PRESS RELEASE

Not one, but immediately two new monoposts of the formula were ceremoniously presented on Saturday, June 26, by the students of the Brno University of Technology. The young designers from the TU Brno Racing team are not afraid of challenges and, in addition to the jubilee tenth model with the Dragon X internal combustion engine, they will also be racing their first electric formula this year. They called it Dragon e1 and it will appear on the track for the first time at the domestic race in Most. Thanks to the improving epidemic situation, the team, which was 9th in the world rankings last season, also plans to take part in races abroad.

The electric formula was a huge challenge for the students. All the more so because they decided to develop all the electronic systems themselves. "Buying finished electronics didn't seem like the right way to us, because Formula Student is primarily an educational project, so we wanted to do it ourselves. In the end, it was more challenging than we expected, but we certainly do not regret it, it was a huge experience. To put it in perspective, only the battery box contains, in addition to the battery cells themselves, a lot of electronics. Each of the six segments has its own control board that monitors the temperatures and voltages of its cells. In total, the battery contains almost 800 cells and monitors 96 voltages and almost 150 temperatures. And we are still only talking about the car's battery," Dominik Klement, the head of the TU Brno Racing team, describes and adds that in the world of student formulas, they are rather an exception in this approach.

With the electric formula, the composition of the team also changed significantly. Its base is still the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, but the team has spread significantly across the entire BUT: about a third of the members are students of electrical engineering, a tenth is of computer science. "Thanks to this, we create all the software you find in the car ourselves: all the control units, the graphical interface for the pilot and the graphical interface of the program, through which the whole car is set up, run on it. The data from the monopost is transmitted wirelessly by our own telemetry, and even here we developed a tailor-made car,” Klement explained.

Last year's racing season was ruined by a coronavirus pandemic. The team thus gained an extra year for the development of new monoposts, but according to Klement, it was not a big win. "We cannot count on it as two full years of development. We had limited access to the workshop, many members could not participate in the development. We moved a lot into the online environment and used the time to improve simulations, team organization or prepare for static disciplines such as car design presentation and business plan,” Klement says. He adds that some parts of the formula were created in the workshop and by individual students at home. "What was possible as far as safety and technical possibilities concerns, we took some home and tried to work on it independently. Although, of course, it was not as effective as if we were working together in a workshop," he adds.

Despite the difficulties, the students managed to complete two monoposts called Dragon X and Dragon e1. Both of them will be presented on the track at the domestic Formula Student Czech Republic race, which will take place in August at the Most autodrome. So far, it will only go to races abroad with the burning Dragon X. "This is the jubilee tenth formula, which is why we wanted to dedicate this season symbolically to it. International races are limited this year in terms of duration and number of participants per team, but unlike last year, they will hopefully take place. We plan to start in the Netherlands in July and we will set off for Hungary in August," Klement plans.

As in recent years, the automotive business is undergoing a transformation, so does the student formula. In some races, the rules are reversed in favour of electric cars, in others they are gradually moving towards the hybrid drive. "With our experience in the development of ten combustion monoposts and this year also with the first electric vehicle, I believe that we would be able to succeed in the category of hybrid cars. However, we do not yet know exactly what drive the formula will have for the next season," Klement concludes.

More about the team at www.tubrnoracing.cz.

Source: vutbr.cz/en