Progress Update and Car Teaser

Team Update

With exams out of the way, the team has had massive progress in the past few weeks and are on track for our completion and testing deadlines. With the chassis being completed this has paved the way for the engine team to get the engine mounted and begin mocking up the ancillary systems. This will bring together all the wiring, fuel system, cooling air intake and exhaust. This has provided a fair few packaging challenges but nothing that can't be solved over a cup of tea. The engine team are hoping to attempt to start the engine next week which will be a big step and allows the Engine Control Unit to be tuned for maximum power!

The brakes and driveline team have been busy with their new gear selection actuator and have been testing and calibrating it in the lab. This will be put on the car in the next few weeks and will hopefully provide rapid gear changes! Along with this the pedal box has been manufactured and is being currently linked up with the brake and clutch hydraulic lines.

The chassis and suspension team are still busy with designing and ordering components for the suspension and hopefully we'll have some wheels on the car soon. The bodywork is currently being refined in a CFD (computational fluid dynamics) modelling package and this will provide us with results about which is the best design for the bodywork and diffuser. Steve, Will and Scott are off to Millbrook Proving Ground tomorrow to pickup the impact attenuator material which is a specialist aluminium honeycomb mesh. This will provide a crash structure of the front of the car to withstand impacts, but hopefully this won't be needed!

Finally the data acquisition team are in the process of programming their various systems which will collect data from the car during testing and allow us to refine any properties or set-up parameters. This results in a large mass of wires for David from the engine team to lay on the car which can been seen in a few of the pictures. The dashboard is looking pretty snazzy with a LCD screen displaying the speed and rev counter which replaces the usual dials.

The big(ish) reveal...

Steve has been busy for the past few weeks gathering a huge amount of CAD models and assembling them. With some work still going on the model is not complete but below is a little teaser of the suspension system and we'll have a full model sometime soon for the big reveal of F15! Although we won't have a questionable looking nose like some of this years formula 1 cars. 

F15 is shaping up to be one of Leed's most advanced and refined Formula Student cars and we're all looking forward to testing it soon. 

Chassis Build Week

In the week running up to the Christmas break, the chassis team set about turning their design into reality. The first step was to validate the design using a laser cut, mdf mock-up, shown in the picture below. This helped us check that the design meets all of the constraints, rules and regulations. Then, using templates from Steve's Solidworks model, the tubing was cut to length and the ends shaped accordingly. The main roll hoops were then bent into shape using the bending machine in the workshop. 

The roll hoops were then arranged at the correct distances apart and tacked to the welding bench. The  rails were then welded in position with the assistance of Gary the welder.

Many an hour was spent perfecting the angles and lengths, but the chassis is coming on well. The diagonals are ready to go in and the aim is to have the chassis completed before the new semester begins.

Meanwhile, Aaron, Will, Ben and Scott have been beavering away sorting out the suspension and steering geometry, along with the body work design. Renders of their work are shown below.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our readers a very Happy New Year; 2014 is certainly going to be a big one for us!

A visit from Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes F1 Team Chief Race Engineer

The Leeds University Formula Student Team received a visit from Andrew Shovlin, an old engineering graduate who is now Chief Race Engineering for Mercedes F1 Team. Andrew was in Leeds to give a talk on his experiences in Formula 1 and the different areas of engineering which make up a F1 team. 

After the talk, Andrew had a look around the Formula Student workshop which is about to be the home of the F15 chassis, which is being built at the moment. He gave us some pointers on team management but unfortunately wouldn't let us borrow Lewis or Nico to drive!

Team Update:

With the end of semester approaching the team is in the process of ordering and manufacturing parts ready for the full assembly after Christmas. With a new chassis, gear system and dashboard in the workshop already, F15 is beginning to take shape.

A brief overview of Andrew's career:

Andrew graduated from the University of Leeds in 1998, after completing a BEng in Mechanical Engineering, he went on to complete a PhD in Vehicle Dynamics and Control and has had a very impressive F1 career since. After completing his PhD he joined the Research and Development department at BAR Honda in 1998, in a role focused on vehicle modelling and simulation. In December 2000, he was promoted to Assistant Race Engineer for Olivier Panis, with whom he worked for two years. When Jenson Button arrived at BAR Honda in 2003, Dr Shovlin worked alongside Craig Wilson on Button’s car, also in the capacity of Assistant Race Engineer. In 2004, he moved up to Senior Race Engineer, taking on full responsibility for engineering Button’s car. This marked the start of a well-publicised and highly successful partnership with the Formula One driver that culminated in Button winning the Formula One World Drivers’ Championship (WDC) 

After his success in the 2009 WDC and the subsequent takeover of what was by then Brawn GP by Mercedes, Jenson Button jumped ship to McLaren, while Andrew Shovlin remained behind. Mercedes’ involvement coincided with the return of seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher and Andrew Shovlin has been chief engineer at Mercedes ever since. He is responsible for organising the car’s set-up before the race, testing new parts and devising the race strategy; in between races, he spends weeks and weeks at test tracks running simulations to improve the car.

Learn to Win!

Ten members of the Formula Student went down to London last Friday to learn to win. This was an event organised by the Institutions of Mechanical Engineers to help teams that are competing in the Formula Student competition. 

The day started off with a number of presentations by judges and experts in the automotive engineering industry. This provided great insight into what the team needs to do to be competitive in July along with dos and don'ts with regards to testing. There are many key areas that need to be covered once the car is built and this was a perfect chance to grill the judges into what designs they like and what to avoid.

The day was an overall success with lots of ideas and discussions to occur over the next couple of weeks. Several members of the team even managed to find time for a quick night time visit to the London Eye!

We shall have some more updates in the coming weeks with progress of the car being designed and built.

P.S. One of the lecturers from the presentation day found a picture of an old Leeds FSAE car! Hopefully this won't be repeated this year.

Welcome to the Leeds Formula Race Team Blog!

The Formula Student race team here at the University of Leeds have created this blog to showcase our work, provide updates and give a little insight into the goings-on in Formula Student lab.

Meet this years team...