Formula SAE (FSAE) is a collegiate engineering competition where students design, build, and race small formula-style race cars. It offers participants hands-on experience in mechanical design, electrical design, programming, manufacturing, and project management, while also fostering business and communication skills through cost analysis and presentations. FSAE is a co-curricular project that ultimately prepares students for careers in engineering, motorsports, and related industries by providing real-world problem-solving opportunities and professional networking connections.
2023 UNCA FSAE Competition Car
For our Formula SAE EV Chapter at UNC Asheville, each of our Team Leads is in charge of a Google Site. As the Electrical Team Lead, it is my responsibility to design, develop, edit and adjust the Electrical Documentation Website.
The landing page for our donation, overview, electrical, chassis, fabrication, suspension and steering sites can be accessed using the button below:
In addition to housing all of the rules listed in the EV (Electric Vehicles) section of the rulebook, the site contains beginner friendly annotations, hands-on fabrication resources, and presentations. To access, click the button below:
The goal of annotating the FSAE EV (Formula SAE Electric) rules is to provide our team with comprehensive guidance for complying with the competition's safety, technical, and performance standards. Really, they are an educational tool, helping newer and more experienced members understand the intent behind each regulation and its application in real-world design. By offering explanations, clarifications, and examples, the annotations make it easier for members to navigate the often complex and technical requirements.
The goal of making presentations to members of the Electrical FSAE subteam is to communicate complex concepts, ensuring every team member has a clear understanding of critical design principles and processes. Aligning our team with shared goals, rules compliance, and technical standards helps to foster a shared vision and cohesive approach to problem-solving. During the guided learning period of the design process, engagement and fundamentals help enable newer team members to build confidence and contribute meaningfully to our project.
This presentation highlights the purpose of the Electrical Systems Form, and provides information about its structure, format, and readability. Really, Its main tenants are to provide comprehensive documentation of the high voltage electrical system and tractive system design, the associated data sheets with part-rated specifications, schematics of required circuits and SolidWorks models, as well as rules compliance of electrical components. The format is a spreadsheet which is made publicly available and downloadable on the Formula SAE International website. This can be given to the Electrical Team, or the whole FSAE Team at large due to the scope of the form.
This presentation serves to introduce concepts of electromagnetism as a building block to understanding the electric motor. It eases viewers into learning about electromagnetic induction, electrical-to-rotational transducers, and ultimately the different types of electric motors. Then, the function of a motor controller is introduced as a digital signal processor, and common control methods such as pulse-width-modulation are discussed. Finally, it will break down our 2023 Schematics and the Motor-to-Motor-Controller Circuit, then discuss which rules pertain to these components.
This presentation is an exposition to electrical design, and is intended clarify a few fundamental points which outline the electrical design process. For starters, it will illustrate a few of the building blocks of electricity (voltage, current, resistance), as well as delve into the purpose of the different processes which go into a finished electrical circuit. It will showcase an array of component symbols which you may encounter, and provide information about the purpose of each one, and then it will prompt the beginning of a beginner Fabrication Night for students new to FSAE, and transition into a work-period open to questions.