From kangaroos to sudden explosions, this team is ready to face it all!
Episode Summary
Welcome to Episode 3 of The Better Place to Build Podcast: Student edition, where the student teams in IIT Madras are interviewed by a peer to walk us through their efforts in building a solar car and participating in an international solar car challenge. Solar cars seem like the thing of the future! Now push that image to the Australian desert where you are dealing with not just the soaring temperatures of the desert but also the occasional kangaroo that wanders onto the road! And to do 5 days of this in the middle of the desert with just one backup battery! Team Agnirath has done this and more!
In this episode, Vidhi Das, a fifth year student of Electrical Design meets the team lead of Team Anveshak, Sairam J, Business Head of Agnirath, Pratyush Agrawal, Team Head of Agnirath to talk about solar cars, the World Solar Challenge, other solar car challenges, what it feels like to drive through the Australian desert for five days and survive on your own as a team, and much more! If you are interested in solar cars or car racing or endurance challenges, you shouldn’t miss this episode.
Key Highlights
[00:01:17] Agnirath: What is it and what do they do?
[00:03:02] The World Solar Challenge: How does it work?
[00:06:13] The Challenges: What do the teams face in the World Solar Challenge?
[00:08:50] Team Agnirath: What are the modules and the mechanics of the car?
[00:14:48] Corporate Involvement: How do the companies involved help the team?
[00:17:22] Current Standing: How does Team Agnirath stand against the other teams?
[00:18:50] Day by Day: Each day of the Solar challenge and the lessons learnt
[00:21:45] Testing the Car: How and where does the team test the car?
[00:23:12] IITM Support: How does the institute support the team?
[00:23:56] Way Forward for Agnirath: What does the future of Agnirath look like?
Institutions mentioned
[00:00:54] IIT Madras
[00:00:57] Team Agnirath works out of CFI.
People mentioned
[00:01:50] People like Larry Page and J.B Straubel have also participated in the World Solar Challenge
Companies mentioned
[00:04:48] Prohelion is a company started by the Australian team - Team Arrow
[00:10:31] The solar panels of the Agnirath car are made by Tata Power.
[00:12:53] The tires for the solar car are made by Bridgestone, which is also the sponsor for the Solar Car Challenge.
[00:14:56] Total Energies supports Team Agnirath financially.
[00:15:00] Companies like Prabha Automotive Engineers Ltd helped with the steel chassis of the car and Ashok Leyland helped with the software training needed for the car and mentored the team.
Concepts & Models
[00:01:31] The Bridgestone World Solar Challenge is a legacy competition and is broken up into two categories - Challenger Class and Cruiser Class. It is conducted in Australia and the competition is conducted over a period of 5 days.
[00:04:34] An MPPT, or Maximum Power Point Tracker is an electronic DC to DC converter that optimizes the match between the solar array (PV Panels), and the battery bank or utility grid.
[00:04:38] A Battery Management System (BMS) in a solar setup is an electronic system that monitors and protects the battery, ensuring its safety and longevity by preventing overcharging, over-discharging, and other unsafe conditions.
[00:09:29] Aerodynamic Drag is the force that opposes an object’s motion through air, also known as air resistance. It always acts in the opposite direction of the object’s movement and is generated by both the object’s shape and its velocity.
[00:10:54] Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) is a fluorine-based plastic. It is a high performance plastic known for its excellent strength, UV resistance, and non-stick, self-cleaning surface, often used in place of glass.
[00:12:10] Regenerative Braking is a system that converts a vehicle’s kinetic energy into electrical energy when slowing down, unlike traditional brakes that convert it to heat. It uses the electric motor as a generator to slow the vehicle while sending power back to the battery.
[00:12:33] Rolling Resistance is the force that resists a rolling object, like a car tire, from moving forward and is mainly caused by energy loss due to the material’s non elastic properties (hysteresis).
[00:14:29] The IIT Madras team is the only Indian team to participate in the World Solar Challenge in 2023 and 2025.
[00:16:57] The Agnirath Team is planning to participate in the Sasol Solar Challenge.
Sairam J is the Business Head of Agnirath and is in his fourth year of a dual degree in BioTechnology. Pratyush Agrawal is the Team Head of Agnirath and a final year student of Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering
An IIT Madras initiative
