Milestones and Events

Racing the Sun coincides with the academic school year by starting in mid-August with a teacher orientation and concluding near the end of April with race day. There are milestones nearly every month to access the team’s progress.

September:

Introductory Workshops – All students attend the introductory workshop which provides a series of short presentations on the core skills needed for the competition. Presentations are taught by mentors and UA engineering students on the following topics: use of solar panels, automotive geometry, safe design of a functional electrical system, gear ratios, and component functions. Safety considerations are taught to students and teachers as the foundation for the building of a solar go-kart.

October:

Project Planning – Students develop and implement a project plan identifying building milestones to keep their kart on schedule. The plan includes kart materials, suppliers, and costs. As part of the plan, responsibilities are also assigned to each team member.

November:

Electrical Drawings – Students are required to turn in electrical drawings that illustrate how the components are wired together, gauge of wire used, where fuses are needed and other important technical details for their electrical system.

December:

Mechanical Drawings – Students develop and submit mechanical drawings to clarify the proposed chassis design, ground clearance, solar panel mount, wheel size, roll bar, seat belt, and other structural details. This process teaches them to use systems of measurement to apply precision, accuracy, and tolerance in the structural design of the kart. Software tools are utilized to solve problems, model the structure and display data. Teams design the chassis with specific safety rules incorporated into the drawings.

February:

Design Review Day – Students and industry mentors meet for a formal check-in. This meeting provides an opportunity for students to show the progress of their karts. This is a pivotal moment for mentors to provide guidance and offer solutions to overcome challenges that the students are facing.

Career Day – Students participate in a field trip which inspires them to pursue career options and career pathways. They visit companies such as Honeywell, Solar City, Global Solar, and CAID. The Arizona Department of Transportation provides tours of their facilities giving students unique insights into the industry. The students are exposed to a variety of work environments and experience what it is like to work as an engineer, scientist, and other professions.

March:

Test Day is a team’s first visit to the track. Teams conduct a trial run of Race Day with a safety check, driver training, and testing their go-karts out on the track. Test day emphasizes the importance of completion for race day and identifies any go-kart corrections needed before race day. It also encourages teams to keep improving their karts to make it the best it can be.

April:

Verbal Presentations – Students present their work to a panel of judges with a verbal presentation about the team journey to build their cart. Students utilize their public speaking skills and describe the challenges they faced and lessons learned.

Race Day – The yearlong program culminates in a final race. The community is invited to watch the go-karts race while cheering on the high school students. The race operates as a real race with officials and official timekeeping.