COMPETITION NEWSLETTER | PSEM
GREEN LETTER
No. 9
DIGITAL AWARD AND MUCH MORE! This year the team won the Siemens Digital Award, a prize that distinguishes the team with the best electronics solutions. This was won due to the car’s innovative control and tel emetry systems. These systems allowed the team to obtain data on the behavior of the car during the race so that the driver could be informed of any actions needed. Among the various international teams present, PSEM was also awarded for being the best international team present and for being the one with the best presentation. Adding to the three prizes won in the international final, three more were collected during the qualifiers held in September. These were the IET Engineering Award and the Siemens Digital Award on the Aintree Heat qualifier and the Spirit of Greenpower Award on the Castle Combe qualifier.
COORDINATOR’S REMARKS Our team members put a lot of effort into the project this season but looking back it was a very rewarding experience. Due to the awards that PSEM has already received as well as its positioning in the international final races, the team has been earning increasingly more prominence inside the competition. I believe that the team that will continue the project next year will do everything within their power to achieve better results with the development of the GP19.
“No marathon gets easier later. The half way point only marks the end of the beginning.” -Joe Henderson
PREPARATIONS SEPTEMBER TRIALS
To be able to successfully compete at an international level, several key components had to be organized months in advance, so that everything went smoothly. PSEM focused firstly on the annual car registration in the competition events. After this, the team purchased a new motor and new batteries from Greenpower and had them shipped from the headquarters of the Competition in England.
With the transportation guaranteed we conducted a survey of members available for the trips of September and October. These were chosen based on their capabilities and earned merit in the building process
During the construction of the car, we sought to create sponsorships with car rental companies interested in transporting the car, the team and all the necessary equipment and tools. Thus, a new partnership with Mil Cavalos was established.
of the car. Having done this, the plane tickets for the October trip were purchased and the accommodation booked for both September and October. With the accommodation organized, the team searched for tracks to test the car between the qualifiers on the September trip and, thus, created an itinerary with the location and race schedules as well as an inventory of all the necessary supplies for the team. In the final moments, before the departure for England, final adjustmentes were made to the car and the boxes that were transported.
SEPTEMBER’S RACES On the 29th of August, we travelled to the first race at East Fortune in Scotland in a van given by Mil Cavalos. The team stayed in Wooler and took this opportunity to work on the prototype and run some final tests and before the competition.
EAST FORTUNE RACE On the 2nd September the team arrived to the track at 8 o’clock where the team prepared its pit box and the GP17.EVO. During the scrutiny we were alerted for some aspects of the car and our communication system was approved for use.
The race started at 11:45. For most of the race, the GP17.EVO was in 2nd place, one of the best positions PSEM achieved. However, on the 42nd minute, we were forced to leave the track due to technical problems finishing in a 4th place due to a flat tire and a broken front fairing. Although the result was not the one the team envisioned, the battery management was good and our prototype was prepared to fight for the top places of any race.
PREPARATIONS DUNSFOLD PARK Our goal was mainly to repair the damage the car suffered during the first race. Given that the team did not have the same tools as the ones in Lisbon, a decision was made to race the remaining races without the front-wheel covers.
In addition to this, adjustments were made to the steering system as well as the telemetry set. At the end of the week, the GP17.EVO was ready to compete with the assembled difuser, an adjusted steering and the telemetry box equipped with a new temperature sensor.
DUNSFOLD PARK RACE Just like the previous race, the team arrived at 8 o´clock. The scruteneering was fast and we were able to practice for an hour. There were 73 F24 and F24+ prototypes in Dunsfold Park. We wer~e able to evaluate if the transmission ratio we had was appropriate for the race and allowed us to notice that the batteries were being overused. We left practice with the intent to adjust all the parameters to recude energy losses and diminish the required power.
The race started at 2 pm with the prototype having a slow start. Once the GP17.EVO reached terminal velocity, we started climbing up throw the ranks. Our performance was great up until the 50th minute of the race where we were forced to stop due to another flat tire. The 16th place out of 27 cars was far from what we hoped for.
PREPARATIONS CASTLE COMBE Given the underwhelming result, the team got together to solve the problem. The discussion had a positive response: the team was able to notice that the lack of traction starting a tight curve allied to some irregularities on the track might have been the reason for the flat tires.
When it comes to the batteries and speed, the team was unanimous: the flat tire made it so it was needed to supply more power to move the car and caused more drag than desired and thereby slowing the car. Some more tests were made in a circuit close to the team’s accomodation. We replaced the tires for marathon tires to reduce the chances of a flat, checked the parameters of battery consumption as well as the condition of the tires after the tests. The results
CASTLE COMBE RACE
were indicative of a better result in the upcoming races. The team
The team got to the track at about
kept working and replaced all the
7:30 am and the scrutineering
bearings, since SKF had supplied
ended at 9:30 am. After 50 minutes
us with the bearings to reduce the
of practice, our pilot made a proper
total drag.
management of the batteries and velocity control, leading to an 8th place out of 26 prototypes and the team was awaded by Greenpower for the work developed in the previous races.
The time the between races was short so the team decided to leave directly for Liverpool for the last race before the final.
AINTREE GOLF CENTRE RACE We completed the scrutineering at 8:30 am and the practice was completed in 45 minutes.
The race started at 1:45 pm and the team finished an hour later in 7th place. A result lower than our expectations, but with great performances from the prototype
RETURNING TO LISBON On the 20th the team travelled to Portugal with 3 trophies (the IET
at the first half of the race. PSEM
Engineering Award, the Siemens
also won the Digital Award for the
Digital Award given in Aintree Heat
car’s telemetry system as well as the
and the Spirit of Greenpower Award
Engineering Award that prized our
at Castle Combe) and eager to work
construction mechanisms and other
even better and harder for the finals
prototype systems.
on the 4th and 5th of October.
ROCKINGHAM DAY 1 On the first day of the F24+ international final organized by the Greenpower Education Trust, the team went to Rockingham Motor Speedway. The day began with the preparation of the last details for the scrutiny: verifying the brakes and the horn which were in perfect conditions; closing the lids and
After switching the bateries and
verifying that all the cables were
the bearings, in the afternoon the
conected. In the morning, there was
team competed in the Lap Race, the
still time for a practice race after
race in which the number of laps
the scrutiny with the purpose of
is randomly picked and we ended
collecting data, like the inclination
up in sixth place, our best time yet
of the track and how long the
and a great improvement from
batteries lasted when accelerating
last year’s twelfth place. The good
continuosly. In this practice run, we
results made the team excited and
achieved the fifth best time, which
optimistic for the race int the next
made the team very optimistic for
day, the last and most important of
the last races.
the season.
ROCKINGHAM DAY 2 In the last race of the season, during the first three laps we stood in third place up until ninth lap, under the watchful eye of the team members that anal ysed the data coming from the car. From the twelfth lap foward, the GP17.EVO fell behind to the fourth place, just behind third, in
In the international Greenpower
a very close race with the Renishaw
Education Trust final, besides the
team.
seventh place overall, PSEM brought home three awards: Siemens Digital
The GP17.EVO was in fifth place when the batteries started to run low, so we had to stop at the boxes. The GP17.EVO finished the race in
Award, Best Presented International Team and Best International Team. These amazing results greatl y
seventh place, a great outcome for
improved the team’s morale and it
the team.
hopes to keep the good work.
GREENPOWER EDUCATION TRUST The Greenpower Race is an annual competition of electric cars, organized by Siemens and the British government. PSEM is in the F24+ class, and as such, in an hour, it must make as many laps as possible, with the same batteries and motor as its competitors. For this, the team focuses on making a car the most aerodynamic, the most mechanically efficient and with the best electronic control possible. Thus, PSEM is a team in which
aeronautical applications or high automotive competition, and very recent technologies in the electronic and widely used industry.
In this competition, teams of great
students apply theoretical learnt
renown took part, such as Jaguar-
in classes knowledge to practice
Land Rover and Renishaw, as well
using
as teams from other European and
i n n ova t i ve
m a ter i a l s ,
some of which are only used in
other continents.
SERRALHARIA MECÂNICA DA TROFA