Yorktown Heights, N.Y. - 01 Oct 2015: IBM Research (NYSE: IBM) today announced that it is providing advanced solar forecasting technology to help the University of Michigan (UM) team power its solar car in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, an 1,800-mile (3,000-kilometer) race across the Australian Outback.
University of Michigan students work on their solar car in preparation for the 2015 World Solar Challenge. They are collaborating with IBM to use cognitive solar forecasting technology to predict solar radiation and cloud movement during the race. (Credit: IBM)
The UM student team will leverage IBM Research's cognitive computing expertise to gain real-time insights into conditions such as cloud cover and wind patterns as well as determine how much solar power will be available to fuel their car along the course race. As the car is solely powered by solar energy, more accurate forecasts can help the UM students decide how to drive their car more efficiently and improve their chances for winning.
IBM researchers are using machine learning to blend data from sensor networks and local weather stations, cloud motion physics derived from sky cameras and satellite observations, and multiple weather prediction models. In contrast, most current forecasting techniques rely on individual weather models that offer a less comprehensive view of the variables that affect the availability of renewable energy such as solar.
IBM developed the technology through a program supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's SunShot Initiative to find new ways to improve the accuracy of solar forecasts that can then be used to optimize solar resources as they're increasingly integrated into the nation's energy grid. By using state-of-art machine learning and other cognitive computing technologies, IBM scientists can generate solar and wind forecasts that are up to 30 percent more accurate than ones created using conventional approaches, whether minutes or days in advance.
Our goal is to design, engineer, and race the best solar-powered vehicle in the world, said Leda Daehler, chief strategist on the UM Solar Car Team. Predicting solar radiation plays a huge part in designing a strategy for solar car racing. IBM's forecasting technology will help our team adapt and optimize our approach in real-time, and we expect it to provide a true advantage over the course of the race.
Chasing the Sun
The UM Solar Car Team is one of the world's most successful solar car race teams, holding numerous international and national championships. This year the team is confident that IBM's solar forecasting technology will help them make better decisions in their racing strategy when their car, Aurum, competes over four days in the World Solar Challenge. The team will leverage two kinds of forecasts provided by IBM's solar forecasting technology.
One technique enables the students to obtain more accurate forecasts on the race route two or three days ahead. The technology continuously monitors weather conditions and analyzes the data to forecast how much solar energy will be available at different locations and times. It incorporates a large number of weather and solar prediction models, which it blends through machine learning to produce a supermodel. The system learns from a large amount of historical data as well as data gathered along the race course.
The second forecasting technique applies to near real-time conditions. In the World Solar Challenge, the UM Solar Car Team will have a sky camera mounted on the hood of two scout cars that run a few minutes to one hour ahead of their car Aurum. The system developed by IBM plots the location and the transparency of clouds, so the team can decide the speed the car should go to get maximum solar energy. Simulations have shown that this technique could gain the team up to 15 minutes per day.
The University of Michigan has been competing in solar car races for 25 years. In the past, we have not been able to capture and analyze the variety and amount of cloud data needed to confidently impact our race strategy, said Pavan Naik, program manager for the UM Solar Car Team. This year, IBM's solar forecasting technology will allow us to know where the clouds are, where they are going, and where we should go faster in order to chase the sun.
The collaboration with the UM Solar Car Team provides IBM scientists a unique environment to continue to develop their solar forecasting technology and to learn new techniques that can help improve forecasting accuracy. These advances are important to the future of alternative energy and every industry that is susceptible to the impact of weather on operations and how they conduct their business.
We are excited to explore how cognitive computing can augment the capabilities of this extraordinary group of students at the University of Michigan to compete in the World Solar Challenge, said Dario Gil, vice president of Science and Technology, IBM Research. We are using physical analytics to combine our understanding of the physical world with two of the most exciting fields in computer science data analytics and machine learning -- which will lead to new innovations that can transform industries.
To learn more on how IBM helped the UM Solar Car Team prepare for the 2015 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge and to join them on their journey to win the race, please visit http://ibm.co/solarforecasting and http://umicheng.in/solar25 for behind the scenes coverage and live updates from Australia.
About IBM Research
Now in its 70th year, IBM Research continues to define the future of information technology with more than 3,000 researchers in 12 labs located across six continents. Scientists from IBM Research have produced six Nobel Laureates, 10 U.S. National Medals of Technology, five U.S. National Me
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
15/10/2025
Across the world, early-career reporters are interrogating systems that shape daily life, from mortuaries and classrooms to the corridors of legal education and...
15/10/2025
St. Louis Blues Pay Tribute to Ozzy Osbourne in New Pregame Open VideoThe NHL franchise worked with production firms 2WEI and 4th Floor CreativeBy Mark J Burns,...
15/10/2025
Cobalt Digital, G3DVu, Proxima Vision, and Telos Alliance Renew Premier Sponsors...
15/10/2025
By Paige Bethmann
Before my grandmother passed away in 2019, I went to visit her in the hospital where she'd been for a few weeks. When I arrived, the nurs...
15/10/2025
Two years ago, Spotify set out to grow the entire publishing industry by making ...
15/10/2025
People turn to DJ for a listening experience that feels personal, dynamic, and j...
15/10/2025
Las personas recurren a DJ para vivir una experiencia de escucha personal, din m...
15/10/2025
Rock legend Bruce Springsteen and luminary actor Jeremy Allen White came togethe...
15/10/2025
At Spotify, we're all about supporting rising talent and helping them connec...
15/10/2025
New SBS Documentary Series THE CANCER KILLERS Premieres 4 November on SBS & SBS ...
15/10/2025
SBS celebrates the Festivals of Lights with bold, illuminating stories across th...
15/10/2025
One of humanity's most profound questions continues: Is there any place in our galaxy suitable for life beyond Earth? NASA intends to find out, with the hel...
15/10/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
15/10/2025
Scality, a global leader in cyber-resilient storage software for the AI era, today announced the advancement of its comprehensive AI ecosystem certification pro...
15/10/2025
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) today unveiled key highlights of the 2026 HPA Tech Retreat, scheduled for Feb. 15 19 at the Westin Rancho Mirage Go...
15/10/2025
At NAB Show New York 2025 (Stand 244), Interra Systems will showcase the future of media QC, monitoring, and captioning, highlighting its award-winning, AI- and...
15/10/2025
Grass Valley today announced that RMC BFM, part of the CMA-CGM Group and France's third-largest private media group, has chosen Grass Valley's productio...
15/10/2025
Appear, the global leader in live production technology, will demonstrate how its powerful hardware and software innovations are shaping the future of hybrid, s...
15/10/2025
Rakim to Join Berklee's Hip-Hop Hall of Fame at Signature Series Concert The rap icon becomes the latest inductee, following luminaries such as Roxanne Sh...
15/10/2025
Berklee Brings Live Music to the Head of the Charles Student artists will perform on multiple riverfront stages during the 60th anniversary of the world's...
15/10/2025
CobbTV, the government access television channel for Cobb County, Ga. recently acquired an automated playout system from Pebble, a global provider of automation...
15/10/2025
OSLO, Norway Appear, the global leader in live production technology, will demonstrate how its powerful hardware and software innovations are shaping the future...
15/10/2025
NEW YORK The NBA is making major changes to the NBA App and NBA TV as it takes control of them from TNT Sports, which has long managed the league's digital ...
15/10/2025
SAN MATEO, Calif. In what promises to be a major expansion of interactive features and personalized content on the DirecTV platform, the operator and Glance hav...
15/10/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Roku has launched changes to its user interface (UI) that the streaming platform says will better showcase original programming on the platform...
15/10/2025
LOS ANGELES Software-defined data storage and data services provider OpenDrives has elevated Alex Dunfey to chief technology officer, responsible for driving th...
15/10/2025
Abu Dhabi, UAE October 15, 2025: Space42 (ADX: SPACE42), the UAE-based AI-powe...
15/10/2025
Sheldon Nichols and Will Trickett to find and prepare more classic cars for budget conscious would-be owners from Wiser Films
UKTV have recommissioned the clas...
15/10/2025
Wednesday 15 October 2025
Nick Cave
JPEG (275 KB)
Explore the creative univer...
15/10/2025
Wednesday 15 October 2025
From breaking up with your partner to quitting your job - new polling shows some messages are just too scary to send
Over a fifth (...
15/10/2025
Rohde & Schwarz unveils compact MXO 3 oscilloscopes with 4 and 8 channels: Advan...
15/10/2025
Back to All News
Revenge Series The Resurrected' Captivates Audiences Across Asia
Entertainment
15 October 2025
GlobalTaiwan
Link copied to clipboard
...
15/10/2025
Back to All News
Bringing the Best in VFX and Virtual Production Together as Eyeline
Jeffrey Shapiro
CEO, Eyeline
Business
15 October 2025
GlobalCanadaInd...
15/10/2025
Deployed by Astound Business Solutions, Harmonic's Primary Distribution Solution Ensures Outstanding Video Quality and Seamless Ad Insertion at the Edge
SA...
15/10/2025
Collaboration extends a trusted relationship as RMC BFM invests in scalable, fut...
15/10/2025
Series coming in 2026 stars Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Justine Mitchell and Jason O'Mara released today
RT today released first look images of new comedy-drama ...
14/10/2025
SVG Europe Summit 2025: All Sessions Now Available to Watch on SVG PLAYNetworking event that preceded IBC2025 shone a light on elite live sports innovation acro...
14/10/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Author Rich Podolsky on Writing Madden & Summerall: How They Revo...
14/10/2025
SVG All-Stars: Michael Reiners, Coordinating Producer, FloRacingThe Illinois State grad steers a vast schedule of motorsports events at tracks across the countr...
14/10/2025
Content protection: Getting the right management for your DRM By Neal Romanek
Friday, October 10, 2025 - 10:11
Print This Story
Eluvio power the EPCR'...
14/10/2025
As League Takes Over Ops, NBA TV and NBA App Add 60 Games, Weekday Studio Show, ...
14/10/2025
Time and effort: World's largest student-led broadcast prepares to go On Air...
14/10/2025
(L-R) Guest, Kimberly Robinson Jones, Geeta Gandbhir, Pamela Dias, and Takema Ro...
14/10/2025
Lossless ist jetzt mit Spotify Premium verf gbar.
Verlustfreies Audio war eine...
14/10/2025
La qualit Lossless est disponible sur Spotify Premium.
Le format sans perte de...
14/10/2025
For the seventh edition of Spotify and FC Barcelona's artist jersey series, ...
14/10/2025
Spotify is committed to bringing the best listening experience to all our users, and that includes parents and families. That's why we're expanding mana...
14/10/2025
Since its debut, the Spotify Original podcast Caso 63 has been more than just a story; it's been a cultural sensation. The science fiction thriller captivat...
Yorktown Heights, N.Y. - 01 Oct 2015: IBM Research (NYSE: IBM) today announced that it is providing advanced solar forecasting technology to help the University of Michigan (UM) team power its solar car in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, an 1,800-mile (3,000-kilometer) race across the Australian Outback.
