9/25/2016 FormulaStudentGermany:SomeoftheIssuesaTeamFacesWhenDesigningforFSG.

16July201421:16

SomeoftheIssuesaTeamFacesWhenDesigningforFSG.
Category:General,2014,PatsCorner

pat.clarke(at)formulastudent.de

Complianceandoutrightdangerousconstructioninthepedals,pedalboxandmastercylindermountsisoftenseen,primarilybecauseinexperienced
teamshavenogoodideaofthemagnitudeofcockpitforces.

Brake pedal compliance is directly related to lap times! The driver needs to have complete trust in the braking system. A properly designed brake
systemwillhavethepedalrateriseuntilthebrakesarefullyapplied.Havingafallingratepedalisoftendescribedbythedriverashavingthepedal
fallawaywhenthebrakesareapplied.

Thelackofpositivefeedbackconfusesthedriverregardlessofwhetherthesourceisthepedalratio,hydraulicmismatchorpedalboxcompliance.The
pedalsystemshouldbeabletoreactapedalforceof1,500Nwithnofailuresandminimalcompliance.

It is understandable, but newer teams should be cautious about copying features from another car without understanding the reasoning behind their
design.Weseethisateverycompetitionanditisreferredtoas'Monkeysee,monkeydo'!

AclassicexampleisthewholesaleadaptationofsinglecylinderenginesfollowingthesuccessofteamslikeRMIT,DelftandGFR.Acloseinspection
of those teams shows the adaptation of the single was only part of their design concept, yet some teams simply attempt to plug in the little engine
whereabigoneusedtobe.Theresultisaheavyslowcarthatisdifficulttodrive.

Anotherexampleisthewholesaleadaptationofcarbonfibrecomposites,evenwheretheiruseisinappropriate.Often,theteamshavenoexperience
with the material but are of the opinion it is necessary in order to dazzle the judges. Let me state categorically, that is not the case. In fact,
inappropriateuseofcompositeswillcosttheteampointsintheDesignpartofthecompetition.

Agoodexampleisthefavoureduseofcarbonfibreroadwheels.Ifateampresentacarwithcarbonwheels,theybetterhaveareallygoodjustification.
When the Judges add up the pros and cons, it can be very difficult to justify carbon wheels. A good defence of the decision does not include
statementslikeTheyarecoolorWediditbecausewecould.

TheRulesrequiretheteamstosubmitaneightpageDesignReportandatwopageSpecificationSheettothejudgespriortotheevent.

The Design Report is the introduction of the car to the Design Judges. The intent of this is twofold. First, it is to prepare the Judges prior to them
seeingthecar.Second,itisanexerciseintrainingteammembersaboutthereportstheywillhavetolivewithwhentheygraduatetoindustry.

Sadly,manyDesignReportsarelackingincontentandquality.TheusualreasonistheteamhavenotallocatedtimeandresponsibilityfortheDRand
itendsupbeingthrowntogetheratthelastminute.

Even worse, sometimes with teams presenting a legacy car (a car that is several evolutions away from its original design) the DR is the same
documentsubmittedlastyearandpossiblyeventheyearbeforewithminimaleditingtochangethedateetc!Thisisinsultingtothejudgesandtells
themalotabouttheculturewithintheteam.

IthasbeensaidmanytimesYouonlygetonechancetomakeafirstimpression.InFSAE,thischanceistheDesignReportandteamsshouldavail
themselvesofthisopportunitytoscorewellintheDesignEvent!

TheDRisnotamarketingdocument.Itisabriefingdocumentfromonegroupofengineers(theteam)toanothergroupofengineers(theJudges)to
informthemabouttheirdesignandtojustifytheirdesigndecisions.Itisnotaplaceforhyperboleandfancymarketingstatements.

There is a specified format for the Design Report. Four pages of text, three view drawings and a single free page. The tree view drawings should be
just that, drawings! Not low resolution screen dumps from a solid modelling program. There should be enough detail that the judges can see and
understandthedesign,seethestructuralloadpathsetc.

AcompaniondocumenttotheDesignReportistheSpecificationsSheet.

Again,thisisinaspecifiedformandthereisaninstructiontotheteamnottoreformatthedocument!Quiteoftenweseeaspecsheetwhichdoesnt
seemtodescribethesamecarastheDesignReport!Iamnotsurehowthishappens,butwhenitdoes,itwillaffecttheteam'sdesignscore.

As I said at the beginning of this article, I do not see the errors new teams make as a bad thing. These are lessons learned that will stay with the
studentsforlife.JustonemoreoftheeducationaladvantagesofFormulaStudentGermany.

Ihopethisgivesthereaderaninsightintosomeofthechallengesfacedbynewerteamsthatarenotsoobvioustothecasualobserver.

https://www.formulastudent.de/academy/patscorner/advicedetails/article/someoftheissuesateamfaceswhendesigningforfsg/2/ 1/2
9/25/2016 FormulaStudentGermany:SomeoftheIssuesaTeamFacesWhenDesigningforFSG.

PatClarke
ChiefDesignJudgeFSG2014

<Backto:PatsCorner

Contact Imprint Privacy Sitemap

https://www.formulastudent.de/academy/patscorner/advicedetails/article/someoftheissuesateamfaceswhendesigningforfsg/2/ 2/2