Solar
A team of Polish students in Wrocław is developing the transportation of the future. The autonomous speedboat called Solaris is powered exclusively with solar energy. So that the boat can drive easily and maintenance-free over rivers and lakes, the young engineers rely on igus plain bearings made of the high-performance polymer iglidur J in the steering system. The bearings offer the necessary stability, reduce the boat’s weight and ensure lubrication-free use.
The goal of the World Solar Challenge was to cover 3,022 kilometres of the Australian desert powered only by the sun. One of the participants was Team Sonnenwagen from Aachen. To develop their solar-powered car, the students relied on the lightweight, wear-resistant and lubrication-free iglidur plain bearing technology made of durable tribo-polymers from igus. This enabled the team to comfortably finish sixth in the race.