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Florida Center for Automotive Research

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Florida Tech Florida Center for Automotive Research (FCAR)Formula SAE

Formula SAE

For the most up to date news on the FSAE team at Florida Tech, check us out on Facebook   @floridatechmotorsports

Overview

The Society of Automotive Engineering (SAE) Club on the Florida Tech campus participates in an annual formula competition put on by the Society of Automotive Engineering. This professional international organization exists to facilitate the development of aspiring engineering students through a community of supportive and talented individuals. Currently, the team at FIT participates at FSAEM in Brooklyn, Michigan each May; this is the oldest running and largest competition put on globally for FSAE against 135 other teams from across the globe. The team is composed of students from many different majors and grade levels as a club program, but is lead by a senior engineering design team. The senior team presents their project entry at the Northrop Grumman Senior Design Showcase in April each year at Florida Tech under the category of Mechanical Engineering. For information on how you can become involved, please contact the club through OrgSync, or the team via facebook.

The Formula SAE competition challenges students to act as a design team contracted by a fictional manufacturing company to develop a small Formula-style race car for the non-professional weekend autocross racer.  This car must be designed, manufactured, and tested to completion in the span of only one year and on a limited budget. The prototype race car is to be considered for its potential as a production item, and is thus evaluated on a variety of performance characteristics. These include mechanical durability and serviceability, dynamic performance capabilities and drivability, potential profit margin, and overall desirability. Participating teams from across the world are held to the same rigorous set of rules and regulations established to promote the spirit of competition and ingenuity in each team's entry. To prove which team has produced the best vehicle for production, each team competes in 4 dynamic events and 3 static events discussed below.

Goals for the 2018-2019 Year

In previous years, the Florida Tech FSAE teams have averaged a mid-70's placement against other universities in the competition. When considering the 135 entries that travel to the annual Michigan competition, our team has been relatively competitive. This year, our team aims to improve this average by placing 50th or better. This will require a massive effort from the dedicated seniors and club members to achieve our ambitions, as well as a good design strategy. Our primary goal is to have a functional vehicle no later than 31 January, which will allow the team approximately 12 testing sessions. We have determined that testing time is the greatest contributing factor to the success of any team's entry in an FSAE competition; the best car can still perform poorly without adequate driver training and rigerous system cycling. With an average testing session duration of 3 hours, we expect that 36 hours of testing time will give our drivers sufficient confidence in FP19's performance and reliability so that they may drive at the limits and earn the most points possible.

 

Dynamic Events:

 

  • Acceleration: The cars are evaluated on their accelerating abilities from a standing start over a distance of 75 meters.
  • Autocross: The cars are evaluated on maneuverability and handling qualities on a tight course without the hindrance of competing cars. The course will combine the performance features of acceleration, braking, and cornering into one event. The results of the autocross scores determine the starting order for endurance.
  • Skid-pad: The cars are evaluated on cornering ability on a flat surface while making a constant-radius turn. The course is a pair of concentric circles in shape of the number 8; the cars demonstrate how well lateral forces can be absorbed (up to 1.4g).
  • Endurance: Essentially the autocross course extended to 22 km in a closed circuit, the cars have to prove their durability under long-term conditions. Acceleration, speed, handling, dynamics, fuel efficiency, reliability – the cars have to do it all.

 

Static Events: 

 

  • Design report: The students explain their constructive solutions to a jury of experts from the automotive and motorsport industries in report and discussion. The concept of the design is to evaluate the engineering effort that went into the design of the car and how the engineering meets the intent of the market. The car that illustrates the best use of engineering to meet the design goals and the best understanding of the design by the team members will win the design event.
  • Cost report: The students are to assume that a serial production of 1000 cars per year will follow their prototype. The cost calculation is discussed with a jury based on a report. The objective for this challenge is for students to consider the entrepreneurial mindset required to completely develop and sell a product to satisfy the needs of the market.
  • Presentation: The objective is to evaluate the team’s ability to develop and deliver a comprehensive business case that will convince the executives of the fictional manufacturing firm that the team’s design best meets the demands of the amateur weekend competition market and that it can be profitably manufactured and marketed.

 

 (FSAEM: Formula Panther 2016 Promotional Video)

Race for Awareness

 

In 2015, FSAE at Florida Tech became the first team to race for a cause. We continue that tradition today as we race for Autism awareness. The Florida Tech SAE team aims to increase autism awareness and give support to those children and families living with autism. We have formally teamed up with Autism Speaks and The Scott Center for Autism Treatment to support the mission of autism awareness

Since 2009, The Scott Center for Autism Treatment has helped over 160 families learn to overcome many of the behaviors associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This non-profit clinic is dedicated to applying research and high quality treatment and training to improve the function and quality of life of children with ASD and related disabilities in Central Florida.

1 in 68 American children are born with autism. With your help, we can raise awareness and reduce the number of children that go undiagnosed. The Florida Tech FSAE team will design a race car that features an autism awareness scheme in honor of our support towards the children and families living with autism.

 

The Formula Panther (FP)

Each year, a vehicle is produced in an effort to improve on the year prior. The vehicle is called the "Formula Panther", after our mascot Pete the Panther. 

History

Place Car Number Penalty Cost Presentation Design Acceleration Skid Pad Autocross Endurance Efficiency Total Score Year
65 98 -10 53.2 41.2 40 3.5 19.9 67     214.8 2009
76 52   52.2 38.7 60     54.4 12   217.4 2013
80 54   45.2 35.1 80 43.2 2.6 7.5 17   230.6 2014
65 102   70 48.2 70     75.2 3   266.3 2015
78 94   64.8 48.1 60 49.5 2.5 47.3 18   290.3 2016
113 68   47.6 23.6 60           131.2 2018

 

Year Image Awards Features Senior Design Team Members
FP 19      

Team Lead: Emily York

Lead Engineer: Austin Taft

Gabriel Pinto, Rick Hord, Elijah Goodman, Curtiss Thies, Ahmad Alzlfawi, Mohmmad Alyami, Matt Standifer, Nate Jennings, Dallas McCloud, Khaled AlSamri, Rashid Alzaabi, Su Orhan, Johan Mihindukulasuriya, Filippo Mazzanti, Tahir Kanchwala, Matt Petersen, Jessica Goblick
FP 18      

Team Lead: Hunter Lee

Lead Engineer: Chelsea Reichard

Brian Truong, Phillip Machen, Arnold Tsoka, Blas Gonzalez, Leonardo Imperale, Tony Gonzalez, Mariana Migliori, Siddharth Kuthiala, Leona Liu, Mona Zhang, Luis Fernandes, Elijah Goodman, Allen Chen, Woody Sandhu
FP 17

"Best in Show" Northrop Grumman Senior Design Showcase, Florida Tech - 2017  

Team Lead: Ashton Tassinari

Lead Engineer: Justin Butinsky

Asher Patton, Diego D'Ignazi, Giovanni Alfieri, Harry Brown, Israel Rivera, Matthew Walsh, Mohamed Almarzoori, Odrik Ferrer, Preston Seward, Roberto Martinez, Saeed Almansoori, Saeed Hassooni, Yifan Qian, Abdul Rahman Al Hammadi, Abdulmajeed Alali, Zhe Wang, and Alex Frostad
FP 16    

Team Lead: Savannah Phillips

Lead Engineer: Kyle Bielanos 

Yousif Mohamed Alblooki, Abdulrahman Almazyad, Luis Burgos Alvaro, Carlos Garcia, Arielle Gunderson, Andrew Hamilla, Neema Issangu, David Magro Garcia, David Matos, Sebastian Villacreces, Lemuel Zamore, and Eduardo Zuniga
FP 15    

Team Lead: Blair Kania

Lead Engineer: Manuel Jaramillo

Mohamed Alamri, Mohammed Aldahas, Gerardo Alfaro, Mohannad Alhenaki, Ahmed Alhosani, Sager Aljeemaz, Fahad Al-Shaibani, Mohammad Alsuwaid, Ibraheem Alyami, Omar Bahamdain, Pablo Cherry, Cody DeCosta, Vivic Harrinanan, Kevin Kunicki, Karim Lotfy, Mark Manke, Mike Pagano, Diego Ramirez, and David Scott
FP 14    

Team Lead: Matthew Cosentino

Darren Ebanks, Elizabeth Hensley, John Fox, Shreyas Gavit, Ayotunde Adenaike, Florent Sarps, Randy Arjunsingh, Phillip Bunker, Nanabaffo Essilfie, Diego Canelos, Ashlin Romero, Toluwalase Olajoyegbe, Alex E. Bradley,Christopher S. Kelly, Yingying Zheng, Nicolas A. Abruzzesse, Jonathan Kvasnok