Formula SAE is a student construction competition; SAE is the abbreviation for «Society of Automotive Engineering» – the former name of SAE International, the first organizer of the competition. The event is better known in Europe as Formula Student (FS). The idea behind this is to use motorsport as a platform for future engineers.
What is...
Formula Student?
The technical level of the vehicles has increased enormously over time, especially in Europe. Since 2006, the competition has also taken place at the Hockenheimring in Germany. In addition to racing cars with internal combustion engines, there are increasingly electric and autonomous driving vehicles.
Following the publication of the regulations, the first competition took place in 1980 in Michigan, USA. Since then, a lot has changed: Formula Student events have become international and there are now more than 300 FS teams worldwide.
Two things, however, have remained the same. On the one hand, the regulations are still published every year by the SAE and are binding for all teams worldwide. On the other hand, the best overall package still counts, not only the pure driving performance of the vehicle. The team that achieves the highest overall score wins an event.
What disciplines are there?
In the dynamic disciplines, the jurors evaluate the vehicle’s driving performance. The static disciplines are about presenting design and cost planning.
The Dynamic Disciplines
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Description |
CV and EV |
DV |
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Acceleration |
Acceleration from a standing position over a 75m long straight line. |
75 points |
75 points |
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Autocross |
Driving a timed lap of approx. 1 km with straights and curves. The placing in the Autocross decides the starting position in the Endurance. |
100 points |
100 points |
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Efficiency |
Evaluation of the energy consumption in relation to the lap time of the Endurance or Trackdrive. |
100 points |
75 points |
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Endurance |
Covering of 22 km distance on a circuit under continuous load with a driver change after 11 kilometers. Since most points can be achieved here, Endurance is considered a “supreme discpline”. |
325 points |
– |
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Skid Pad |
Traverse two standardized circular orbits to determine the maximum achievable lateral acceleration. |
75 points |
75 points |
|
Trackdrive |
A self-driving circuit over of a 10 laps distance with a maximum lap length of 500m. |
– |
200 points |
The static disciplines |
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Description |
CV and EV |
DV |
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Engineering Design |
Evaluation of design solutions by independent jurors. |
150 points |
300 points |
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Business Plan |
Presentation of the business plan to a fictitious investor, represented by jurors. |
75 points |
75 points |
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Cost and Manufacturing |
Explanation of cost calculations, the production techniques and processes of the vehicle as part of the cost report. |
100 points
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100 points |
International Events
Students compete in the disciplines mentioned above in events every year. Here are some events linked that our team is participating in or has participated in.
Formula Student Germany
https://www.formulastudent.de/fsg/
Formula Student Austria
Formula Student Switzerland
Formula Student Spain
https://www.formulastudent.es/
Formula Student Netherlands
https://www.formula-student.nl/
Formula Student Italy
Formula Student East
