Spark Mk1

First Competition Solar Car

Fall 2023- Present

Solar Array: 900W SunPower Maxion Gen 3

Battery: 4.6kWh Lithium-Ion

Motor: Mitsuba M2096-DIII

Frame: 4130 Chromoly Steel

Weight: 411 kg

About Spark Mk1

Spark Mk1 is the Phoenix Racing Team's very first competition car. The car was designed in the Fall of 2023 to meet the regulations and standards provided by the American Solar Challenge. It was built in the Spring of 2024 with the goal of going to compete in the 2024 Formula Sun Grand Prix. Thanks to the many hours of dedication from our team and advisors the car was able to make it to the competition. While at the competition our team took 7th out of 20 teams on the track! Spark Mk1 was able to complete over 275 miles of total driving at the track!

Spark Mk1 History

August 2023 - December 2023

January 2024 - June 2024

At the start of the 2023-2024 school year, our team began building the foundation for Spark Mk1s' creation. From there, our build team started to design the major aspects of our car, such as the frame, suspension layout, and rough body layout. Every design made had to adhere to the regulations provided by the American Solar Challenge, which meant some of the designs had to change to fit properly within the criteria. So, throughout the semester of designing the car, we went through many iterations of concepts to get our final design.

In the spring of 2024, the creation of our car was ready to begin. Our frame was the first step towards getting the car done. Cut lists were made based on the finalized design of the frame, which allowed our team to start cutting and coping all the tubing members. With assistance from our Fabrication Specialist, we welded our frame and suspension using TIG welding, which allowed for the cleanest welds we could get. With our suspension, we designed it with cutouts of quarter-inch metal for tab mounts, the motor mount, our custom steering knuckles, and more. We got these components plasma cut out to save us time fabricating these parts. To check for fitment, we 3D printed out the designs of our steering knuckles and made modifications as necessary.

We started to receive our electrical components while building the mechanical aspects of Spark Mk1. Our Mitsuba motor was then mounted to a test stand, and we completed a test run to comprehend how the motor operated. Our array arrived from SBM Solar, and the panels were each individually tested to verify our outputs from each panel.

July 2024

During the integration and testing of our electronics, we worked on the body of our car to ensure it was completed in time. Our body was built using kevlar, foam, epoxy, glass beads, and body filler. We first made our top body, which our array would mount to. This was vacuum bagged with the top surface of it face down to provide the flattest surface we could make. A mold was created for our canopy to be formed around and cured on. The side of our car was made with kevlar-wrapped ribs that allowed our body to come on and off the frame. The ribs were carved to the curvature of our design, which was used to form the outer "skin" of the car's body. At the completion of the body, we completed 14 miles of driving before having to get ready for FSGP. Unfortunately, before leaving, our Battery Management Unit (BMU) stopped communicating with our components to operate the battery.

The Phoenix Racing Team thanks those who assisted in any way, shape, or form to help get us where we are today! A huge thank you to all of our sponsors! Of course, we could not have been here without the fantastic support from everyone at Florida Polytechnic University!

Results of 2024 FSGP:

Results

After almost eleven months of designing and fabricating the Spark Mk1, we finally came to the 2024 Formula Sun Grand Prix. We packed our car, tools, equipment, and supplies for our 12-hour road trip to the National Corvette Museum Motorsports park. Upon our arrival, we checked in and unpacked into our garage bay. While there, we went through scrutineering to test and ensure our car was able to meet regulations and be safe to drive on the track. Throughout the days we were completing scrutineering, our Electrical team and Electrical Advisor worked day and night to make our BMU start communicating again. Unfortunately, it was found that our BMU ended up just being a paperweight. On the second to last day of scrutineering, we found a team that used the same Battery Management as us, so two of our advisors went 400 miles to pick up a spare BMU that the team had at their shop! After the arrival of our advisors with the spare BMU, we were finally able to get greenlit on all of our systems! We worked swiftly to get out on the track and we were able to get our first few laps out on the track!