Engineering the World’s Fastest Solar Race Cars - VoiceTube: Learn English through videos!

Subtitles section Play video

[WIND HOWLING]
[ALL CLAMORING]
The World Solar Challenge is like the Formula 1 of solar cars.
But there's so much more to this race than just a car.
It's pushing to the limit, completely to the edge of engineering.
MAN: So that's the locked position?
It's a locked position.
YANTE VAN HAM: Everything can happen.
Whoa!
Oh, my God.
Throttle and cruise not responding.
WOMAN: Move away from the path!
This is a tough race.
It is the premier, most difficult
and original solar race in the world.
Goes all the way back to 1987,
and it's only getting harder.
Forty-four teams from 21 countries
are in the far north city of Darwin, Australia.
They've brought one-of-a-kind solar powered vehicles
that have taken them years to design and build.
[MAN SPEAKING JAPANESE]
The Bridgestone World Solar Challenge is every two years,
and we refresh our team for every challenge
to design and build the car.
It's insane, the amount of work that you put into this.
[TOOL WHIRRING]
You've got people that have worked
70-hour weeks, maybe 80-hour weeks
to live up to this moment to start the race.
MULLER: In a hi-tech convergence of man and machine,
they will attempt a 2,000-mile endurance race
due south, straight through the middle of the Outback.
With future generations in mind,
they're pressing the boundaries of science.
But today, they all have one dream,
to be crowned the champion of the World Solar Challenge.
We're at the Hidden Valley circuit together with all the teams.
We were just passing by a team or another team,
I started to feel a little bit nervous because
a lot of them are good competitors.
CHRIS SELWOOD: This event is nothing if it's not about the passion,
the passion of these young people,
not only dreaming of finding cleaner, greener ways of doing things,
but putting those dreams into reality.
The piston rod of the engine.
MULLER: Energy is so important to human civilization.
When we learned to harness the power of fossil fuels,
it led to the prosperity that the world enjoys today.
But now, as a by-product,
we're releasing some 43 billion tons of carbon into the air every year.
With a devastating impact on Earth's climate.
The innovations being tested in these cars
show us new possibilities
in solar cells, batteries, aerodynamics,
and electronics.
These technologies might be a path
to getting the majority of our energy needs cleanly, just from the sun.
WILLEM-JAN CLAES: So, for us, pushing the boundaries of technology
is very important.
Apart from that, we also care about the environment
and we want to push the technology
so we can take care of our planet.
MULLER: Representing mostly universities from all over the world,
these teams have designed and built vehicles
powered only by the sun.
They will never be plugged in.
Ready, one, two, three.
[GRUNTING] You're heavy.
BRAD NADALINI: Obviously, the stress does get to you,
but you kind of feel blessed to be here
because, you know, you really get to tie in the theoretical learnings
of your university course and studies and research and all that sort of stuff
into a practical sense.
MAN 1: All right, let's go. MAN 2: Let's go, put it on.
MULLER: A solar car is basically a solar panel on wheels
with a battery to store energy and a motor to drive it forward.
The lighter and more aerodynamic it is,
the farther and faster it goes.
For these vehicles, efficiency is everything.
So we build a fast and efficient solar car.
[VAN ELBURG SPEAKING]
There's nothing like a competition to really get people, you know,
struggling, pulling all-nighters for years and years
innovating, trying to beat each other.
VAN ELBURG: You develop technologies that are not yet on the market.
So, we are engineering on a higher level.
MULLER: This event happens every two years.
As technology improves,
the event limits the size of the car's solar panels and batteries.
They've also required upright seating.
That is why cars decades ago looked like this,
and why today's cars look more like this.
There's over 40 entries here,
and no two solar cars are exactly alike.
And now, after years of work,
it's showtime.
They have only a few days to get their cars ready,
practice and pass criteria inspections.
[ALL CHEERING]
[ALL CHEERING]
MULLER: Over the last 20 years,
one team has been absolutely dominant.
That is Team Vattenfall from the Netherlands.
We have competed in nine races and won seven of them.
The two times we didn't became first we became second.
That is quite funny, right?
'Cause a lot of teams are not talking about becoming first,
or winning the challenge. They're all talking about
"Beat the Dutch" I think. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
This year, we have used a new innovation in the aerodynamic field.
[BELLINGA SPEAKING]
MULLER: Shark skin is a film-wrapped coating with riblets,
tiny grooves along the flow
that let air pass over it with less turbulence.
It can reduce drag by up to 8%.
[BELLINGA SPEAKING]
MULLER: It's amazing how many different designs there are.
From the past, thinking about solar races,
I've always imagined the cars to look the same,
this big, flat design.
But there's a lot of very different designs going on here.
I wanna check out some more.
Among the top teams, there are two schools of thought in terms of design.
The catamaran, which is wide, compact and possibly more stable.
And the bullet design,
a long mono-hull shape, which is a newer concept
thought to create less wind drag.
The catamaran is the old style, it's tried and true,
and the bullet are more of the trying to make the best use of the regulations
to get a really fast car.
We still don't really know which one is better,
and probably this event will show which one is better.
MULLER: When it comes to teamwork,
the University of Tokai in Japan is extremely well-disciplined.
And they're the pioneers of the bullet-hull design.
BIKKANNAVAR: In the last event, Tokai sort of unveiled
the mono-hull or bullet design.
And I think it caught a lot of teams by surprise.
What you see this year is, you know, ten or more of the top teams
have switched to that design.
So, I think that's validation that
"Oh, wow, that was a great idea and we should've all thought about it."
MULLER: Tokai has a car that I can't believe is a one-of-a-kind build.
The craftsmanship looks like something that just rolled off
the production line of a major manufacturer.
It's kind of awe-inspiring.
Look at this car!
It's beautiful!
(CHUCKLES)
MULLER: Where's the motor?
[KOUHEI SAGAWA SPEAKING]
That's the motor right there?
[SAGAWA SPEAKING]
140 kilometers per hour?
But you can't even... You're not allowed to go that fast, right?
Yeah. Yeah.
Are you gonna win?
[INDISTINCT CHATTERING]
[SAGAWA SPEAKING]
Looks like everyone's very busy.
Yeah.
MULLER: Is there any air flow through the cockpit?
SAGAWA: Yes, I will show that.
[MULLER CHUCKLING]
That's the air coming in right there?
SAGAWA: Coming here. Maybe you can see from here.
And when you're in the car,
do you take that hose and... Like this?
-[LAUGHING] -Change of position.
[CHUCKLES]
[MAN SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
MULLER: Because these solar cars are so finely engineered for efficiency,
the tiniest detail can affect their performance.
Even a small, flapping piece of tape
can increase drag by more than 5%.
This is why teams try so hard not to damage their cars during testing.
[MAN SPEAKING DUTCH OVER RADIO]
[RADIO BEEPS]
MULLER: But unfortunately for Vattenfall,
they've got trouble already.
[SPEAKING]
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATION]
So, the aerodynamics are really important.
So one scratch on the aerodynamics, it's disastrous.
BELLINGA: We will investigate what's the problem what's broken,
and see if we can fix it in a night or a day.
We have to investigate everything.
It's gonna be hard work, because we didn't expect that
something like this will happen.
[TOOL WINDING]
[ELECTRONIC MUSIC PLAYING]
MULLER: Stanford from the US
is a team that is expected to be a threat this year.
They've got a bullet design car
and they're one of the youngest teams in the competition.
They're almost all undergrads.
How much of your life is this car? That's what I wanna know.
The better question will be how much of our life isn't this car.
[LAUGHS]
I mean, right now it's definitely 100%.
Why is it so important to you? Why does it mean that much?
I think, at least personally,
it's beautiful to be able to see something, you know,
just morph from nothing
into this big, beautiful thing that we've all done together.
And being able to do it with a group of complete strangers.
JULIA GORDON: This car that we built is powered by the sun.
The levels of ingenious and creativity
and just perseverance that our team put in to make this car happen.
Like, this is the coolest thing I've ever done.
And I'm one of the drivers as well.
MULLER: You're the drivers?
How did you get to be such gangster drivers?
-[ALL LAUGHING] -We're short,
our hips are small enough.
-We're willing to sit... -Speak for yourself.
-[ALL LAUGHING] -Speak for yourself.
We're willing to drive this oven across the Outback, so...
MULLER: How hot? GORDON: It's like a sauna in there.
You just sweat for hours and hours.
What is the driving strategy?
We got our driver strategy from watching Talladega Nights.
-[ALL LAUGHING] -MULLER: There you go.
[CROWD CHANTING]
[CHEERING AND CLAPPING]
MULLER: Team Michigan is a huge crew.
And they have a very hi-tech car that they're pretty secretive about.
This is their 11th World Solar Challenge
and they have never taken home the trophy.
But they think their time has come.
We know our car is the best. We are almost certain.
I mean, you look at the critical performance
characteristics of a solar car,
aerodynamics, solar array, and the efficiency of the internal electrical system,
we have the best car in the world in all three.
Hey, Dan, make sure the battery's covered.
MULLER: One thing Michigan is not short on is confidence.
Uh, no filming the battery, please.
Battery's our secret sauce.
Anything we don't get on camera from that is a win in our book.
DICKINSON: The other teams are trying to steal our information.
I mean, we've been chasing for the past two days, trying to get, you know,
"Hey, can you take a step back, like, this is... Don't put your camera there."
And it's a game we're playing with them as well.
You know, I think there is this attitude, so to speak, with Michigan.
They just wanna display their confidence,
and psych the other teams out a little bit, but we don't mind.
-There we go. -Happy?
I guess it goes to the old saying, "Fake it till you make it."
[CHUCKLES]
-Good stuff. -Thanks.
[ALL CLAPPING]
MULLER: Just because these teams made it here
does not mean they can run the race.
Their cars must first pass rigorous compliance testing by expert race officials.
The first one is pretty intense.
[INDISTINCT TALKING]
This is Scrutineering,
where each team must bring their car
through a series of stations
where the cars are basically broken down
to make sure they're exactly as they need to be.
MAN: Steering wheel moves seat back.
SARAH SPAUGH: Yeah, so start at Scrutineering we have to take our car in
and spend four-ish hours getting grilled by the judges.
So it's definitely a big deal for the team.
Because if they find something that doesn't fit the rules,
they can try to make you change it, which can be very difficult.
We check for driver safety, occupancy.
And then, we'll also be checking all the mechanical functions.
Uh, brakes, suspension, steering.
-Sort of important things. -Yeah, of course.
Their electrical wiring, is it all to spec?
Do they have the right size batteries?
Is their mechanical up to scratch?
MULLER: These space-age looking vehicles must also be street legal,
just like any other car on public roads.
There's a small convex section at mechanical here.
I think that's probably just causing that little bit more distortion.
CLAES: With these events, our organization makes sure
that our cares are reliable to go on the roads
as it is a race of more than 3,000 kilometers.
[CONTINUES SPEAKING]
MULLER: Team Agoria from Belgium
is expected to be a serious contender in The Outback.
They placed third in the last event,
and they are back with a motivated and confident team.
And really, there's only one thing on their mind, winning.
HAM: We've never achieved this before.
We definitely have the team that can do it, we have a car that can do it.
So, we are... Our faith is high,
but we also need that little bit of luck.
MULLER: In 2007, Agoria had a crash that wrecked their car.
And the following race, they had a battery fire.
But I think, since then, we had some, like, rebirths of the team.
Whoo!
-Whoo! -[TEAM SHOUTS]
[CLAPPING]
HEMELEN: We did an amazing job in the preparation.
So, I mean,
I feel like this is the year.
MULLER: Now, no one wants to experience an accident in a 300-pound solar car
made of carbon fiber and a combustible battery.
But it happens.
So safety is of paramount concern.
Right here, they're checking everything about the cockpit.
Including how fast can the driver get out in case of emergency.
They have only 15 seconds
to be able to do that in order to pass this test.
There you go. Time's started.
He's getting out of the car now.
This is in case of emergency, here he goes. He's got 15 seconds to get out.
Here he goes, here he goes. Gotta basically do it all by himself.
I think he's gonna do it.
And he's out.
[MULLER CHUCKLES]
Just made it under 15 seconds.
Looking around at all of these solar cars,
they look like impractical modes of transportation.
I mean, they are by and large tiny, little one-seater vehicles
that are incredibly hot and stuffy,
and who would ever wanna drive that?
But it is here the teams test out, often for the first time,
new technologies with regards to solar cells, batteries, aerodynamics,
drivetrains, electronic systems.
So, if you think of this as a race
to develop an incredible solar car of the future,
I think you're missing the point.
The purpose of this race is to take solar technology to its very limit.
And that has all sorts of implications for technology in our everyday lives.
[SPEAKING]
WOMAN: Um, the issue is that we have the driver's head
sticking out the back of our structural roll cage a little bit.
Um, so we aren't quite protecting, like, this area of the helmet enough
if the car were to roll and be traveling upside down.
I think we'll make it through eventually.
I feel confident in that.
It might take us a second try for a couple of these bigger issues.
Our team tends to be a little scrappy,
but I feel like we're gonna get through.
MULLER: Modifications, no matter how simple
can be stressful and risky.
With the clock ticking, and only the tools they've brought from home,
Stanford is in for a long, sleepless night fixing their car.
We can rip it out and Bondo over it.
If you think that's better, we can do that.
SELWOOD: Getting to Australia is the first goal,
getting to the start line is the second goal,
and then, the adventure of driving all the way across Australia
through the sacred heart of this ancient land,
it's a great spiritual journey.
DICKINSON: My friends have told me, like, "You're crazy.
"Why are you doing this? Why are you spending 80 hours a week in that shop?
"You know, with those people on that car?"
And I think the answer is,
and I have to keep reminding them, I have to keep reminding myself,
we're trying to be the best in the world.
We're pushing up against not just limits of what our competition can do,
but also just the limits of the technology.
And that requires tremendous sacrifice.
MULLER: The stakes are high for these teams.
In addition to the competition,
this may be their best chance at getting noticed
by the biggest energy and tech companies in the world.
It's kind of like a giant job interview.
And this event has launched a lot of careers.
Hello. How are you?
MULLER: I did my PhD in Australia,
so I'm really interested in meeting the team
from the University of Western Sydney.
From what I'm hearing,
they're kind of a dark horse this year.
Tell me about the day. What's going on?
Um, we've had ups and downs today.
So, we had a motor controller get a bit hot,
'cause we were on track for a while, and we were sending it a bit too quick.
We're out here having a good time on track,
the drivers are having a blast,
and one guy just got a little bit too excited with the throttle.
Uh-huh. [CHUCKLES]
NADALINI: Yeah, we're representing the homeland. It's funny,
you know, having a lot of the international people come over.
And look, we have a bit more fun than we probably should
telling them all about the venomous kangaroos.
There's nothing funnier than watching someone from a foreign country
look at a kangaroo and ask you if that's the venomous type to watch out for.
One, two, three.
We have switched up our solar cell technology types.
So, we were previously running a silicon cell.
Incoming.
This year, we've moved to gallium arsenide,
which is a space grade cell
used on projects like the Hubble telescope.
MULLER: Unlike the solar panels used on your roof,
made from inexpensive and plentiful silicon,
gallium arsenide cells are far more efficient.
However, they are also more than a thousand times more expensive to produce.
Which is why we normally only see them in space.
[INDISTINCT TALKING]
But I think what really distinguishes the winners
is the team itself.
MAN 1: Hold the throttle.
-You got it? -MAN 2: Yeah.
You know, we call ourselves a family. We don't call ourselves a team.
Yes, obviously, you have to have a good car. That goes without saying.
But having a good team is what wins a race.
MULLER: From what I'm hearing, there are several other teams
that everyone is keeping an eye on.
Sonnenwagen from Germany has an extremely well-engineered car
and a robust team.
[ALL SHOUTING]
Top Dutch is a first-time entry from the Netherlands.
But looking at their car, there's nothing freshman about it.
-It's impressive. -[ALL SHOUTING]
And Team Twente, also from the Netherlands.
They have the most compact car in the competition.
And thanks to Vattenfall, that Dutch pedigree
which always makes the engineering world take notice.
In just a few hours,
the World Solar Challenge launches into the Outback.
Peter, you're good to go.
MULLER: Almost all the teams have found their way through Scrutineering
and have run a timed lap around the track
to determine their starting positions.
Bright and early, teams will head out.
Leading the way will be Top Dutch,
Sonnenwagen,
and Kogakuin from Japan.
Behind them in fourth position, Agoria from Belgium.
And then Solar Team Twente from the Netherlands
and Tokai, also from Japan.
With 2,000 miles of perilous desert in front of them,
and only the sun to push them through,
the adventure is about to begin.