Solar Racer—Concept Generation and Selection

In this book, “conceptual design” describes the second stage of the design process in which a vehicle’s physical envelope, its boundary, is defined. Our goals are to: 1. Select the car’s shape 2. Set its major dimensions 3. Estimate the gross mass and the location of the center of gravity (CG) 4. Specify the main requirements for the drive 5. Set the main features of the driver–car interface 6. Set the main requirements for the electrical power subsystem 7. Set the number of wheels 8. Examine the stability