2nd Place for the BCI ChemCar Team

The “Glühwürmchen” is powered by a zinc-air battery. The electrical energy generated by the battery powers an electric motor that sets the vehicle in motion. To enable the ChemCar to stop in a controlled manner, the team developed a chemical stopping reaction based on the pH-dependent fluorescence of fluorescein. Adding sodium hydroxide (NaOH) changes the dye’s fluorescence. The light emitted in this process activates a photosensor and ultimately triggers the vehicle to stop.
With their creative concept and a deviation of only 35 cm from the randomly assigned target distance, the team successfully held its own against strong competition at the ChemCar competition on September 23 during the “Electrochemistry” conference in Bayreuth.
We warmly congratulate the entire team on this success!



