Official results for Day 1 of the American Solar Challenge are out, so I have edited my last post a little. This year the American Solar Challenge Cruiser (MOV) class is all about speed, but the Challenger (SOV) class is all about distance: penalty miles and optional “loops.” Here (in the Santa Fe Trail colours of that Edward Holslag mural) are the official SOV results at the end of Day 1. MIT leads Principia by a whisker.
SOV race strategy under the new rules is NP-complete (a version of the knapsack problem), so it is very much a strategist’s race this year.
The distance/speed chart below shows a day in the life of Georgia Tech (team 49). The initial traffic getting out of Kansas City is quite noticeable. Georgia Tech are currently 6th in the SOV class, but may yet creep up the ladder. The inset photograph is from the team.
Scientific Gems 