Formula SAE: Final Design Report

The primary objectives of this year’s senior design team were to deliver a fully functional FSAE race car that would be competition-ready by June 2021. Prior to this year, the chassis had been fully constructed, the suspension had been fully installed, and the engine had been fully mounted into the car. In addition, our team’s objectives are to complete the subsystems of the car which includes the following: body panels, engine wiring, electronic control unit (ECU) hardware and software, cockpit, brakes, steering, and wheels. This year, the team finished many sectors on the car such as the headrest, body panels, brakes, internal wiring, ECU wiring, the seat, and wheel alignment. Along with finishing the subsystems, this year’s team was also tasked with designing and manufacturing the car body that would fulfill all of the FSAE guidelines and requirements. This includes maintaining driver visibility, offering adequate protection to subsystems, and being clear and free from interacting with other moving components of the car. In the Fall semester in 2020, the team designed CAD models of the body in Fusion360 and selected fiberglass as the material of choice based on multiple criteria. In the spring semester of 2021, the team fully manufactured and mounted the fiberglass body panels onto the car. This year’s FSAE team has not completed the vinyl wrap and due to the failure of some electronic components, the car is not currently running. The mechanical issues that arose this year were all resolved, however the main difficulties were with the electrical subsystems. Future teams will need to troubleshoot the relay systems to ensure adequate voltage is reaching all engine and ECU components. Seeing as the relay systems have not been in use in over four years, it may be necessary to order some new electronic systems. Similarly, the team feels that it is important that each team fully understands the importance of the tuning process. The team recommends that each future team use TunerStudio to tune the car to their specifications. As of May 1, 2021, the ECU communication with the software needs to be improved, and needs to be returned to include upgrades to the daughter board. The team has already placed an order for these components and plans on installing them in an attempt for one last engine test. If the team does not successfully complete this last test, future teams should look to the ECU and engine relay systems