Letter From the President

Wow, what a summer it has been! The summer semester is always the most challenging for the team as everyone seems to be half way around the world. Even with the miles that were between us, the team is very pleased with the progress that has been made as Celeritas begins to take form. We are very excited for the long days and nights that await us.
In just a couple of days, the team will be hosting our callout for the year. Based upon the national attention that has been bestowed upon the team over the past year as well as the buzz around the Purdue campus, we are expecting upwards of 100 students to attend!
With the funding for Celeritas well underway, believe it or not, the team is now beginning to raise funds for our next urban concept solar vehicle. In order to surpass the high expectations that will ac-company Celeritas in the 2011 Eco-Marathon, we need to secure adequate funding starting now. To begin the design of this next vehicle, the team needs to get a feel for the funds available. With your generous support, we are hoping to have adequate resources for a ‘space-grade’ solar array. Securing such funding will allow for a sleeker design reducing the amount of power the vehicle needs and helping the team to continue to dominate in the world of solar racing!
Once again, thank you for your support as we head towards some exciting times!
-Ted Pesyna

Letter From the Aeronautical Director

The Aeronautical team has finished design and is ready to start building. We have used our CATIA knowledge to generate models for molds based on our final design. The team is now working with people in industry to create molds so that we can begin
our layup process. Everyone is excited for the build season as the team stocks supplies and begins to prepare to CNC the molds.
We have met many of the challenges presented to us in the design of Celeritas and look forward to a busy semester of working to bring the car from computer model into reality for the Shell Eco-marathon Americas 2011!
-Justin Krull

Letter From the Electrical Director

The electrical team has finished the design of three main projects for Celeritas over the summer: an essential battery protection system, an advanced telemetry computer and a driver dis-play that will provide immediate feedback. In the next few months, the electrical team will be working hard to program and integrate these components with the array and the rest of the car.
One of the more interesting upcoming projects is the implementation of a controller-area network (CAN) for Celeritas. Use of a CAN will allow all of the individual components to communicate with each other and provide real time data from the car. This will allow the team to analyze data more rapidly and improve our ability to troubleshoot problems. It will also give drivers feedback on their driving efficiency.
-Zachary Smith

Letter From the Mechanical Director

The mechanical team has been working on finalizing the suspension and chassis designs over the summer. The rear suspension will be a double swing arm design, similar to what is found in after market motorcycle suspensions. The chassis has been redesigned to better fit drivers and to improve balance by changing the center of gravity. As the team starts building Celeritas, the mechanical team continues to look into ways to reduce the weight of the car and thus improve its efficiency.
-Ian Bohannon