In their third year of study, undergraduate students in Mechanical Engineering apply their creativity, innovation, knowledge and practical skills to a Design, Make and Test project (DMT).

Each year Imperial Racing Green proposes a number of DMT projects. For the 2017/18 academic year there are six projects to choose from.

Formula Student Hybrid Chassis

  • Continuing work on Imperial racing Green’s development of an aluminium monocoque chassis, with the intention of optimising the manufacturing of the current monocoque concept from last year and class 2 judging feedback.
  • Developing a rear steel space frame to complement new suspension and drivetrain Both elements need to be fully compliant with FSAE rules and presented at FSUK 2018 in Silverstone.

Formula Student battery pack

This project comprises of developing a new, lightweight battery pack to complement a new powertrain and drivetrain system for EV3. Another aspect of the project will be to investigate optimisation of battery pack maintenance and removal. The battery pack and subsequent changes to the EV3 body will need to fully comply with FSAE rules and electrical scrutineering/safety. The DMT will be presented as a class 2 submission in FSUK 2018.

Formula Student Powertrain

Develop a new power/drivetrain for EV3. The current EV2 vehicle uses a single drivetrain Emrax 228 motor but there may be alternative motors and developments that could give the Formula Student team competitive advantage. For example, some EV competitors utilise 2 x motors (dual drivetrain) and some high performing teams use 4 x in-hub motors. Both multiple powertrain concepts require torque vectoring.

The DMT project's goal is to assertain the best but most robust solution that improves performance. The powertrain concept choice is critical in FS judging, and most be considered appropriately under several design, risk and cost factors. The concept power/drivetrain will be presented as a class 2 submission in FSUK 2018.

Formula Student Suspension, and vehicle dynamics

This project comprises of further developing the uprights and suspension of EV3 based on class 2 judging feedback from last years competition. It will involve design and manufacturing optimisation of uprights and suspension knuckles, analysis of load path and optimised braking and handling characteristics. The design and analysis of vehicle suspension and brakes is a crictical criteria in FS judging, and must be considered approapraitely under several design, risk and cost factors. The concept suspension and upright configuration will be presented as a class 2 submission in FSUK 2018.

Formula Student Driverless

This project investigates the possibility of converting EV2 into a driverless race vehicle to compete at FSUK in 2019. The project does not entail any automous system design but focusses on the mechanical steering control and acceleration/brake technology required to remove driver input from the system. The mechanical system will need to comply with the new FS driverless competition rules and regulations, as well as being presented at the FSUK 2018 competition.

Shell Eco-marathon Chassis

Design and build a new chassis or monocoque for use in Imperial Racing Green’s SEM We have newly available equipment allowing rapid construction of folded box monocoque as well as larger composite layup area available.

Key deliverables are:

  • Select between a hybrid monocoque spaceframe or a full spaceframe
  • Easy access to change rear subframe (i.e. access to hotswap powertrain)
  • Manufacture and show relevant safety testing to demonstrate effectiveness

 Zephir Motorbike Frame

The aim of this project is to create the core frame of the zephir motorbike. The engineering focus will be stress analysis and vibrations, hence it will be supervised by Dr Schwingschackl. The core frame will need to consider how to attach the front and rear suspension and rear wheel arm. Internally the frame will need to house the single large battery with integrated cooling and electric motor. This project has little prior constraints, as the frame can be any shape or size, leading to the possibility of innovating on the shape of existing motor bikes.

Zephir Battery Pack

A battery small modular battery pack system was design by a previous DMT. The aim of this project is to design a single large battery pack, based on the battery technology used previously. The focus of this project will be power management, thermal management and battery protection. The battery team will be working closely with the frame team. The advantage of this project is the shape, scale and implementation of the battery will all be decided by the DMT, there is a lot of scope to help design the bike as a whole. Large battery pack technology is very much a the forefront of the tech industry.