Create and promote a professional engineering team

Competition Introduction

Formula SAE is an intercollegiate design series organized by SAE international to get university students involved in real-world automotive engineering. In total, Formula SAE has over 500 universities competing in 8 different competitions around the world. At these competitions, students present, justify, and race their open wheeled formula-styled racecars.

The competitions involve both static and dynamic events. Students and their cars are tested in events such as Design Presentation, Cost Analysis, Business Presentation, and a host of dynamic events.

Competition Score Breakdown

A photo of the competing teams at the Formula SAE Michigan competition in 2016.

Formula UBC, a multidisciplinary team of roughly 60 engineering students at the University of British Columbia, works to design and build a new racecar every year to compete against other collegiate teams in the Formula SAE competition. Our objective is to create and promote a professional engineering team that can annually deliver a competitive racecar for competition. In previous years, our team has participated in competitions in Lincoln, Nebraska, as well as in Brooklyn, Michigan. This year, the team plans on competing in Michigan, with the goal of placing in the top 20 teams.

Team members at Michigan in 2016.

Our 2016 car photographed during a testing day.

A closer view of the 2016 car.

Project Introduction:
The electrical sub-team at Formula UBC is responsible for the racecar’s electrical power distribution, sensor data acquisition, and electronically actuated systems. The team’s major projects include the iterative design and construction of a custom wiring harness, and of a custom electronics enclosure. The harness and enclosure provide an interface between the car’s engine control unit, its data acquisition system, its power source, and its various other electrical sub-systems.
In order to improve the reliability, manufacturability, and reusability of the car's electrical systems, our team has been working towards designing custom PCBs which will move many of the car's loose wires, relays, and prototype boards onto a small number of printed circuit boards.

Project Details
A “Power Distribution Board” is being designed to control the electrical power supplied to various car components, and to protect the car’s electrical systems through fuses, diodes, and kill switches. In previous years, the car’s largest cause of electrical failure was the gradual wear of the connections between relays and power lines. This was in part due to the continuous vibration of components that were not rigidly secured to one another, and due to relatively difficult manufacturing resulting in occasional poor connections. By designing a single PCB which uses surface-mount components to replace all the previously free-hanging relays and fuses, we hope to improve the reliability and manufacturability of our car’s electrical enclosure. The board will also feature sets of LEDs which will help to quickly visually troubleshoot and isolate potential electrical failures that could arise while on the track. A separate PCB has also been designed to control the actuation of a robust semi-automatic gear shifting system.

Formula UBC is a team of talented students committed to obtaining a well-rounded educational experience in automotive design. The group is composed of approximately 60 people from multiple engineering departments and faculties. We develop a single-seat race car to compete in the Formula SAE competition against other student-led teams from around the world. Our objective is to create and promote a professional engineering team that can deliver a competitive race car for competition. To do so, we offer a hub for student-led innovation through fostering leadership and providing mentorship. We promote a highly challenging engineering environment that motivates collaboration.

Formula UBC succeeds in building a new car and attending the Michigan FSAE competition annually. Last year, our vehicle designs were scrutinized by industry professionals and put to the test in dynamic events. Using proper engineering practices, we were able to justify designs and improve vehicle performance. Focusing heavily on improving reliability was our strategy for finishing all dynamic events. Unfortunately, due to heavy rain encountered at the endurance start line the team placed lower than expected achieving 40th out of the 117 teams. With our newly developed skills and knowledge, the team expects to achieve a top 20 position at the 2017 Formula SAE competition in Michigan.