One of IMechE’s FS AI autonomous cars at Silverstone circuit (Source: Formula Student Flickr)
The Silverstone paddock is always a hive of activity for a weekend of Formula Student track events, with the noise and bustle of cars being taken apart and reassembled. But this year those sounds were replaced by the tapping of keyboards and the clicking of mice in some garages, as more teams than ever took part in the autonomous FS AI element of the IMechE competition.
The increased focus on self-driving cars at last week’s event (17-21 July) was made possible by a grant from the Centre for Connected Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV), which funded two additional shared self-driving cars, and the redevelopment of two existing ‘dedicated vehicles’. The four IMechE cars were controlled by autonomous navigation and driving systems developed by the students.
The 20 FS AI teams this year had to “think differently” than the groups building human-driven internal combustion (IC) cars and electric vehicles (EVs), said jury member Willem Toet of the engineering design department at the event on Friday. “You have to think about computer programming and analyzing image data.”
Toet said the AI element is a good way for universities that don’t have a big budget to get involved, because they don’t have to build their own cars.
“It opens the door for students with good brains who don’t have the budgets or the facilities to build a complete car – I think that’s great,” he told Professional technology“The programming experience students gain will provide them with great jobs.”
He said technologies developed during the race will be useful for functions such as adaptive braking, cruise control and lane keeping assistance, as well as for fully self-driving cars in the future.
‘Higher playing field’
Oxford Brookes Racing is one of FS AI’s most successful teams, finishing second in the category this year. “Every year we compare ourselves to the competitors, the people in front of us, and see what changes we can make to get to that level,” team principal Mihir Gohad said on Friday.
This year, that included developing a new sensor plate, with a GPS that’s accurate to 2 cm. “We also have something we call a magic box, which gives us wireless telemetry access while the car is moving. We can monitor critical systems, basically like mission control. Because we get 15 minutes in dynamic events, we need to know whether we need to abort the current run, reset it, or let the car go?”
The high level of communication and data collection allows the team to make the most of their available time. “If you do a quick run and there’s some behavior that’s not desirable, you can adjust your system to correct or change the behavior. Sometimes you have multiple strategies based on the event, so you can switch strategies to get a better result.”
Participating in the AI element “is like a higher playing field,” he added. “It sets you up for a good career path, because autonomous vehicles will come out at some point. If you get in early, you’ll be in a good position.”
Optimized performance
Innovation at this year’s event wasn’t limited to autonomous teams. Grand Champions Edith Cowan Racing, who came all the way from Perth in Western Australia, used a new rear suspension system known as Integrated Driveline Suspension (IPS). The axle of a micro sprint car is attached to a triangular mechanism, which also holds the engine. Two tie rods on the sides and two suspension pick-ups allow the entire rear suspension to be detached from five bolts.
Team Principal Ashley Ure explained how the unique design is easy to dismantle and reassemble, improving performance on tight Australian circuits.
“We really want to optimise our performance on the track,” she said. “They’re on very tight circuits, even compared to the UK circuit. It’s actually a lot quicker here. So what we want to do is make sure our vehicle can rotate… our drivers find it’s actually very predictable. So they really enjoy driving it.”
This approach paid off: the team won the sprint and endurance events and also won the prize for technical design.
After a trial last year, all IC teams were provided with 95 Ron E10 and E85 sustainable fuels. These fuels provide an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to fossil fuels.
The new options offered a “little bit more power” compared to petrol, said Angel Dong, team leader at Staffordshire University. The fuels can run on the same engines, saving extra engineering work.
The team, which finished fourth, was able to focus instead on aerodynamics, developing a full aero package for the first time. “It was a lot of innovation, learning a lot about composites, learning how to work with molds, using new techniques for bodywork and aerodynamics.”
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