The Pink Panther

UC San Diego's Pink Panther car utilizes a metal-air battery as a fuel cell to generate voltage to power the motor as its propulsion mechanism and a photo sensor stopping reaction as its stopping mechanism. The Pink Panther competed and placed 4th at the 2015 AIChE Western Regional Conference.

How It Works

A zinc-air battery is powered by oxidizing zinc with oxygen. The zinc is submerged in a solution with electrolytes to act as an anode while oxygen acts as a cathode, creating a setup that forms hydroxyl ions. The hydroxyl ions, along with the carbon paste, with release electrons to the cathode.

The photosensor stopping mechanism reacts sodium thiosulfate with hydrochloric acid to produce solid sulfur that will be turn a transparent solution opaque and block the light to the photo sensor, causing a break in the circuit and cutting off power to the motor.