Solar Freaks

Hi Karo,

Sorry 'bout that, bumped the keyboard.

No hassle, better to get things straightened out now. Makes for less arguments later.

Rule 8.23 Cargo space clearly states in the third sentence: "There must be no holes, gaps or cut outs whatsoever in the floor or the enclosing side." This is pretty clear, no holes, gaps or cut outs means no holes, gaps or cut outs anywhere. The top, which may be the solar array, is not specifically mentioned and may therefore be assumed to be exempt from this ruling. So, if the car were waterproof, it should be possible to fill the cargo space with water and not have it leak out.

The fifth sentence then adds:"The front and rear boundaries of the space must be flat rigid fixed transverse bulkheads...." Again, not the sides but the front and back of the cargo space. Transverse means perpendicular to the direction of the car, that is straight up and down and straight across. The first sentence allows the cargo space to be "attached to or part of the chassis." So, theoretically their is nothing wrong with an axle, deemed to be part off the chassis, being part of a bulkhead, provided there are no holes or gaps left anywhere. However, why would you have an axle that ran across the car at an angle? Otherwise it cannot possibly pass through a bulkhead.

Thanks John, cleared things up. In the sentence, "There must be no holes, gaps or cut outs whatsoever in the floor or the enclosing side.", i thought it meant there were to be no holes in the SIDE walls. Just another misinterpretation. Sorry John.

Karo,

Karo,

I can see your confusion now. The term "sides" doesn't just mean left and right sides, it also includes front and back sides. That's why the rule says "floor and ALL sides". If, say, for some reason you had an octagonal space, it would still mean all sides, or if you had an irregular space with flat front and rear sides as required but all other sides curved, it still means ALL sides.

"The car must have a fully enclosed cargo space, complete with a floor and all sides, attached to or as part of the chassis. The space must be located behind the driver’s cabin. There must be no holes, gaps or cut outs whatsoever in the floor or the enclosing sides. The solar array structure may form the top but no other part of the enclosure. The front and rear boundaries of the space must be flat rigid fixed transverse bulkheads separated by at least 200mm. One bulkhead must have an area at least 200 sq cm bounded by four straight edges, and the other bulkhead must have an area of at least 100 sq cm, also bounded by four straight edges. Teams will be required to demonstrate these areas to the scrutineers. It must be possible to fit a cargo block 100mm x 100mm x 50mm high weighing 2kg inside the cargo space with the solar array in place. The bulkheads may be any shape beyond the four straight lines and the enclosed space may be larger if desired but the entire enclosure must meet the conditions outlined above and no items other than simple car wiring or any required ballast may be carried in the enclosed space. With the solar array structure removed from the car, the designated cargo space floor must be capable of supporting the cargo block standing on any part of that floor, and the car must be capable of free and stable movement with that block in place."

Hey John,

I just want further clarification In regards with the cargo area:

If the cargo space is enclosed (including bulkheads), how would the car wiring travel through the cargo space without a little hole to get through (assuming electronics and motor were behind the cargo space)?

The only thing I can think of is create the hole for the wire (e.g miniswitch) but seal the gap if there is a hole.

firefly,

Quite correct. All you have to do is either have a nice neat hole just big enough for the wires to pass through, or seal the hole up with a bit of glue or similar. Not just tape because this may not be considered to be rigid. For the purposes of this rule, consider the situation where the wires have been carefully and neatly sliced off flush with the interior surface of the cargo space side. The section of the wires passing through the side are now part of that side. Nowhere does it say that the sides have to be made from only only one material. Just no holes.

Does that alo mean i cant have any guide pegs, maximizers, switches, wheels in that space between the bulkheads?

Karo

Karo,

It certainly does. You could have guides UNDER the space with perhaps the heads of the mounting bolts on top of the floor but not with the bolts sticking up because this could be interpreted as part of the guide height adjustment. You most certainly cannot have a maximiser or any switches at all inside the space. You could perhaps have wheels in the space BUT they would have to be fully enclosed in mudguards so there are no holes. They must not affect the area of the bulkheads and they must not prevent the weighted block from fitting in.

hi john,

in relation to karo's question is an arrowsharft running parallel to the bulkheads for the front 2 wheels between the bulkheads ok or not???

thanks viper01

Does that mean i can have my motor inside the space to if it is all covered?

viper01,

As far as I am concerned, an arrow shaft used in this manner, provided it was completely fixed to the floor or one of the bulkheads, and the weighted block would still fit in, would be considered a part of the chassis and therefore quite legal.

Karo,

Concerning the motor. It doesn't say that the floor or the sides other than the front and back have to be flat, so as long as the motor was fully covered and the cover attached to either the floor or the right or left side, and the block will still fit in, then I see no problem. You might run into problems if you attach it to a bulkhead unless the bulkhead is intact without the motor cover.

Good questions, it shows that people are thinking outside the square, or in this case inside the cargo space. That is the whole idea of this sort of rule, leave it a bit open and see what interpretations designers can come up with.

[quote="john jeffery"] The 100 sq cm bulkhead could be 320mm x 31.25 mm but be careful because the weight block is 50mm high so it won't fit next to this bulkhead.

Just want to confirm that a car can have a min height of 31.25mm because the regulations does not state the block must fit against the bulkheads, but just within the cargo space.

Jun

Hi Jun,

Correct, the weight block does not have to fit next to a bulkhead, but, it must fit in the cargo space with the solar array in place, so you have to allow for that somehow. However, have you forgotten that the minimum height for the 200 sq cm bulkhead will be 62.5mm? That means the car will have to be at least 62.5mm high at that point, not 31.25mm and this makes more room for the block.

Hello all,

Going off what was said at last night's national committee meeting, it looks like cars from the same school will only be confined to the same half, and not quarter, of the car knockout draw at the national event in WA. This means that a high-performing school could potentially end up having 2 cars in the top 4 where the best possible finish would be 1st and 3rd. This has been brought in partly due to the new "second chance" system that will be run.

Just thought that I'd let everyone know.

Marc

miseli wrote:Going off what was said at last night's national committee meeting

Did you guys discuss wildcards? Is the run-off confirmed?

Thanks

Karo wrote:Did you guys discuss wildcards? Is the run-off confirmed?

Yes, we did discuss wildcards.....well in a way. The consensus of the committee was that if there were still spots left over after the 6 cars from Vic, NSW and Tas had entered and numbers from the other states and oversees were confirmed, then WA would make up the remaining numbers. This was decided since WA are hosting the event and have also regularly had fewer entries than some of the other states in previous years. We will have a more definite idea of what is happening when a few more entries have been fully confirmed over the next week or two.

If you are referring to the run-off between Karo and Blur on the Friday, and it comes down to it to decide who will get the 6th NSW spot, then that will be purely up to NSW to sort out. I expect that Tony and Michael will oversee things there.
I would hold off on organising something just yet with this since NSW have still to confirm 1 or 2 entries.

Marc