1996 Photos

Thanks to the Wayback Machine at www.archive.org, we were able to recover the lost 1996 photos. .

All photos on the site are protected by copyright law. If you want to use a photo that you find, contact webmaster@solarsplash.com for permission, and we will direct you to the owner of the photograph.

Sponsored by:

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Solar Energy Division, Eaton, Fleck, Exide, EDS, Marquette University, Miller Brewing Company, the state of Wisconsin, and others.

SOLAR SPLASH 1996 poster

SOLAR SPLASH© '96

Held in conjunction with Polish Fest on the Summerfest Grounds at the Lake Front.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin
June 20-23, 1996

The '96 World Championship had many exceptional highlights. The following is a brief chronicle of the Event.

The SOLAR SPLASH tetrahedron and Lake Michigan SOLAR SPLASH has become an exciting part of Polish Fest and Milwaukee's Lakefront summer activities. Part of the downtown skyline can be seen behind one of the Event buoys.

Over the past three years, the improvement in the entries has been outstanding. Six of the boats were faster than the '94 Winner. Four boats went further in the Endurance Event than the '94 Winner.

Registration and battery issuance College teams from 16 Universities gather for four days. The first day begins with Registration. Once completed, the teams are issued matching batteries. These are production lead acid car batteries. The total capacity is limited and the system voltage is limited to 36 volts for environmental and safety reasons.
The UMass Dartmouth boat The rules encourage creativity by setting only overall size limits. Boat length is limited to 6m (19.7 ft.); width of 2m (6.6 ft.); and a height of 1.5m (4.9 ft.). Most of the entries are of Mono-Hull design with a very narrow beam.

Here, a student from Kanazawa Institute of Technology gets a first look at the U. of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, entry.

The Kanazawa boat Although this U. Mass student is checking out the cockpit of the Kanazawa boat, its most unique feature are the hydrofoils which lift the hull out of the water.
Solar panel testing The first day includes a variety of Technical Inspections. Here, the output of an entry's solar panels is measured. By the rules, it cannot exceed 480 watts.

The large tent in the background is part of the Paddock area. Each entry gets a 20'x20' space where team members work on their boat.

Marquette's visual display With emphasis on education, especially for grade school students, each team is required to prepare a Visual Display. These are judged and become part of the overall score.
The University of South Carolina's visual display In addition to the Visual Displays, each team submits a Technical Report which is judged in advance of the Event. This year, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy won first place in both categories. The focus of their visual presentation was a video display. Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, MI, received the second place award with an interactive computer display.
Skippers' meeting Each morning at 8 there is mandatory "Skipper's Meeting". This daily briefing attracts just about everyone. With a meal plan available, some students are still eating breakfast.
On-the-water inspection of the University of Rhode Island boat Friday morning starts with on-the-water inspections and Qualifying. This first time entry from the University of Rhode Island is getting one last check before starting through the maneuverability course.
The Marquette University boat This entry from the host, Marquette University, appears to be ready for the sun to come out. Since limitations are on output power, rather than cell area, there is not a big incentive to have expensive solar cells. The hull of this boat is made of closed cell foam, covered with fiberglass. This simple, inexpensive technique makes for quick fabrication and results in a lightweight craft.
The University of Michigan boat being launched The University of Michigan's inverse "V" hull is made of carbon fiber. Very strong and light weight, it required the fabrication of a plug, from which molds were made and parts fabricated. The design is optimized for the Sprint but here it can be seen in the Endurance configuration.
A television interview during the event Occuring in mid-summer, Solar Splash provides a good Solstice story for the local News media. Here, one of the members of the Advanced Energy Competitions staff is explaining the use of direct solar energy stored in batteries. This combination provides power, even if the sun is hidden by clouds.
A meeting of the "red shirts", i.e. the SOLAR SPLASH officials The "brain trust" is having a short conference to go over a question reqarding the rules. Very few changes have been made in the rules over the past three years. Solar energy is the only source of power which is allowed. No human power or wind may be used to propel the boat.
The launch site for the boats Fortunately, on Saturday morning, the skies are blue and everyone is anxious to start competing. A 20' x 80' barge is moored to the sea wall and three ramps make launching and recovery quite easy.
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock boat, faculty advisor, and skipper The University of Arkansas at Little Rock faculty advisor goes over a few last minute details with the skipper. The rules include many safety requirements such as swimming ability, life jackets, paddles and horns.
Grand Valley State and University of Arkansas at Little Rock boats Grand Valley and the University of Arkansas,Little Rock, are two of eight boats in the first two-hour heat of the Endurance Event. The UARK entry is built on an Olympic canoe hull made of Kevlar® - very lightweight and strong. The GV entry uses a carousel design for the motor mounts so it can use two motors for the Endurance and five for the Sprint. They also designed a very unique electrical control system which won the IEEE Design Award.
Boats on the Endurance course They're off! Thirty minutes after the start of the first heat, the second heat begins. The four boats that go the greatest distance in each morning heat advance to the Championship; the remainder go into the consolation round.
Onlookers from Polish Fest Polish Fest visitors sit along the shore or watch from picnic tables while enjoying a broad variety of specialty foods. The two tents in the Paddock area and the three launch ramps can be seen.
The Coast Guard Academy boat Is it fun? This skipper from the Coast Guard seems to be convinced. Their design was very unique. The outrigger gives the boat stability for the Endurance Event. For the Sprint, the solar panels are removed and the outrigger is moved forward to lift the bow at the much higher speeds. Their first heat speed was the third fastest but a later mechanical failure kept them out of the Sprint finals.
The Kanazawa Institute (Japan) boat up on hydrofoils KIT is "flying" on its main wing (slightly behind the skipper) and the small forward wing which keeps the boat level in the fore-aft plane.
The Kanazawa boat struggling to stay up on its hydrofoils If a turn is not negotiated just right, the lift is lost. It is then necessary to get it up and flying again. The reason that this is quite tricky is that with the very limited energy, the hydrofoils must support the boat at a speed of only 8 or 9 miles per hour.
Boats in the Endurance Event As the Endurance Event continues, it is very clear that no one design is vastly superior. A motor failure during the Championship round dropped KIT into third place. U. Mass came in first covering 18.6 miles with Marquette only 200 yards behind in second place.

In the Overall Endurance Scoring, the morning and afternoon distances are combined. U. Mass and KIT tied with over 38 miles traveled.

Boats lined up to enter the water On Sunday morning, in their Sprint configuration, the competitors get ready for the first heat. Cirrus clouds foretell rain but not until the entire competition and Awards Ceremonies are over.
The Sprint finals In the Sprint Finals, Grand Valley (on the far left), Columbia Univ., KIT and the U. of Michigan vie for the lead at the 100 meter mark.
The University of Michigan, winner of the Sprint Event The victor, Michigan, with a time of 25.73 seconds, hits just under 30 mph from a standing start over the 300 meter course. KIT was four seconds behind, with Grand Valley and Columbia about 5 seconds behind them. Four of the fastest boats didn't make the finals due to mechanical or electrical failures.
Trophies The concept for the '96 Awards came from the poster design. The custom made trophies are somewhat high-tech in their own right. The Splash logo is lazer etched into opaque lucite$reg;. A total of 28 awards were given to the participating universities - a nice addition to their trophy case.
University of Michigan team photo The U. of Michigan receives an award for Outstanding Drive Train Design. They have two motors powering individual drive shafts with counter-rotating custom made five bladed props.
UMass-Dartmouth team photo UMass, Dartmouth wins three major awards. FIRST PLACE for the Solar Endurance Event, THIRD PLACE overall, and the prestigious DESIGN ACHIEVEMENT award. The design and workmanship in their hull and control panel can be seen in photo #4 but many aspects are outstanding. They can mount up to six motors on a common gear and get exceptional propulsion for minimal weight. They even had a motor cooling system when temperatures rose.
Columbia University team photo Never Quit! That has to be the motto of the team from Columbia University. After getting off to a very good start with SECOND PLACE for their Technical Report, they were plagued by electrical problems, but, as you can see, they never stopped smiling.
Kanazawa team photo The students from KIT spent most of their final college year trying to meet the challenge from their faculty advisor to improve performance at least 10% over last year. They met the challenge to become the OVERALL WINNER with 892.5 points out of a possible 1000. Was it close? Fourth and eleventh places were separated by less than 90 points.
University of Arkansas at Little Rock team photo The U. of Arkansas at Little Rock was the fastest qualifier for the third year but technical problems kept them out of the Sprint finals. Their new boat, built on an Olympic canoe hull, finished FIFTH OVERALL.
The skipper of the Artisans College/University of Southern Maine boat receiving the Outstanding Hull Design award The skipper of the Artisans College joint entry with the U. of Southern Maine accepts an OUTSTANDING HULL DESIGN award from a member of the Solar Energy Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Southern Maine won the OUTSTANDING SOLAR SYSTEM DESIGN award presented by IEEE Industrial Electronics Society.