car with an eye towards reliability and ease of maintenance. For Centaurus 2, the team
switched to a more reliable and higher bandwidth digital CAN bus for all of the electrical communication on the car, as
well as redesigning all of the components for greater reliability and ease of manufacture. Improvements to the power
trackers, battery protection, telemetry, and driver interface circuitry have been coupled with a re-written and cleaned
up codebase. Starting in early spring, the electircal team brought Borealis 3 out of retirement to use as a rolling test
chassis to allow them to debug their systems in a production environment. As a result of this, we believe that
Centaurus II will be one of the most electircally reliable cars the team has ever built. At the 2010 American Solar
Challenge, the team was proud to recieve the award for Electrical Excellence.

Mechanical

The mechanical team produces one of the most reliable and cleanly designed cars in collegiate solar racing.
Improving on the excellent reliability and durability of Borealis II, Borealis III, and Centaurus I, the team continued to
optimize previous designs. The chassis was constructed using our traditional fiberglass composite panel construction,
however, this year, much lighter panel was used, resulting in a lighter car. Centaurus 2 weights 390lbs without a
driver; it is one of the lightest cars that the teams has ever built. Double A-arm suspension is used up front, while a
single swing-arm is utilized in the rear.

Centaurus 2 Specifications

Weight:   176.5 Kg
 
Dimensions:
Length: 5m
Width: 1.8m
Height: 1m
 
Motor:
Type: NGM SMC150
Rating: 7.5kW
 
Array:
Cells: China Sunergy
Peak Power: 1200 Watts
  
Battery:
Type: Lithium-Polymer
Weight: 25 Kg
Capacity: 4.8kW-Hour
 
Fiberglass Composite Panel Monocoque with
Chassis:
steel roll cage
 
Brakes:
Front: Redundant, hydraulically-actuated disc
Rear: Regenerative braking through the motor
 
Wheels:
Front: NGM Aluminum
Rear: Custom
Tires: 19" Bridgestone Ecopia
 
Suspension:
Front: unequal-length double A-arm
Rear: swing arm

Top 10 Most Commonly Asked Solar Vehicle Questions: 2010 Centaurus 2

1. How much does the vehicle weigh?

According to measurements and estimates made by the team, the car weighs about 565 pounds at race time. This
includes a 176-pound driver, so the car will weigh 389 pounds empty.

2. How big is the driver? Is it uncomfortable in there?

The University of Minnesota Solar Vehicle Project team designed the car to accommodate a driver 6-feet tall
weighing 176 pounds (80 kg). This ends up being about the size of the average person on the team. This is far
different from many teams, who design their cars for much smaller drivers than those who design the car. Centaurus
2 is a departure from previous designs. New regulations in 2008 dictated that the driver must sit upright instead of
lying down, as in previous cars. Temperatures in the car can easily climb above 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

3. How fast will the car go?

The car is capable of a maximum speed of 80 mph. The speed during the race is limited to 65 mph.

4. How long will you drive in a day?

Drivers are mandated to spend no more than six straight racing hours in the car. On a sunny day, the car should be
able to run at 65 mph all day. Towns, media stops, and traffic prevent a full day of racing at 65 mph, so typical
distance traveled in a day on the race is around 300 miles.

5. What power does the motor produce?

New Generation Motors quotes their hub-motor with producing 12.1 peak horsepower. Typically, we would travel at
65 mph using 2.5-3 horsepower. The team is developing its own motor that will perform similarly or even better.

6. How much power does the array collect? How many     solar cells does it have?

The solar array is comprised of around 580 silicon solar cells, and produces upwards of 1200 Watts of power on a
sunny day.

7. What is the car made out of?

Most of the chassis is constructed from prefabricated sheets of fiberglass paneling. The outer shell of the car is
constructed from fiberglass fabric laid up over Nomex core in a special mold.

8. How long does it take to build?

The team worked on the design of this car for a year and a half, and construction of the car took approximately 1
year. It is estimated that the students on the team spent between 50,000 and 60,000 person-hours on the design and
construction of Centaurus 2.

9. Who built all the components of the car including the     suspension, array, shell, battery,
etc.?

Students. Each student was tasked with a particular component of interest to him or her. Students meet in weekly
design team meetings and monthly or semimonthly all-team meetings to coordinate designs.

10. What does the name Centaurus mean?

Centaurus is a constellation in the sky containing Alpha and Proxima Centauri, the closest stars to Earth.