Second solar taxi in the works
The designs and installations for the second Solar Taxi called Prototype created by the Namibia University of Science and Technology (Nust) students are well underway at the university premises.
The Innovation Design Lab, Fab Lab and students from Nust's engineering department are currently busy working on the Prototype 2 project. Brian Lwendo, the project leader of the Solar Taxi initiative says they've already made groundwork and hope to finish working on the taxi by February 2017.
“So far we have built the bottom chassis and bottom layer and frame of the car. There is a lot of progress especially because we are using aluminium which is a lighter metal,” he says.
Lwendo says it has been a challenge working on the second solar taxi because they are not equipped with the necessary skills or machinery to work on the aluminium metal.
“None of us here are aluminium welders and we are using pop rites to put everything on the car together,” he shares.
Another hurdle for the team is also finding the necessary parts to use on the car.
“We usually get our parts from scrap yards and if they do not have them there it is a challenge finding them elsewhere. Working on suspension is tricky as things like shock absorbers are challenging to find but we are improvising and we will finish working on the car,” he says.
There are 15 people working on Prototype 2 of the solar taxi. The members working on the car are divided into four different teams that are going to work on mechanical, electronic, electrical and intelligence aspects of the car.
The car, which will operate with solar energy, will feature three photovaltic solar panels and 2 000 lithium batteries. The lightweight vehicle will run a zero carbon footprint. It captures solar energy with solar voltaic cells and stores them in lithium-ion batteries.
He says compared to the previous Prototype one, the second prototype will feature a composite body frame, seatbelt sensors, cameras, lane sensors and artificial intelligence.
Lwendo says Namibia has a lot of sunshine that could be used to generate energy and says the solar taxi has the potential of becoming a much safer vehicle for the environment and its passengers.
“The point of the solar taxi we are designing is to make sure it is safe for the people in it and also so that we take care of the environment because solar taxis have a zero carbon footprint which is good for the environment,” he says.
Shona Ngava
The Innovation Design Lab, Fab Lab and students from Nust's engineering department are currently busy working on the Prototype 2 project. Brian Lwendo, the project leader of the Solar Taxi initiative says they've already made groundwork and hope to finish working on the taxi by February 2017.
“So far we have built the bottom chassis and bottom layer and frame of the car. There is a lot of progress especially because we are using aluminium which is a lighter metal,” he says.
Lwendo says it has been a challenge working on the second solar taxi because they are not equipped with the necessary skills or machinery to work on the aluminium metal.
“None of us here are aluminium welders and we are using pop rites to put everything on the car together,” he shares.
Another hurdle for the team is also finding the necessary parts to use on the car.
“We usually get our parts from scrap yards and if they do not have them there it is a challenge finding them elsewhere. Working on suspension is tricky as things like shock absorbers are challenging to find but we are improvising and we will finish working on the car,” he says.
There are 15 people working on Prototype 2 of the solar taxi. The members working on the car are divided into four different teams that are going to work on mechanical, electronic, electrical and intelligence aspects of the car.
The car, which will operate with solar energy, will feature three photovaltic solar panels and 2 000 lithium batteries. The lightweight vehicle will run a zero carbon footprint. It captures solar energy with solar voltaic cells and stores them in lithium-ion batteries.
He says compared to the previous Prototype one, the second prototype will feature a composite body frame, seatbelt sensors, cameras, lane sensors and artificial intelligence.
Lwendo says Namibia has a lot of sunshine that could be used to generate energy and says the solar taxi has the potential of becoming a much safer vehicle for the environment and its passengers.
“The point of the solar taxi we are designing is to make sure it is safe for the people in it and also so that we take care of the environment because solar taxis have a zero carbon footprint which is good for the environment,” he says.
Shona Ngava
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