Solar Gators, a fully student-run engineering design team at the University of Florida, have chosen the Actisense bulk NMEA 2000 Devicenet cable to ensure the data integrity of their solar racing vehicles.
Their team are passionate about driving innovative and sustainable technology in the automotive industry. They design, build, and race solar-powered cars to showcase the potential of solar energy and inspire the next generation of engineers and innovators. Each year they proudly represent the Sunshine State in the Formula Sun Grand Prix (FSGP).
Learn more about Solar GatorsA Controller Area Network (CAN) bus forms the backbone of the electronic systems on the car and its dependability is vital to the team’s success. Everything from the driver controls, battery management systems, motor controller, and maximum power point trackers communicate over CAN bus.
Matthew Shen, Electrical Lead at UF Solar Gators, said: “Having reliable, low-latency communication allows us to do things like dynamically alter the proportion of charge current coming from regenerative braking or our solar array multiple times during a corner to hit a target deceleration while not exceeding our battery’s charge current limit. Furthermore, the CAN bus plays a crucial role in our telemetry system, allowing us to collect and stream data from a myriad of sensors located throughout the car. The data we collect informs real-time strategic decisions during a race, as well as provide us insight into ways to optimize the efficiency and performance of the car in future designs.”
Shen continued: “We began utilizing Actisense NMEA2000 cables in our car’s wiring harnesses, and the performance and reliability of their products has greatly streamlined assembly and testing of our electronic systems. Actisense’s controlled-impedance cables have notably improved our CAN bus’s signal integrity by minimizing signal reflections. Moreover, the cables’ shielding effectively mitigates EMI from the car’s motor and DC/DC converters, eliminating yet another variable when troubleshooting the car.“
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