05-04-2012, 11:27 AM
SAE International
what is FSAE.pdf (Size: 328.65 KB / Downloads: 29)
Introduction
Congratulations! If you are reading this it means that you have committed to being involved in some way with the Formula SAE competition. This manual is primarily for students though it will be valuable to other team stakeholders as well. It is recommended that you read through the whole document. All of the topics covered are here for a reason. Most everything here has been learned the hard way.
Purpose:
This manual is being written to help Formula SAE teams organize and successfully complete their car projects. It was originally written to help my old Formula team document the
problems that were encountered and solutions that we devised for them. A great deal of knowledge was graduating with team members every year. Knowledge about how to get things done at a university, what are reasonable goals for a team, and where to find resources had to be learned from scratch by incoming officers and team members.
Where to Begin:
The natural inclination of any FSAETM group is to begin by focusing on what car to build. While it is important to be thinking about design issues and ideas, in the early meetings you will probably not be able to create a definitive plan. Unless you have designed and built complete automobiles before, you should not make definitive decisions yet. There will be plenty of dialog and thought given to the car design without making it a priority yet.
Sponsorship:
Running an FSAE project is expensive. To build a brand new car from scratch can take $60,000 in cash, materials and services easily. This kind of support won't come from membership dues and selling T-shirts. A sponsorship campaign needs to start as early as possible, preferably near the beginning of the calendar year before the year you intend to compete.
Learning:
In classes we are generally given clearly defined problems that include all the data needed to solve them and that have narrowly defined ranges of "right" answers. On this project you will be continually presented with problems that are ambiguous. There will be many solutions that will work and no "right" answers. You will not have all the information you need. This is where you start learning real engineering and management skills
Goal Setting:
Goal setting is an area where many teams get themselves into trouble. Typically they make plans that are far too ambitious for the available resources. It is easy to do. By the time students fully understand the enormity of the project, they graduate.
What is a racecar?
This might seem like a stupid question but it is surprising how many different answers you will get. It is also surprising how often students end up wasting valuable time because they never decided what they are trying to create.
Common Misconceptions:
A common misconception is that one part of your car is most important. Some people will argue that the engine, chassis or suspension is most important. There is no one most important part of the car. A racecar without power is not competitive.
Powertrain & Electrical:
The powertrain and electrical systems on an FSAE car are fairly straightforward. Everything is based on technology that has been proven over the last 40 to 100 years. Do not underestimate the amount of time it is going to take to make everything work. You will gain a new appreciation for the effort that went into making your daily driver work as well as it does.
Dynamic Events:
The first and most important thing is to be safe. Pay close attention to the officials and corner workers. They will see things you don't. I have seen at least three cars catch on fire where the driver was clueless until s/he was black flagged. In the endurance event, move over in the passing lanes when someone faster is behind you. You will be penalized if you don't. Many places in the overall standings have been lost by drivers' inattention or by big egos in the passing areas.