The U of M
Solar Vehicle Project was founded by a group of undergraduates in
the Institute of Technology in 1990. The team survived and completed
Aurora I in just three years to compete in the 1993GM Sunrayce. The
team remains an undergraduate project and has grown to include as
many as 50 students in a variety of disciplines at the University.
The project has remained true to its original foundation as a
student administered, designed and built project that teaches
members about engineering and management in a complete product
development environment.
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Borealis
Link to Borealis Page
Borealis was the
team's 5th generation solar powered race car. The Borealis team
incorporated radical improvements into the vehicle from the initial
concept to final design. The team raced Borealis in the 2001
inaugural American Solar Challenge along historic Route 66 from
Chicago to L.A. Borealis and the team overcame initial difficulties
and climbed to a 6th place overall finish. Borealis also raced in
the 2002 Formula Sun Grand Prix where it placed 2nd
overall.
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Aurora 4
Link to Aurora4 Page
Aurora 4's design was
founded on the successful innovations of Aurora3 & Aurora II.
After taking 4th place in Sunrayce 99, Aurora 4 raced in the World
Solar Challenge, the premier event in solar car racing. In the World
Solar Challenge, Aurora 4 captured another 4th place finish in the
Cutout Class of vehicles.
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Aurora3
Link to Aurora3 Page
Aurora3 has a top
speed of 78 mph, runs 55 mph on the power of a hairdryer and can
travel over 120 miles without any sun! Four out of the nine days of
Sunrayce 97, the Aurora3 finished in the top three while also
unofficially beating its old average daily speed record of 50.4 mph
to the unprecedented 51.6 mph averaged over 150 miles. Aurora3 also
won the Junior Class Championship at the 1998 World Solar-Car
Rallye, while coming in 7th overall out of 81 registered cars. It
placed higher than many cars in the free class, where unlimited
funds can be spent. With Aurora3, the team continued in its
tradition of dramatically improving the car's efficiency compared to
its predecessors. The project consistently produces vehicles capable
of competing with world-class teams.
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Aurora II
Link to Aurora2 Page
Aurora II won second
place in Sunrayce 95, only eighteen minutes behind the winning car
and more than three hours ahead of the third-place entry. Three
times during the race Aurora II broke the Sunrayce record for daily
average speed and set a record of 50.4 miles per hour. In addition,
its elegant shape won the EDS Award for Best Use of Aerodynamics in
Design. The team's success earned an invitation to compete with
seventy-nine of the world's best solar car at the World Solar
Ralleye in Japan, where Aurora II placed second in the junior class
and ninth overall.
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Aurora I
Link to Aurora1 Page
The extraordinary
success of Aurora II in Sunrayce 95 would not have been possible
without the knowledge and experience gained through the design,
construction and racing of Aurora I in Sunrayce 93. A group of
undergraduate students formed the Solar Vehicle Project in the wake
of the GM Sunrayce USA 1990. The project's first solar car, Aurora
I, placed 21st in a field of 36 in Sunrayce 93 and won the SAE
Design Excellence in Engineering Safety Award. As they raced, the
students who built Aurora I began to plan how they would use the
lessons of the race to design a better solar car. The ideas
generated then became the premise to design and build Aurora
II.
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