Leuven, Belgium - LMS, the engineering innovation company, today announced that it has become one of the lead sponsors of the Belgian Umicore Solar Team. Through the sponsorship, LMS is actively supporting the Team's participation in the Panasonic World Solar Challenge. The Umicore Solar Team consists of 14 students and graduate students of GROEP T, one of Belgium's leading engineering schools. The Solar Team successfully designed, engineered and built a world-class solar car, the Umicar Infinity, to compete in the world championship for solar cars planned for October 21, 2007 in Australia.
After a successful first participation in 2005, with the construction of the first Belgian solar car and the eleventh place in the World Solar Challenge, GROEP T formed a new team of young engineers to develop a second solar powered car and to excel with it during the Panasonic World Solar Challenge 2007. The project intends to showcase the current possibilities of renewable energy as a commercial power source and to create awareness on the limitations of classical sources of energy. “Solar car racing is the brain-sport of our times and some of the best universities in the world like Yale, MIT and TU Delft are competing in the World Championship in Australia,” commented Pieter Vangeel, team leader of the Umicore Solar Team. “The race is therefore a terrific opportunity to promote our high-tech capabilities and to create extensive visibility for Belgian companies like LMS who have actively supported us in designing and building the car.”
For the 2007 edition, the design regulations for the solar cars competing in the Panasonic World Solar Challenge have drastically changed. Compared to previous years, more stringent rules in terms of safety, ergonomics and the actual size of the solar panels were applied to approach the characteristics of a real-life vehicle. This created an enormous challenge for the Umicore Solar Team to create a competitive car with the potential to win the race. After extensive studies, the team opted for a concept with two wheels at the front, one at the rear, an aluminum frame with roll cage and a light composite body. On the energy front, the vehicle is equipped with high-grade space travel solar cells, a highly competitive lithium-polymer battery pack (>5,5 KWh) and a high-output Csiro-motor (output >98 %).
The suspension system of the car is based on a three-wheeler construction. The two-wheel front suspension is fitted with a specially designed, raised double wishbone suspension. The rear wheel is suspended with the help of an optimized swing arm. “To design and engineer this unconventional suspension setup, we extensively used LMS Virtual.Lab Motion,” commented Thomas Marteau, suspension design specialist in the Umicore Solar Team. “Virtual.Lab allowed us to quickly evaluate the dynamic performance of different design alternatives, to efficiently define the hard points of the suspension and to dimension the different key suspension components. The extensive test drives with the Umicar Infinity over the past weeks were extremely promising. The car showed a very sane, stable and efficient behavior on the road.”
The Panasonic World Solar Challenge is renowned as the unofficial world championship for solar cars. The racing teams travel across Australia with a self-designed solar powered car, covering more than 3,000 km from Darwin to Adelaide. The 9th edition of the Panasonic World Solar Challenge will start on October 21. “We have just shipped the Umicar Infinity to Australia and successfully finalized the first major challenge of developing the car. We are confident that we have a very competitive vehicle with an optimal combination of powerful solar cells, minimal weight, smooth aerodynamics and efficient vehicle dynamics. We are fully determined to finish within the top 5 during the race in 2007, and with a bit of luck we might even go for the podium,” commented Pieter Vangeel.
“We are very proud to support the Umicore Solar Team in the challenging and exciting project of designing and building a solar-powered car from scratch. Their project represents a terrific showcase of Belgian high tech capabilities, explores the possibilities of light-weight vehicle designs and renewable energy, and inspires young students to engage in engineering studies,” commented Dr. Urbain Vandeurzen, chairman and CEO, LMS. “We are impressed with their achievement so far – building a powerful car in record time and funding the complete project by themselves – and wish the whole team a very successful race in Australia.”
More information on the Umicore Solar Team can be found under www.solarteam.be
Images to illustrate this press release can be found under www.lmsintl.com/pressimages
About LMS
LMS is an engineering innovation partner for companies in the automotive, aerospace and other advanced manufacturing industries. LMS enables its customers to get better products faster to market, and to turn superior process efficiency to their strategic competitive advantage. LMS delivers a unique combination of virtual simulation software, testing systems, and engineering services. We are focused on the mission critical performance attributes in key manufacturing industries, including structural integrity, handling, safety, reliability, comfort and sound quality. Through our technology, people and over 25 years of experience, LMS has become the partner of choice for most of the leading discrete manufacturing companies worldwide. LMS, a Dassault Systèmes SIMULIA partner, is certified to ISO9001:2000 quality standards and operates through a network of subsidiaries and representatives in key locations around the world. For more information on LMS, visit the company’s web site at www.lmsintl.com.
