ASC 2021 Updated Route Map

The American Solar Challenge is on again in July/August this year. In honour of the Santa Fe Trail Bicentennial, it will be following the Santa Fe Trail. The currently expected route is shown on the map above (although this still includes some guesswork from Google Directions).

The route crosses the 7,840 ft (2,390 m) Raton Pass. Starting from Trinidad, CO, the Raton Pass climbs 558 m in 22 km (2.5%), with a maximum grade of 6% on the steepest sections:

“Breaking camp while it was still early, our cavalcade began the steep and tortuous ascent of the Raton Pass. Today we glide easily over hairpin curves that in 1860 meant broken axles and crippled horses. The trail was a faint wheel mark winding in and out over fallen trees and huge boulders.” (Marion Sloan Russell, Land of Enchantment)

See also my previous posts about the history of the trail, my updated teams list for the event, and the National Park Service page for the event.

Because the exact route has not been released yet, very approximate elevations, based on Google Directions, are shown in the chart below. On the loop between Las Vegas and Santa Fe, the route probably goes over the Glorieta Pass, but that seems to be relatively gentle.

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Eurovision Song Contest and GDP

Following up on my previous post and the one before that, here is some more analysis of Eurovision Song Contest voting for this year. There are some interesting correlations between national tele-votes (not jury votes) and demographic variables, especially per capita GDP. As the map above shows, this is essentially a proxy for the northwest–southeast axis.

Iceland came 4^th with the song 10 Years in spite of never actually competing; a positive COVID-19 test result restricted the band to their hotel; and they were judged based on a tape of their rehearsal performance. The richer Nordic countries seem to have been especially generous in this situation (see chart below).

Conversely, the winning song from Italy received generally lower tele-votes from the richer countries (I am not entirely sure why):

The song Je me casse from Malta came 7^th overall. As with Iceland, the higher tele-votes came from the richer countries, although the pattern here is fuzzier than for Iceland. There are also some notable outliers: the Australian tele-vote of 8 for Malta probably reflects the 176,000 people of Maltese descent living in Australia.

Russia shows a pattern somewhat similar to Italy (p < 0.004, R² = 22%), but this is simply because the former Soviet countries that vote for Russia are also the poorer ones. A better predictor can be obtained by counting Russian expatriates (p < 0.001, R² = 44%).

And finally, here is a plot of tele-vote totals against jury vote totals. They differ substantially:

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Eurovision Song Contest: More Analysis

Following up on my previous post, here is some more analysis of Eurovision Song Contest voting for this year. The maps above show a hierarchical clustering analysis on tele-voting (above) and jury voting (below), based on calculating simple Euclidean distance between vote vectors and on an assumption that countries would give themselves 12 points if they could. Some key differences between the four main clusters are highlighted in colour (note that Azerbaijan, Israel, the Netherlands, and the UK clustered alone or in a pair):

Tele-voting cluster 1 (green)

Countries: Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Norway, Poland, Sweden, and Ukraine.

Average votes:  Italy:  8, Iceland:  8, Ukraine:  8, Finland:  8, Lithuania:  8, France:  6, Switzerland:  4, Sweden:  4, Norway:  4, Malta:  2, Russia:  2, Serbia:  1, Belgium:  1, Albania:  1, Germany:  1, Greece:  0, Cyprus:  0, and Moldova:  0.

Tele-voting cluster 2 (purple)

Countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, and Switzerland.

Average votes:  Italy:  10, Serbia:  10, France:  8, Switzerland:  6, Ukraine:  6, Finland:  5, Iceland:  4, Russia:  2, Bulgaria:  2, Greece:  2, Azerbaijan:  2, Albania:  2, Spain:  2, Malta:  1, Lithuania:  1, Portugal:  1, Cyprus:  1, and Moldova:  0.

Tele-voting cluster 3 (red)

Countries: Albania, Czech Republic, France, Moldova, Portugal, and Romania.

Average votes:  Moldova:  10, Ukraine:  9, Italy:  8, France:  8, Switzerland:  6, Finland:  4, Greece:  4, Russia:  3, Portugal:  3, Iceland:  2, Sweden:  2, Albania:  2, Lithuania:  1, Bulgaria:  1, Israel:  1, Azerbaijan:  1, Serbia:  0, and Cyprus:  0.

Tele-voting cluster 4 (yellow)

Countries: Cyprus, Georgia, Greece, Russia, and San Marino.

Average votes:  Italy:  10, Greece:  9, Cyprus:  9, France:  7, Ukraine:  6, Finland:  4, Russia:  4, San Marino:  4, Lithuania:  3, Switzerland:  2, Bulgaria:  2, Moldova:  2, Azerbaijan:  2, Malta:  1, Albania:  1, Iceland:  0, and Serbia:  0.

Check out the disputed songs: Iceland: 10 Years, Lithuania: Discoteque, Serbia: Loco Loco, Moldova: Sugar, Greece: Last Dance, and Cyprus: El diablo.

The map below shows jury voting. For jury voting, there were only two substantial clusters (i.e. containing 4 or more countries – Albania, Malta, Romania, France, Israel, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, and Italy clustered alone or in small clusters of 2 or 3 countries).

Jury voting cluster 1 (purple)

Countries: Australia, Austria, Croatia, Czech, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, NM, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, and UK.

Average votes:  Switzerland:  9, Iceland:  8, France:  7, Italy:  6, Malta:  4, Bulgaria:  4, Portugal:  4, Ukraine:  3, Finland:  3, Lithuania:  2, Russia:  2, Israel:  2, Belgium:  2, Greece:  1, Sweden:  1, Serbia:  1, Cyprus:  1, Azerbaijan:  1, San Marino:  1, Netherlands:  1, Spain:  1, Germany:  1, UK:  1, and Moldova:  0.

Jury voting cluster 2 (red)

Countries: Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Moldova, Russia, and San Marino.

Average votes:  Greece:  9, Moldova:  8, Malta:  7, Bulgaria:  7, Italy:  6, France:  6, Russia:  6, Cyprus:  4, Azerbaijan:  4, San Marino:  3, Portugal:  2, Belgium:  2, Switzerland:  1, Iceland:  1, Ukraine:  1, Finland:  1, Lithuania:  1, Sweden:  1, Israel:  1, and Spain:  1.

Check out the disputed songs: Switzerland: Tout l’Univers, Iceland: 10 Years, Greece: Last Dance, and Moldova: Sugar

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Eurovision Song Contest 2021

The Eurovision Song Contest has been on again (strangely, Australia is now part of Europe). On the whole, I didn’t think much of the songs this year, although there were a few gems (like the French entry).

This (revised) chart shows those tele-votes which were surprisingly high, given the total scores (country colours indicate total scores, with grey for non-finalists). Arrows reflect high tele-votes (in a relative sense). Red arrows reflect particularly high tele-votes (in a relative sense), including:

• Austria, Croatia, North Macedonia (NM), Slovenia, and Switzerland ⟶ Serbia (Balkan cluster)
• North Macedonia (NM) and Italy ⟶ Albania (ditto)
• Cyprus ⟶ Greece ⟶ Cyprus (as usual)
• Netherlands ⟶ Greece (the Greek singer resides in the Netherlands)
• Georgia ⟶ Greece
• Russia ⟶ Cyprus
• Moldova ⟶ Russia (former USSR)
• Czech Republic and Romania ⟶ Moldova
• Latvia, Germany, Norway, UK, and Ireland ⟶ Lithuania
• Denmark and Iceland ⟶ Sweden (Nordic cluster)
• Sweden, Iceland, and Estonia ⟶ Finland (ditto)
• Malta ⟶ Norway
• Azerbaijan ⟶ Israel

Regional sentiment and expatriate voting still play a part, I see. Here is the same network overlaid on a map:

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Personality Types and Social Media

Following some discussion with friends, I made a chart comparing the general prevalence of MBTI personality types with their prevalence on Facebook (using data from this report). The first of each pair of bars is general prevalence, and the second is prevalence on Facebook.

It can be seen that extroverted types are more likely to be on Facebook than introverted types. However, the IN-J types swim against the tide. The chart below provides a bit of a summary.

The third chart shows the results for Twitter. Here extroverts are also over-represented, especially the EN-P and ESTJ types, but not the other ES– types. Among the introverts, the ISTJ type swims against the type, and is in fact the most common personality type on Twitter.

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Zhurong on Mars

For people asking “Where are the pictures of China’s Zhurong rover?” – it’s still early days. Above is a timeline comparison with NASA’s Perseverance. Testing processes take time – Perseverance did not start driving until 15 days after arrival. And apparently Zhurong’s initial uplink speed was only 16 bit/s.

As I understand the schedule, Zhurong will roll off the lander on 22 May, and the rover and lander will photograph each other on 27 May.

Update #1: the Zhurong rover has now established a higher-bandwidth uplink via the Tianwen-1 orbiter, so sending photos taken by the lander is now technically feasible.

Update #2: photographs have now been released (rover on left and view down descent ramp on right):

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International Nurses Day 2021

May 12 is International Nurses Day, a day which marks the contributions that nurses make all around the world. The day is in fact the birthday of Florence Nightingale, who built on the work of Christian nuns to found the nursing profession as we know it today.

Florence Nightingale’s work was among the wounded of the Crimean War, so our montage for this year has a military flavour, but it also hints at the vast range of healthcare activities that other nurses carry out. Happy Nurses Day to all nurses!

In the photograph, from top left:

• Detail of Florence Nightingale receiving the Wounded at Scutari, painting by Jerry Barrett
• US Navy Nurse Corps publicity photo (credit)
• A Project Hope nurse attached to hospital ship USNS Comfort trains nurses in Trinidad (credit)
• A Neonatal Intensive Care Unit nurse at Naval Medical Center San Diego checks a newborn (credit)

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Exciting Australian solar car update

Here is a list of 7 active Australian solar car teams. Although the World Solar Challenge has been cancelled, several Australian teams hope to run an Aussie Solar Challenge in October at Wakefield Park near Goulburn, NSW (). That is very exciting news! The format of the event appears to be rather like the iESC.

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7      Adelaide University Solar Racing Team 

Challenger (new car: Lumen III) – They are hoping to attend the 2021 Aussie Solar Challenge (AuSC).

Previously, Adelaide came 21^st at WSC 15; participated at WSC 17; and came 16^th at WSC 19.

 
Left: credit / Right: credit (click images to zoom – OLD PICS)

14    Flinders University 

Two-seat cruiser (Investigator Mk 3) – they were planning to improve aerodynamics, reduce weight, and make some other changes. They have taken an unusual approach to the motor. They will not be racing at AuSC.

Previously, Flinders participated in the WSC 17 Cruiser class and participated in the WSC 19 Cruiser class.

 
Left: credit / Right: credit (click images to zoom – OLD PICS)

15      Western Sydney Solar Team 

Challenger (new car) – but they plan to attend AuSC with their ASC-winning 2017 catamaran Unlimited 2.

Previously, WSU came 11^th at WSC 13; came 10^th at WSC 15; came 6^th at WSC 17; came 20^th at WSC 19; and won ASC 18.

 
Left: Anthony Dekker / Right: Anthony Dekker (click images to zoom)

30      Team Arrow 

Cruiser – They are hoping to attend the 2021 Aussie Solar Challenge (AuSC).

Previously, Arrow came 7^th at WSC 13; came 8^th at WSC 15; came 3^rd in the WSC 17 Cruiser class; participated in the WSC 19 Adventure class; came 5^th at Abu Dhabi 15; and came 8^th at iESC 18. Their team number (30) is the average age of people on the original team.

picture credit (click image to zoom – OLD PIC)

41      Australian National University 

Three-wheel challenger (new car) – They are hoping to attend the 2021 Aussie Solar Challenge (AuSC).

Previously, ANU participated at WSC 17 and participated at WSC 19.

 
Left: credit / Right: credit (click images to zoom – OLD PICS)

75      Sunswift (University of New South Wales) 

Cruiser (new car) – They are hoping to attend the 2021 Aussie Solar Challenge (AuSC).

Previously, Sunswift came 3^rd in the WSC 13 Cruiser class; came 4^th in the WSC 15 Cruiser class; participated in the WSC 17 Cruiser class; and came 2^nd in the WSC 19 Cruiser class.

 
Left: credit / Right: credit (click images to zoom – OLD PICS)

960    Deakin University / ACCIONA (Ascend) 

Two-seat cruiser (new team with car: Ascend) – they will not be racing at AuSC.

picture credit (click image to zoom)

This page last updated 18:00 on 13 August 2021 AEST.

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Exciting European solar car update

This list is obsolete; new version is here.

Here is a list of 18 European teams from 12 countries (including Turkey and Morocco) – 11 Challengers and 7 Cruisers – intending to race in two major upcoming solar car events in the region this year. These events are:

•   iLumen European Solar Challenge        (16–19 September): Top Dutch, Aachen, Agoria, Onda, Bochum, Twente, Nottingham, SER, ITU, Eindhoven, Lodz, Solaris, PUT, and Cluj
•   Solar Challenge Morocco (23–29 October): Solaride, Delft, Top Dutch, Aachen, Agoria, Twente, Chalmers, Mines Rabat, and others – NEW EVENT

In other recent news, several new cars have been revealed.

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1      Solaride  

Two-seat cruiser (new team) – this new team from Estonia hopes to build a Cruiser. They are based in the city of Tartu.

picture credit (click image to zoom)

3      Vattenfall Solar Team (Delft) 

Three-wheel (outrigger) challenger (new car: Nuna11) – this year will be the last year that Delft partners with Vattenfall. Starting in 2022, Brunel will be their main sponsor. They have been recruiting for the 2022 Sasol Solar Challenge, and will also race in Morocco. Their new car features an asymmetrical top surface (to create more downforce on the left wheel), a new motor controller (suitable for hills), and a LiFePO₄ battery.

Previously, Delft won WSC 13; won WSC 15; won WSC 17; came 12^th at WSC 19; won SASOL 14; won SASOL 16; and won SASOL 18. Their team number (3) is a long-standing tradition.

 
Left: credit / Right: credit (click images to zoom)

6        Top Dutch Solar Racing 

Challenger (new car: Green Spirit) – they are hoping to race their new car in Morocco.

Previously, Top Dutch came 4^th at WSC 19 and came 3^rd at iESC 20.

 
Left: Anthony Dekker / Right: credit (click images to zoom)

7        Sonnenwagen Aachen 

Three-wheel (outrigger) challenger (new car: Covestro Photon) – this team did very well in 2019, in spite of being blown off the road. They are excited about racing at Zolder again. They will race 2 cars at Zolder: the new car (7) and the previous car (70). In Morocco they will race as number 7.

Previously, Aachen participated at WSC 17; came 6^th at WSC 19; came 3^rd at iESC 18; and came 5^th and 8^th at iESC 20. Their usual team number (70) is the number they raced with in 2017.

 
Left: Anthony Dekker / Right: credit (click images to zoom)

8        Agoria Solar Team / KU Leuven 

Three-wheel (tadpole) challenger (new car: BluePoint Atlas) – they have built a new car to defend their title. It is named after the Atlas Mountains.

Previously, Agoria came 6^th at WSC 13; came 5^th at WSC 15; came 3^rd at WSC 17; won WSC 19; came 3^rd at Abu Dhabi 15; came 2^nd at iESC 16; came 6^th at iESC 18; came 1^st and 6^th at iESC 20; and won Carrera Solar Atacama 18. Their team number (8) is a long-standing tradition.

 
Left: Anthony Dekker / Right: credit (click images to zoom)

9      Onda Solare 

Four-seat cruiser (Emilia 4 LT) – they won the American Solar Challenge (Cruiser class) in 2018, and they have written up their design process here, but they have since made substantial improvements to the vehicle, including to the aerodynamics, suspension, battery, and solar panels. There is also an unusual open tail.

Previously, Onda came 10^th at WSC 13; participated in the WSC 19 Cruiser class; won the ASC 18 Cruiser class; came 10^th at Abu Dhabi 15; and came 6^th at iESC 16. Their team number (9) is taken from the SS 9, the highway through Bologna, which was once the Roman Via Aemilia (hence also the name of their vehicle).

 
Left: credit / Right: credit (click images to zoom)

11      Hochschule Bochum Solar Car Team 

Two-seat cruiser (thyssenkrupp SunRiser) – for the 2019 World Solar Challenge, Bochum improved their sexy 2-seater SunRiser, which came 3rd in 2015. They also have a solar buggy team. Their current plans appear to involve a hybrid solar-hydrogen vehicle. They will race two cars at older (11 and 42).

Previously, Bochum came 2^nd in the WSC 13 Cruiser class; came 3^rd in the WSC 15 Cruiser class; came 2^nd in the WSC 17 Cruiser class; came 4^th in the WSC 19 Cruiser class; came 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th at iESC 16; came 2^nd, 3^rd, and 5^th in the iESC 18 Cruiser class; came 1^st and 7^th at Albi Eco 18; and came 1^st and 2^nd at Albi Eco 19.

 
Left: Anthony Dekker / Right: Anthony Dekker (click images to zoom)

21        Solar Team Twente 

Three-wheel (tadpole) challenger (new car: Red Horizon) – they have built a three-wheeler this year, and will race both at Zolder and in Morocco.

Previously, Twente came 3^rd at WSC 13; came 2^nd at WSC 15; came 5^th at WSC 17; came 17^th at WSC 19; won iESC 16; came 1^st and 2^nd at iESC 18; and came 2^nd and 4^th at iESC 20. Their team number (21) is a pun and a wish for success in the race (“Twente-One”).

 
Left: Anthony Dekker / Right: credit (click images to zoom)

23      University of Nottingham Solar Racing Team 

Cruiser (new team) – their rather radical approach is to modify a Renault Twizy to have solar panels and improved electrics.

public domain photo

31      Solar Energy Racers 

Asymmetric challenger (new car: SER-4) – they raced their SER-3 in South Africa and Australia. They still have their SER-2, and they are also building a new car.

Previously, SER came 5^th at WSC 13; came 15^th at WSC 19; came 2^nd at ASC 16; came 11^th at Abu Dhabi 15; came 3^rd at SASOL 18; and came 8^th at iESC 16.

 
Left: credit / Right: Anthony Dekker (click images to zoom – OLD PICS)

34      Istanbul Technical University (ITU) 

Challenger (new car: Ariba X) – they discuss their plans here.

Previously, ITU came 17^th at WSC 13; participated at WSC 17; came 7^th at iESC 16; and came 7^th at iESC 20.

 
Left: Anthony Dekker / Right: credit (click images to zoom – OLD PICS)

40      Solar Team Eindhoven 

Cruiser (new car) – after building four “solar family cars,” their focus for 2021 is a Self-sustaining House On Wheels. However, they are also racing two cars at Zolder (5 and 40).

Previously, Eindhoven won the WSC 13 Cruiser class; won the WSC 15 Cruiser class; won the WSC 17 Cruiser class; won the WSC 19 Cruiser class; came 7^th in the iESC 18 Cruiser class; and came 1^st and 2^nd in the iESC 20 Cruiser class. Their team number (40) is the Eindhoven telephone area code.

 
Left: Anthony Dekker / Right: credit (click images to zoom)

45      Lodz Solar Team 

Four-seat cruiser (Eagle Two) – this team has some nice (Polish) news coverage here. They are working on improving their car.

Previously, Lodz participated in the WSC 15 Cruiser class; participated in the WSC 17 Cruiser class; participated in the WSC 19 Cruiser class; came 5^th at SASOL 16; and won the iESC 18 Cruiser class. Their team number (45) is a tradition since 2015.

 
Left: Anthony Dekker / Right: credit (click images to zoom)

51      Chalmers Solar Team 

Three-wheel (tadpole) challenger (new car: Sköll) – they were the first Challenger-class team to reveal a render for their new car.

Previously, Chalmers came 21^st at WSC 19 and participated at Swedish Solar Race 21.

 
Left: credit / Right: credit (click images to zoom)

77      Mines Rabat Solar Team 

Asymmetric challenger (new car: Eleadora 2) – they have worked hard to complete this car (see this video).

Previously, Mines Rabat participated at MSRC 19.

 
Left: credit / Right: credit (click images to zoom)

81      Solar Team Solaris (Dokuz Eylül University) 

Challenger (new car: S11) – they missed the last ESC, but hope to attend the next one with their new car.

Previously, Solaris participated in the WSC 13 Adventure class; came 25^th at WSC 15; came 18^th at WSC 19; came 9^th at iESC 16; came 2^nd at Albi Eco 18; and came 2^nd at MSRC 19.

 
Left: credit / Right: credit (click images to zoom)

88      PUT Solar Dynamics (Poznań University of Technology) 

Two-seat cruiser (new team with car: Klara) – they have revealed their car, which weighs 750 kg and has an 18.5 kWh battery. This (Polish) video describes their project.

 
Left: credit / Right: credit (click images to zoom)

99      TU Cluj-Napoca Solar Racing Team

Challenger (new team with car: SolisEV-1) – this is a brand-new team from Cluj-Napoca in Romania. They appear to have no online presence at all, and I have extremely grave doubts about their participation (although their institution does have a Formula Student team).

public domain photo

This page last updated 10:56 on 19 August 2021 AEST.

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ASC 2021 Update

The American Solar Challenge is on again in July/August 2021, and will (per an ASC announcement) be following the Mountain Route on the Santa Fe Trail (see map below, as well as my previous post series). The image above shows recent progress from University of Minnesota Solar Vehicle Project (35), Georgia Tech (49) – new aerobody, Western Michigan (30) – bottom shell, and Bridger Solar Team (406) – frame. See also my updated teams list.

The Mountain Route crosses the 7,840 ft (2,390 m) Raton Pass. The “big climb” at the 2018 American Solar Challenge (following the Oregon Trail) was 902 m in 35 km (2.6%). Starting from Trinidad, CO (highlighted on the map, but not an actual stop), the Raton Pass has a similar climb of 558 m in 22 km (2.5%), with a maximum grade of 6% on the steepest sections.

Because the exact route has not been released yet, very approximate elevations, based on Google Directions, are shown in the chart below. On the loop between Las Vegas and Santa Fe, the route probably goes over the Glorieta Pass, but that seems to be relatively gentle.

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