top of page

MULTIDISCIPLINARY SIMULATION OF A SOLAR CAR

FOR LONG DISTANCE RACES

This study consists of the racing simulation prepared by Istanbul Technical University Solar Car Team for the World Solar Challenge (WSC) that is conducted every two years in Australia and contains a 3000km course. It is known that a "solar car" is an Electric Vehicle. Special about it is that it uses the solar energy with the help of electricity produced by photovoltaic cells. By that reason, systems like solar cell model, battery model, electric motor model, electonic circuitry model, vehicle linear dynamic model, road model, race specialties model are modeled and with the help of these models, different strategies are developed to be able to finish the course with the highest average speed and the minimum completion time. For creation of the models, MATLAB/Simulink software environment has been used. This study enabled the creation of a race strategy and evaluation of the outcomes of different speed referances beforehand. On the other hand, this study is also important to obtain the starting parameters that will be used at the system that drives the vehicle automaticly along the race using optimal control algorithms.

bottom of page