SOLAR CAR RACE SIMULATION
This study contains the dynamic simulation which was prepared to improve the performance during the qualifying lap of the solar car and 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.
3 wheeled (2 front 1 rear) rear wheel drive solar car and low-rolling resistance tires made specially for solar cars have been defined using the IPG/Carmaker software. In addition to that, the race track has been created with its real geometry within the software. Maximum entrance speed values for each curves, handling characteristics and capabilities and important parameters like moments, accelerations and forces applied to the car during the track has been observed and parameter research and optimizations to enable the car to lap the track as fast as possible have been conducted as a result. On the other hand, standard tests were applied to solar car to analyze vehicle behavior
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.