Since 1999, The College of New Jersey has been competing in Solar Splash, a World Championship of Collegiate Solar Boating. Nine college teams from around the globe built and raced solar powered electric boats in a variety of events that measure maneuverability, speed and endurance as well as design, workmanship, technology and teamwork in a 4-day competition in June. BRECOflex CO., L.L.C. was happy to play a part in their drive train design by offering engineering support and sponsoring the necessary timing belts and drive components.
Each team member played a crucial part in the overall project. For the drive train, Andrew Gutman, TCNJ Drive Train Lead calculated the center distance between shafts and determined their belt sizing. BRECOflex applications engineer, Vinnie Allegro worked with Andrew to recommend the pulley sizing that would yield the most power for the purpose of the competition while still meeting all safety requirements. They chose two 25 AT10 MOV truly endless BFX timing belts, a shorter one for the sprint drive and a slightly longer one for the endurance drive. They also used a BRECOflex pulley and tensioner to complete the drive components.
The goal of this year’s team was to build upon the design and concept of last year’s team. Extra consideration was paid to electrical, drivetrain, steering and weight distribution. After nine months of hard work, the result was an overall 5thplace finish including winning the Drive Train Design Award, The Innovation Award, Second Place for Video Presentation, Third Place for Technical Report, and Third Place in the 300 Meter Sprint Event.
BRECOflex was happy to sponsor them and extends big congratulations to the team and their advisors for the hard work and dedication they put into Solar Splash as well as their engineering education.
To learn more about competing in Solar Splash, you can review their Entry Requirements. BRECOflex is always interested in working with engineering and robotics teams. To learn more, contact us.
