Overview
This project is about discovery, teamwork, and passion. As new technology evolves much more quickly, the rapid advancement of the industry makes it harder for undergrad students to keep up. Therefore, we were hoping through this project we can closer the gap and also discover new possibilities. This project started during my junior year at NCKU, as one of the kick-off members, I had the opportunity to execute and learn end to end. It was a wild ride and a special experience for me.
The primary goal was to build a small formula-style racecar to compete in the Formula Student event, as an attempt to closer the gap between undergrad and the industry.
Formula Student
Formula Student (or Formula SAE in some countries) is one of the biggest student events around the world, whose purpose is giving undergrad students an opportunity for practical application skills.
The teams shall think themselves as small-scale vehicle manufacturers to design, develop and produce a formula-style racecar, working on various aspects like operating, designing, manufacturing and marketing. As for now, more than 20 events and 200 teams are active around the world.
We participated in Formula Student Japan 2019, which was held at late Aug.
There are three main classes in the competition, combustion, electric and autonomous. Combustion started in the 1980s, which has the longest history and most resources, therefore it’s easiest to begin and has the largest amount of teams. Electric was introduced in the 2010s, with the increase of difficulty, resources-taken, and the issue of safety, while the project aspects are wider than combustion gasoline. Autonomous started in 2019, which is the most advanced, now teams and competitions are mostly in Europe and the US.
We aimed for electric class for broader diversity and promising trend of EV.⚡️
Before We Begin
We started with getting familiar with the competition and did some research about how an entry-year team should be aiming in the first attempt. From reading the competition rules, learning from documentations, and looking for advice from experienced teams, the idea was to build up the necessary knowledge as soon as possible.
We learned that most of the team spent 1+ years for their first attempt, so setting an appropriate goal would be crucial for us. And FS is usually viewed as a degree-level project, sometimes considered a standard by the automobile industry for engineering students to transition from university to workspace. As a student-centric event, safety is undoubtedly the first concern, therefore strictness of the inspection could be imagined and it won’t be easy for first-year university and students.
At the same time, we spent time visiting other experienced team, NTHU Racing, STUST Racing, and Taipei Tech Racing. Seeing what they've built and listened to their stories taught us a lot (and realized it's going to be tough.🤞🏼)
Team Building
We started with 15 members in the team and participated in the FS event with 30 members from various departments and backgrounds. This project took 12 months to build out the vehicle, and the overall timeline was research, design, develop, test and finally participate in the race. Each subteams then had their own iterations and plans in accordance to the main timeline.
Early Stage Challenges
Resrouces
Both financial and material resources were we had to deal with in the first place.
Knowledge
The knowledge we had and what school taught us were way less than enough for us to achieve the project goals.
Management
As a student-centric team, we didn't have much managing
Experience
Nothing but a passionate heart.
My responsibility
We started with 15 memeber in the team, and I was mainly responsible for frame design and overall vehicle planning along with other 2 members. While in the early starting phase, we all had to wear lots of hats and do whatever we could.
I started the design process by reading other teams’ design documentations, and take their result as references and inspiration. I started to do some sketches to familiarize the frame structure and ideate possible applications. After that, I began modeling using software (SolidWorks), revisited the process, made adjustments, then started over again.🔄 Few times of iterations quickly got me on track and moved on to the bigger iteration with different subteams. Discussing, modifying, and iterating became routine until the end of the design phase (technically it’s the end of the season😅).
For me, designing a frame is more like figuring out a way to integrate all components onto the vehicle with different subteams. Therefore it’s essential to know the basics of the components on the vehicle.
Design Phase
The design phase were composed of tons of discussions and meetings. And frequent discussions kept everyone on the same page, so when there’s a change or idea, it could be quickly implemented. It was more important for a starting team like us to quickly iterate different approach to find a suitable one for the project goal. Furthermore, it’s a must to understand why the modifications were needed, and be aware of other subteams’ goals and constraints. For short, it's to discuss the implementaions, and understand the needs and iterate.
Development Phase
Even though the purpose of the event is to let students develop the vehicles on their own, it might be a challenges regarding to complex or high prcision components. Reaching out to local corporations let us know practical applications being used right now. And we also learned that been designed and ready to develop are two things, there are many prerequisites like drawing, material, timeline confirmation before getting into development. Working with the industry taught us more about professional workflow, and also started to understand the industry standards. Really appreciate the assistance and advice every company gave.
Before Competition
Before getting into the competition, teams have to submit a video of the vehicle in operation (Shakedown Certificate). In a way to make sure teams are ready for the competition. If the teams couldn't pass Shakedown Certificate, they will only be able to join the static event of the competition. As for the vehicle transportation from Taiwan to Japan, we needed to make sure the packaing and documentation were fully prepared. These procedures seemed trivial but turned out to be lessons in the operational side.
FS Japan 2019
Formula Student Japan 2019 was held at late August, with a total 98 teams participating from around the world. And there were 4 teams from Taiwan and total 27 electric vehicles competing. The event was 5 days long, the first 3 days were Static Event and last 2 were Dynamic.
Vehicle Examination
The schedule of the event is quite tight, the team would have to quickly get through all the Static Events in order to join the Dynamic. We as a first-year team, needed to get familiar with the event and also made sure the vehicle is operating correctly. As we progress step by step, we were stuck at the end of examination and therefore missed the deadline to get into the dynamic events. But we still succed to pass all the examinations before the event ended.
Static Events
Static events are more about how and why we built the vehicle and what the business plan was. There are Design, Cost, Business Presentation in the static events.
Dynamic Events
Dynamic events are about understanding the performance the vehicle. There are Acceleration, Skid-pad, Autocross, Endurance and Efficiency in the dynamic events.
Achievements
First FS racecar
The first FS racecar buillt in NCKU, and the first participation in FS event.
Electirc
The second team to pass the vehicle examination for electric class in Taiwan. 🏁
The team
Establishment of a multidisciplinary team. 🔥
Reflection
It's a very interesting experience for me, and I learned a lot from many aspects, some of them are,
Self-education
The knowledge and tool were mostly new (or unfamiliar) to us, thus learning by ourselves became basic skill we must have. It can be said that learning is one of the core reasons this project exists.
Cross-division Collaboration
It’s impossible to have these great achievements without teamwork, collaboration between members with different backgrounds is essential behind these results.
External Links
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