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Finally

2009-07-15T07:20:00.009-05:00

We headed to the garage early today, so we could get the car on the track. After we put the wheels on, we thought that we were done, but when we tested it, we realized that the left turn was sharper than the right one, which meant we couldn't pass the 15 meter turn. We spent most of the morning working on that and the brakes again. When we went for the scrutineering sessions, everyone was in such a good mood! The car works again!

That's why we're here :)

So finally....After lunch time, Dr. Lehman Marks came over to our station and said, "Congratulations, you are now qualified to race." Everyone started screaming and jumping. It was probably the best and memorable moment ever. :)

We finally got out into the track, with smiles so bright that they can light up Texas. :) Our first driver was Wojtek. He loved it, and didn't seem to want to change drivers. Then Dylan drove and after him Kamal. We drove for about three hours and in those three hours, we made 40 laps. 40! We went at approximately 26 miles per hour.

We couldn't have done this without everyone's help.
Thank You to the Houston team, The Solar Knights, Tushka Hashi :)

We ended the day in a good note, and couldn't wait to come back tomorrow because we're ready to race!

Al & Lien singing :)

Our Baby out on the track!

Dan and Wojtek doing the turning part of the scrutineering.

Look at us go!

Wojtek at the starting line.

Good Luck

2009-07-14T13:24:00.008-05:00

Everything seems to be going in a new direction. We finally have the axles, so we put the wheels back on. Then we went to Home Depot and got two long steel angle iron for the back aluminum bar.

the crack is fixed with steel angle iron

We have wheels now!!!!

Don't we look pretty!? :)

A New Day :)

2009-07-14T10:49:00.009-05:00

The race started, and we wacthed as everyone lined up at the starting line. Sadly, we're not there. :'( We will be though....SOON! Nothing can bring us down, because we just have to believe that we can do it. If you put your mind to something, nothing will get in your way. I mean, we're high school students, and we're building a solar car!

So right now we're still fixing the wheel, putting on the axel. Then after that we can test the brakes! :D When we have the wheels on, we can actually get through all the scrutineering. There's six stations that we have to go through, and we haven't passed any. :/

Dan & James working on wheels and axel

But...Everyone is more energized now that we have parts to fix, and things to do, beacuse yesterday, since we had so much to fix, but so little to work with, everyone's sprits weren't so high. But today is a new day with a different story :)

Wojtek and Mr. Ouellette :]

Writer Zack Van Eyck interviewing our members :)

Dylan expains the reasoning behind the Powerade bottle.

Bad Luck....

2009-07-13T11:29:00.001-05:00

All the teams are continuing with thier scrutineering stations, but we haven't got to any yet. :( We are still working on the brakes, its a mystery why they're not work. We got a new Master cylinder from the Houston Team. We installed new metal pipping for the brake fluids and we have bleed them for about three hours.

Alicja working on brakes

We have to take out both wheels so we can remove the axel and get new ones made of another stronger material.We went for our electial scrutineering, but the lights stopped working. O_O That's another problem.

Mr. Ouellette , Dan, and Wojtek went to a metal shop outside of dallas to get a new pair or axels, it took all afternoon. With them gone, we didn't have much to do beacuse we need the axels, to put wheels on, to do ebverything else.

If it wasn't bad enough, towards the end of the day, while we were waiting for the axels to get here, the car tipped over and fell on its side. :'( Everything seems to always happpen to us. Thank goodness no one was close to the car, or even worse under it! Now there's two more things we have to fix, the tie rod, which is completely bent, and the aluminum bar on the back of the car cracked. Oh Boy.....

Day 2

2009-07-12T12:12:00.004-05:00

Everyone was up at seven and started on the car. Alicja and Dan were still working on the brakes. They just don't seem to want to corporate.
Today seemed like a very bad day, because most of the memebers were not here last year, so they weren't used to the heat, seeing how in Connecticut, the hottest temperature was like eighty degrees. So our advisor sent them back to the hotel. We learned a new thing today though. If we get everyone trying to work on the car, then less work gets done. But if we had less people around the car more work would get done.

Texasss!

2009-07-11T14:51:00.004-05:00

On our way to Texas! :)

We're finally back in Texas. We only have three returning members;Dylan Yott, Alicja Urbanczyk, and Maggie Li. The b right side is that we have nine new members; four seniors, three sophomores, and five juniors.
Last year. we only had one driver, this year we have eight! :) Since we have so many drivers, a few of them are going to help drive the other solar cars.

When we left the airport, we went straight to Sonic, because back in Connecticut there are No Sonic anywhere!

Rock Cats Robotics Night

2009-05-27T09:05:00.003-05:00

For the past month we've been selling Rock Cats tickets for May 27th, and we got fifty percent of the amount. While we were there, we set up a table and posters displaying our work, it helped us raise about $ 120! :)

Having work to show people what you've done really helps because they see what we've actually accomplished.

New Members

2009-01-08T14:42:00.001-06:00

The scale model of the new car is coming along great......except for the fact that we ran out of PVC pipes. :/ not good.
At first we started to put the model together with masking tape, but we learned the hard way, and realized that it kept falling off. So we made it the way a first grader would make a pinata. Paper Mache! :) It was extremely messy but very fun. The more we worked on the model the more excited we got for the race.

Exciting news!
We have recruited a lot of new members to join the SKIDDLES solar car team (hopefully we can send them all to Texas this year).
-Abell Asres
-Agnes Kosciolek
-Alejandra Munoz
-Christian Torres
-Daniel Jablonski
-Daniel Marcantonio
-Eden Beaudoin
-Heidi Holt
-Kamal Sahoobah
-Mahmud Chowdhury
-Sam Kelly
-Wojtek Marianski
This is exciting! :D

Our beautiful family :)

-Skiddles

PVC Model

2008-12-18T16:31:00.000-06:00

Today we decided that we couldn't have everything done if everyone was at one working station, so we split up into sub groups. Ian led a group of the members to the design, where they will make a scale model of the new car out of PVC pipe. Eden led another group of people to brainstorm on some ideas for fund raising seeing how we are in great need of money. @_@ While those members were occupied, the rest of the members, mostly the ones who went to Texas already, worked on fixing up the old car for show and tell. :)

-Skiddles

New Design

2008-12-01T14:25:00.000-06:00

The Dell Winston Solar Car Challenge is eight months away! yay! :)

One of our Junior members, Ian Martin, created a new design for the upcoming race. It will carry five solar panels instead of three, for more efficiency and power. The new car is also designed so that the tallest member (6'2) can drive as well as the shortest member (4'11). :) Which is a big difference from the old car we have because it would have been very very cramped inside the car for someone at the height of 6'2. Another change the new car has, is that instead of having a joy stick for steering, we will have an actual steering wheel. Much easier!

-Skiddles

New Beginnings :)

2008-11-14T00:48:00.001-06:00

Our team usually doesn't start the solar car until the beginning of January because our team participates in the CT BEST and the South's BEST Robotics Competition, but this year we decided to started early because of the success we had in Texas.

We talked about the good and bad about the competition. Also, about what we can do to improve the car, etc. Finally, everyone decided that we should create a totally new solar car, a better, faster, and more efficient one. Especially since we'll be on the road race this coming year. The meeting dispersed with a feeling of excitement and anxiety.

-Skiddles

Football Game

2008-10-03T09:03:00.001-05:00

Today the Skiddles team attended a New Britain High School football game, which we raised $150 from donations. At the game we brought the car and set up a table with all our posters and achievements.

Rock Cats

2008-08-31T15:21:00.004-05:00

Today we went to the New Britain Rockcats Stadium to fundraiser and to show off the car. We raised about a good hundred dollars. :D It was very fun because the little kids that come get so excited when they see the car, even though they don't know the significance.

Fi-Tech

2008-08-04T15:06:00.001-05:00

While many teens are out on beaches and swimming in pools, the NBHS Skiddles Solar Car Team Attended a Fi-Tech Orientation.
Fi-Tech is a program available to the high school students interested in science and technology. The program promotes science, engineering, and technology to future Bill Gates because they are the future. :)
At the orientation, we brought the car over and showed them what we accomplished in four weeks, what we did at the race, etc. Everyone was very impressed! It turned out to be a blast because even thought it was beautiful outside, we were inside talking and showing off the solar car. Everyone enjoyed it, that's the beauty of it, to show everyone how much you learn and how you can have fun at the same time! :)

-Skiddles

Going Home

2008-07-11T23:53:00.000-05:00

On the flight home, the team was thinking about a new name for next year. But then we thought, we should keep the name Skiddles because it’s original, and when you say Skiddles, everyone will know its us. :] So we all agreed on keeping Skiddles. Then maybe, when we get another car, we can name it snickers :]

So we finally got back to New Britain at around 6:30. We’re pretty glad the week is over. It’s been a long week. We’ll finally be able to get some rest. The work, the arguments, the sweat, all paid off. J Can’t till next year. Driving from Texas to Colorado. That should be fun.

*The Skiddles team are going to modify the car so we can compete in classic division next year, and design a new car for the open division as well. Then, if we get enough funds we can compete in Australia for the Panasonic Solar Race in October of 2010.

-Skiddles

Day 6

2008-07-10T23:27:00.000-05:00

We were all very sad today was the last day. :[ Our car didn’t go as well as we thought it would. One of the solar panels wasn’t charging enough so the car kept slowing down a lot. After a couple of laps we just decided to get off the track so the car could charge a little bit and go for the final finishing lap.

Quyen! Our only Driver.

At the awards ceremony, it was probably the happiest and the saddest moment. We were all happy because we placed SECOND!!!! And sad because tomorrow, we have to leave. :[ Congratulations to Houston team for the first place in Open Division and Classic Division. Good Job. Congratulations to Winston for second place in Classic division.

This is our first year in the competition, and placed second in the open division! Now aren’t you proud of us New Britain?!?And did i mention we received the Guntis Terauds Award!? :]

Skiddles!! & then theres Jonathan :]

Oh yeah, and we got 3rd place on the 100 meter dash. ^_^

- Skiddles

Day 5

2008-07-09T23:24:00.000-05:00

Today Josh from the Houston team drove the car for us. Since we only have one driver, Quyen, and she was getting pretty tired. It was pretty cloudy today, so almost all the teams had trouble getting more laps in. We were hoping to get more than just 30 laps in today. But somehow our batteries kept dying even though it said it was fully charged. So we had to get off the track and fix that. All together we made 30 laps in today.

Today, we had the 100 meter dash competition, and the trailer competition. We did the 100 meter dash competition. It went pretty well. We didn’t even think about the trailer competition! Considering the size of our trailer! It’s too small!!! When we had to load it on to the trailer before we left, back in New Britain, it took hours! Next year, we’re going for the trailer competition though. :] When we get a bigger better trailer.

Look at Josh ^^ :] from the Houston Team

-Skiddles

Day 4

2008-07-08T23:22:00.000-05:00

So now that we finally passed the general scrutineering, we have a couple more to do today. We’re almost there.

The electrical scrutineering was probably the easiest one! We just had to put some more electrical tape on some open bolts, so when people accidentally touch them, they don’t get shocked. And then were done! :] Next we had the endurance test. That one is where we go around the track once and then on the second lap, we have to fake a emergency stop, and the driver had to get out of the car. Then the rest of the team had to go out to the track and get it with the trailer. We passed that one as well. :] The tilt and turn test didn’t go so well. Since on of our wheels broke the day before, we were scared to do the tilt test (you had to tilt the car 20° and it had to be steady, on both sides!). Then we had to do the turning test. Ehhhh. At first it went too far, then it didn’t go far enough. So then we had to keep adjusting it, and then finally, about the seventh time, it went perfectly. The car turned better on the left side than the right. But we passed. :] Lastly, all we had left was the brake test. That took a quick 20 seconds!
And then…………..we finally got out on the track today!!! Yay! Everyone was just so happy. :] We didn’t have the car ready for the first session, so we raced in the afternoon session. We got in 20 laps. Not bad! :] it was the greatest feeling to finally see the car out on the track. Thank you to everyone that helped us out!! Biolxi, Houston, New York! ^_^ It was awesome! The car probably went 25 mph. At times the driver went so fast, we had to tell her to slow down.

We were supposed to have the 100 meter dash competition today, but since it was so cloudy, the judges delayed it until tomorrow. But we won 3rd place for the car carrying competition! We didn’t think we’d win anything because we dropped it, but wa-la we got a trophy. Never underestimate yourself! This is what you call a perfect day! :]

-Skiddles

Day 3

2008-07-07T23:16:00.000-05:00

Today was the first day of racing. Sadly we weren’t able to race today. We haven’t passed all the scrutineering tests yet. So we worked as all the other teams went on the track. Everyone was pretty down. But the people who weren’t racing help us out. We had a lot of trouble with brakes. They needed to be bleed, and that took forever! (Bleeding the brakes is when you need to get all the air bubbles out of the mass cylinders or else the brakes wont work.) Then we connect the solar panels.

FINALLY we tested the car. IT WORKED!!!!!! We nearly screamed our heads off. We were soo happy. All the hard work paid off. The car went around the parking lot a couple of times. We all started making phone calls to everyone else back home. “We did it! It works!” and THEN, the car broke…………………. The driver didn’t want to hit the building so she took a sharp turn. Ehhhh. The left and the back wheel were turned at an angle and got twisted. So, we pushed the car back into the garage and took off the left and the back wheel. Work, heat, sweat. We were tired. When we were finally done putting everything back together, we went to the general scrutineering. We passed. Finally. Maybe, finally, we’ll get to race tomorrow. :]

At the end of the day, we went for the car carrying competition. What were we thinking?!? Our car weighs like 500 pounds!!! We dropped the car after a couple feet. :[

Alicja got tired ;]

Our car <3

-Skiddles

Day 2

2008-07-06T22:42:00.000-05:00

We moved the car into the Texas Motor Speedway Garage Today. The track was beautiful. It was a longgg day today. Our main goal was to get pass the general scrutineering today so we can get the car out on the track tomorrow. We met a lot of new people from other states. The other cars were awesome, some great designs. They were all very friendly; they offered to help us out. :]

Sadly....we didnt get pass scruinteering today. :[

The boys working hard.

Dylan hard at work :]

- Skiddles

Day 1

2008-07-05T16:49:00.000-05:00

It was SUCH a long day today! We all expected to come to Texas and enjoy the compition, no. When we arrived at the hotel, a beautiful one may i say, we met with Mr. Ouellette, then we checked in, and went to the team orientation. After the orientation, We found out that our car, just broke!!! and the first scruinteering was an hour away. The problem was that, since we had such a small trailor, We had to tilt the car to make it fit. So when we tilted the car, and on the way down to Texas, since our batteries were so heavy, they just slide to the front, and broke the auminum bar supporting it. The batteries were 75 pounds each! Then with the weight of the batteries, the shocks weren't able to support the weight, so have to take those off as well. Here's the list of things we had to do:

Change the direction of the horns
Lock tight al the bolts
Take off the shocks & replace it with iron bars
Fix crush zone.
Fix battery box
Fix wiring.

When we went for the first scruinteering, the judges told us we had to :

Get a 5 point harness seat belt
Grind down all the sharp edges
Move the horns to the front
Lock tight all the bolts again
Label all the switches

It was a LONG day.

-Skiddles

Texas

2008-07-04T16:46:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow morning we are heading off Texas!
Thank you to Mr. Rudnik, Mr. Mendito, Mr. Pelliter, Mr. Bennder, and of course, Mr. Ouellette! ♥

-Skiddles

Clean Up

2008-07-03T16:43:00.000-05:00

We had to come one last day to clean up the mess we made in the metal shop! Thank you Mr. Rudnick! for staying after and letting us use the metal shop :] 2 more days until Texas!

-Skiddles

Too Small

2008-07-02T16:37:00.000-05:00

Today, we loaded the car into the trailor. we'd expected it to take 20 minutes tops. it took hours! part of that reason is that we didn't get a good trailor. The traior we used was rented, and it wasn't even big enough! so it took hours to get the car on to the trailor!
*one thing to keep in mind, GET A BIGGER TRALIOR NEXT YEAR.

-Skiddles

Steering

2008-07-01T16:30:00.000-05:00

The steering is the hardest part of the car. It's difficult! We worked on the steering for the whole day. And we also finished the shirts. They look great by the way. :] Today is our last day to work on the car, because tomorrow, Mr. Ouellette, our sponsor & mentor, is driving the car down to Texas. What a long trip! The steering took the whole day! and when i say whole day, i mean literally. We finally left at around 7!

We took a last group picture :]

-Skiddles

5 more days

2008-06-30T16:16:00.000-05:00

We're less than a week away from Texas! the team met again on Friday, but i forgot to update.
:[ Sorry! Well, today, the girls worked on the T-shirts. It says NBHS in the front corner, and in the back we made it look like a sports jersey. it says Skiddles & our favorite number. We put the sponsor stickers on the side of the car. we welded the motor on, but found out the chain wasn't long enough. So Mr. Pelliter had to go order more motor chains. We Almost done! The only thing left to do was the steering. We are all done with the electrical, thanks to Mr. Bennder.

Look at Jon working hard.

-Skiddles

Tired

2008-06-26T15:52:00.000-05:00

Today, we just remembered, we didnt have team shirts. So the girls designed shirts for the team. We decided to have the colors of the rainbow for our shirts. :] isn't that clever?

We attached the head and back lights on!

We also put the seat belts on. Safety comes first. :]

Look at Quyen! ^_^

we put the battery box fans on !!

One more week away from Texas! ^_^

-Skiddles

Bad News

2008-06-25T20:02:00.000-05:00

By now, everyone was extremely tired. Here's what we did today; screwed the top of the battery box on, hooked the horns on (ours is one of a kind, ;] it plays Dixie from Dukes of Hazzard), bolted the auxiliary battery on, fixed the back wheel shocks (so the car finally doesn't bounce), welded more bars so it can support the battery box, more electrical. :] By lunch, we were all about to pass out. Good thing Dylan brought 2 pounds of pasta!! ;D Thanx Dylan!

Sadly, today, who received terrible news. Mr. Menditto, our generous sponser, notified us that only 6 of the members can go to Texas. :'[ beacuse we didnt have enough funds for all of us to go. :[ There is 12 members of the team!!! So, during lunch break, we all decided on who would go. The final desicion came down to Dylan, Ian, Jon, Alicja, Quyen, and Maggie. But then Ian kindly gave up his spot for Shaun. We are 4 thousand dollars in debt. Once we get back from Texas, we have some major funding to do, and pay back Mr. Menditio.

Here are just some more pictures :]

Shaun, Abel, and Jon :]

Adam & our solar panels :]

- Skiddles

Another Day

2008-06-24T22:45:00.000-05:00

Today, we did a lot more work than yesterday. Everyone was extremely tired by the end of the day. We sanded the pixie-glass, so we could glue it together. We welded the brakes supports on and then attached the brakes. :]]

See!! ^^

We also attached aluminum sheet on the bottom of the car . But then we realized that the sheet wasn't strong enough for the driver to stand on. So we welded some more aluminum bars to the front. We drilled more holes so we could adjust the seat. We grinded down the rollbar so it would fit aat the drivers seat. After lunch, we mostly worked on electrical.

-Skiddles

Working Hard.

2008-06-23T21:09:00.000-05:00

School is finally over, but our NBHS Solar Car Team also known as ,Skiddles, came to school, like its just another regular school day. The team met at 9 am, and we started working on the car. The competition was less than 2 weeks away, and yet we still only have a frame and some parts.

Yup that's our car ;]

Today we started on the suspension and attached the shocks. We fixed the back wheel so it didn't wobble. We also started on some of the electrical, with the help of Mr. Bennder. Thank You Mr Bennder! ^_^ After lunch break, we cut some aluminum so it can be welded to support the brakes.

Things we got done today:

Back wheel.
Suspension.
*Sadly, this kinda of took all day.

Then finally at 5, we all get to go home. :]

- Skiddles :]

Flower for a Dollar

2008-02-12T09:12:00.002-06:00

We decided to sell flowers for Valentines Day for fund raiding. We called it Flower for a dollar. So during lunch waves, the members would sit in the cafe and sell the flowers. It was very successful because in the first thirty minutes we sold 11 dozen.