February 2021 - vol III
Green LETTER
table of contents 1 2 3 5 6 7 11
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News
SolidEdge Tutorials
team leader’s remarks Vítor Teixeira
Siemens Innovation Carbon Tub
sponsors AMG & TSF
#Teammates
Alexandre Freira; Beatriz Silva; Luís Lopes
Photo of the month Recording Session/Photoshoot
Greenpower Track List Rockingham Motor Speedway
News As the oldest and most experienced team on the Iberian Peninsula, PSEM actively shares its knowledge with younger teams and students, breaking down the barriers imposed by the lack of knowledge with regards to certain theories or good practices, and promoting the evolution of each participant in the competition. In this way, during this month we started producing Solid Edge tutorials, the 3D design software that we use to create our prototypes, to speed up the technological progress of the other teams.
Team Leader’s Remarks “Imagination and Knowledge Are keys,
to the door that is
Motivation”
Vítor Teixeira Yes it’s true, PSEM’s not only developing a couple of the most advanced vehicles in Greenpower, but is also working as a mentor to the younger generations. Obviously, we know that we’re in a competition for the top places of the table, but the objective is not to teach other teams how to build a competitive or winning car, or reveal secrets of our intellectual property. In fact, our goal is to give them the necessary theoretical and practical basis for them to develop their critical thinking and find out ways to improve the performance of their current vehicles and design better cars from scratch. With friendly competition, open learning and knowledge sharing, the technological advances are far greater and faster. We’re all students and whatever our Greenpower status, there are always new/different things to learn. Imagination and knowledge are two keys to the door that is motivation. And if we give young students the knowledge key, with their imagination and motivation they’ll be able to do anything, and they will surely be more committed to learn autonomously and will perform better at school.
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Siemens Innov Carbon Tub
The latest vehicles’ monocoques developed by our team were produced by assembling multiple carbon fibre bulkheads to the bottom of the vehicle’s bodywork with structural adhesive. However, for our newest prototype, we decided to venture out into the creation of a carbon tub (or a carbon monocoque). This structural component is separated from the aerodynamic bodywork, the last being assembled (and not glued) to the bottom and top of this structure. Therefore, in the future, each of these components can be optimized and updated without compromising each other.
3
vation
Another advantage of the carbon tub is the greater rigidity, which combined with an optimization of the thickness of the core between the carbon layers, will allow us to minimize the weight of the vehicle to record values, without compromising its rigidity or safety. Regarding the rollbar, we were able to optimize the dimension and position of the steel tubes, in order to have the best of the three worlds: high safety and rigidity, regulation-compliant system and minimum possible weight.
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Sponsors
Founded in 2006, AMG is a metallurgical and metalworking company, specialized in CNC machining and industrial metalwork. Committed to the quality of its products and full customer satisfaction, AMG invests in a continuous development of technology and training of new human resources to solidify its position in the market. AMG has machined the wheel hubs, the tensioner for the drive belt and its respective support for GP17, as well as the motor’s fan of GP19, so for those reasons we show our great appreciation.
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TSF - Metalúrgica de Precisão is a company specialized in high precision CNC machining, technical welded construction and equipment assembly. Founded over 20 years ago, TSF stands out for the excellent operational management and production capacity, thus guaranteeing a high degree of efficiency and quality in responding to its customers. To PSEM, TSF was responsible for machining the rear shafts´ support and GP19´s cooler, as well as GP21´s new cooler. In this way, the PSEM team expresses its sincere thanks and looks forward to a prosperous partnership.
I am a 22-year-old Mechanical Engineering student and part of the Electronics Department. I have learnt a lot in PSEM, from general workshop skills, such as milling and carbon fibre infusions, to various programming languages and soldering of electrical components. The best moments I lived in the team were the trips to England, in particular the first that I went on.
Beatriz Silva
I believe that GP21 can compete for 1st place in all races and the next model will be even better. I am in the 5th year of Electronic and Computer Engineering and I love music. I joined PSEM at the beginning of the 19/20 season and have been a part of the Electronics Department since then, having been responsible for the development of the telemetry system. Being part of PSEM has been a very positive experience, since I learned to work with new programming languages and developed other skills such as soldering. In this season I would like to have the opportunity to participate in the competitions, as it would be rewarding to see our car compete.
Luís Lopes
alexandre Freira
#teammates
I am Luís and I joined PSEM immediately after entering IST, in the Aerodynamics Department. I am a fan of football and Formula 1. Being on the project improved my skills in more complex CAD and simulation programs, however I think the social and teamwork skills were the most important to be developed. One of the tests we did on GP19, in which the cooling system passed with excellence, was the most remarkable moment I lived in the team. I hope that with the end of the pandemic it will be possible to take the cars to competitions and win, as a reward for the team’s effort.
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Photo of the m
7
month
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Greenpower Track
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Rockingham Motor Speeday is a racing track situated in Northamptonshire, England with a 2,38km length. It was inaugurated in 2001 and since then became a place for competitions such as BTCC, Formula 3 and CART (until 2007). Furthermore, it is a very special place por PSEM since it was in
k List: Rockingham
Rockingham that we achieved our best result at an International Final to date - 6th place. Unfortunately, in the coming years, this racing track will no longer be a place for professional races, since it will be transformed into a logistics hub to the automobile industry.
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Thank you for your support! 11
Follow PSEM’s Adventures on:
@psem.ist
@psem_portugal
company/psem
@Psem_Portugal
psemportugal@gmail.com (+351) 218 419 561 Vítor Teixeira
Team Leader (+351) 913 548 111
Bruno Vitorino
Technical Director (+351) 935 820 953
Leonor Barata
Leader of the Comms & Marketing Dept. (+351) 968 275 408
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