Revolve Magazine Spring 2021 by Revolve NTNU

MAGAZINE

ISSUE 2, 2021

REVOLVE

RevolveDagen 2021

Dassault Systems

Kongsberg: Life after Revolve NTNU

Milwaukee Tool

Simpro: World-class Circuit Boards

The New Electric Vehicle

Writing a Master & Bachelor Thesis for Revolve NTNU

The New Driverless Vehicle

Radionor

4test Instruments

How do you keep control of a fully autonomous race car?

SLAM & State Estimation

20 22

In-wheel Trondheim Stål

EDITOR IN CHIEF Mia Elisenberg T: +47 901 26 017 E: mia.elisenberg@revolve.no

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Mia Elisenberg T: +47 901 26 017 E: mia.elisenberg@revolve.no

PROJECT MANAGER Mats Schiøtz T: +47 476 36 981 E: mats.schiotz@revolve.no

COVER PHOTO By: Mia Elisenberg Of: Anna Halleraker Vihovde

MARKETING MANAGER Emma Karolin Stein T: +47 469 23 722 E: emma.stein@revolve.no

PRINTED BY BK Trykkpartner AS

33 34

Hesai How to Make BPP Great Again and Again

REVOLVE NTNU E: post@revolve.no Revolve NTNU, S. P. Andersens veg 3, c/o MTP Valgrinda, 7031 Trondheim, Norway

Bertel O. Steen

SKF: NTNU is Revolving the Industry

Aker Solutions

Induform

Eker Design

PLM Technology AS

Molstad

Shape

K. Lerøy Metallindustri AS

Fieldmade

A Year as A Driver

36 37

Mjøs Metallvarefabrikk

Semcom & Revolve NTNU, a Perfect Match!

Mia Elisenberg Editor in Chief

RevolveDagen 2021 Text by Emma Karolin Stein

very year, Revolve NTNU arranges a career day for the students at NTNU in collaboration with our sponsors. It is a fun and educational event that everyone in Revolve NTNU looks forward to. This year, because of Covid-19, we had to rethink the event completely. We realized early in the planning process that we needed to move the entire day online to ensure that the event could be executed no matter what the Covid-situation in Trondheim would be at the time.

We decided to split RevolveDagen into three parts: a case competition in collaboration with one of our main sponsors, Kongsberg Gruppen; speed interviews; and “Zoom-to-Zoom”. Each company got their own breakout room, and they all held 15-minute presentations for several smaller groups of students. We thought this could be a great opportunity for the students and companies to get to know each other in a more intimate setting, where everyone would be able to interact directly with each other. The case competition focused on developing solutions for the future that support the UN sustainable development goals no. 9 (innovation, industry, and infrastructure) and 17 (collaboration in reaching the sustainability goals). The winning answer focused on how we can build off-shore charging stations for future electrical cargo ships. The answer was both well written and well reflected, and the jury was very impressed with the innovative solution. In April, the winning group got to present their solution to select representatives from Kongsberg Gruppen. They were very excited to hear about the innovative solution the group came up with in only two hours!

As most lectures this year have been digital, and the student body has been largely confined to their student accommodations, a positive side effect of the case competition was that the students could meet in person to solve the case. The majority of case participants applied on their own and were placed in groups with students from different study programs than their own. This proved to be an excellent opportunity to meet other students, and we like to think that Revolve NTNU has also fostered some new friendships at RevolveDagen this year! All in all, we had a great time arranging “RevolveDagen”, even if it had to be in a digital format this time. We look forward to seeing everyone again at RevolveDagen 2022, hopefully back on campus!

Photo by Mia Elisenberg (Revolve NTNU) | 5

Life After Revolve NTNU Revolve NTNU is proud to have Kongsberg Gruppen as one of our main sponsors, with their support being integral to the success of our organization. We are also very excited to see a large number of our members end up working at Kongsberg Gruppen after finishing their studies. We sat down with one of those members, Håkon Devold, to have a chat about life in both Revolve and Kongsberg Gruppen, and how Revolve has helped him prepare for what he does now. Text by Emma Karolin Stein with Håkon Devold Photo by Håkon Devold

About Håkon Devold

through an education like Engineering Cybernetics can become quite theoretical, and I was eager to My name is Håkon Devold, I’m 32 years old, apply what I had learned in a practical setting. When originally from Bærum. I heard about Revolve NTNU I understood that I I was part of the Revolve NTNU 2013 team and just HAD to be a part of that project. It also gave me graduated from NTNU the same year with a degree the possibility to define a topic for my master that I in Engineering Cybernetics. I moved to Kongsberg was very interested in. and started working for Kongsberg Maritime in 2019 as a System Architect for Hardware and What were your best and worst moments in Electronics. Revolve? As a System Architect in Kongsberg Maritime, I There is so much to choose from! Some of my best was involved in several of our development projects moments must be to sit at the Revolve office at 2 where I had responsibility for things like “What AM in the night, with my teammates, and work on do our users need?” “What products do we need our electronics. That perfectly captures the fantastic to make to meet their demands?” and “How do we spirit of being part of Revolve NTNU. Everyone was align our designs and use the same technology on just so committed to achieving the same goal and several products?” I worked with the developers getting our car finished. through the project to make sure that we were on The worst moment was probably during FSUK at the right track, and that all the different pieces of Silverstone, when our rear wing collapsed during software, hardware and mechanics fit together in the endurance event. We had to abort the race, and the end. it was such a massive disappointment. Now, I work as a Department Manager for our HW and FPGA development team. Who is your biggest tech role model? What did you do in Revolve? In Revolve I was Head of the R&D group in the 2013 team. We were a pretty diverse group looking into several interesting new technologies that we hoped could be useful for Revolve NTNU in the coming years. One of the projects that I worked on was to develop an adaptive suspension system for the Aquilo race car. This was also the subject of my master thesis, which I wrote that year. We actually ended up with a working concept system, that was shown during the design review at FSUK, but it was not used during the dynamic events. We also knew that moving from combustion to electric would become important, so we did a concept study for an electric FS car. I’ve always been a die-hard petrol head and a handson guy that likes to work with practical things. Going

I’ve always been fascinated by Steve Jobs, who was such a visionary when it comes to product development! One of the most important aspects of developing great tech is understanding what problem your customer REALLY needs to solve. Customers often already have a solution in mind. As an engineer, you need to think outside the box and design solutions that are better than what they could have suggested themselves.

How was the transition going from Revolve to Kongsberg Gruppen? Revolve gave me a lot of experience that was very valuable when I started working. For me being part of Revolve became almost a lifestyle. I was so engaged in the project that I spent almost every waking hour working on my tasks. In a normal job, you have tobe a bit more realistic and separate between your work time and your free time. However, the important lesson is that when people have passion and you have a good team spirit, you can accomplish so much more. I’m lucky to work with a lot of super knowledgeable and skilled colleagues, who are very passionate about what they do. We take on big challenges and have a lot of fun along the way. Technology-wise I still work with many of the same basic things that I did while in Revolve NTNU. Electronics and embedded systems design, microcontrollers, CAN-bus are still frequent topics in my daily work. In Revolve you follow the development of a race car, from idea, all the way through realization. The main difference is that now I work with creating products that will be made in tens of thousands of units. Kongsberg’s customers rely on these products, to get their job done – sometimes with their life! So, you have to get it right the first time! Many of these products will be in use for 2030 years, so in 2040, someone might need to figure out why we designed the product as we did. That’s why you also need to document your work.

After studying I ended up moving to Bergen and working there for some years. After a while, I was looking to move closer to home and found an interesting job opening as a System Architect. After being part of Revolve NTNU and later working in an engineering company, I have seen that good systems engineering is extremely important. Here I get to utilize both my experience from working in engineering projects and my competence in embedded systems. Before joining Kongsberg Maritime, I worked for several years in a large foreign company, which I felt diverted more and more from my values. When joining Kongsberg Maritime, I was pleasantly surprised of how the company have been able to keep the good “Norwegian” company culture and spirit, although we are now a large company with people all over the world.

What motivates you to keep working in your field? I’ve always been passionate about electronics and technology in general, so it’s a privilege to have your hobbies as work. At the moment, my division in the company is going through a development program to update our products. It is a very exciting time to be part of Kongsberg Maritime with a lot of challenges and adopting new technologies. It’s very interesting to know that the work I’m doing will have an impact in the company for many years to come. I think both digitalization and autonomy are tecnologies that will continue to shape the world in What made you want to work for Kongsberg the coming decades. We see that everywhere, both Gruppen? in the automotive, maritime, and energy industries I’ve always known Kongsberg Gruppen to be a large and in our consumer products. technology company, working both with Defense, Digitalization, Maritime, etc. I worked as a summer intern for Kongsberg Defense and Aerospace back in 2012, which was a very interesting experience.

What does a normal day at Kongsberg Gruppen look like? Lately, due to Covid-19, everything has been a bit different. Like everyone else, we’ve had to adapt to the new normal. Physical meetings and workshops have been replaced with Teams. Lunchtime with colleagues has been replaced with lunch with our families. Bumping into each other at the coffee machine has been replaced with virtual coffee meetings. All in all, I think we have adapted better than we could have hoped one year ago. I think that Covid has changed working-life permanently, but I’m still looking forward to when all of this is over and I can return to the office. What has been the most exciting project at Kongsberg Gruppen so far? We have a lot of exciting projects going on at the moment. In my division, we are working on electronics and embedded hardware. The hardware is the core of a lot of our automation systems, and we are currently working on modernizing this base technology. Because this technology is present in so many of our products, the work we do will have a very large impact, which I find very motivating. I also believe that maritime shipping will be extremely important when working to achieve the UN sustainable development goals, and is a field that will be growing and developing a lot in the coming years. It’s quite rewarding to be working within a field that will also impact the global society and the future of our planet.

Revolve NTNU looks forward to a long and prosperous partnership with Kongsberg Gruppen, and are excited to continue working together in accelerating students to become worldclass engineers!

World-class Circuit Boards

For the international space station – and Revolve NTNU’s formula race car. Text by Kjetil Blokkum, Business Development Manager Simpro Photo by Eskil A. Mogstad and Jan O. S. Olsen (Revolve NTNU)

From our factory located at beautiful Løkken Verk right outside Trondheim, we supply and assist Revolve NTNU with world class circuit boards, assembly and testing, documentation, and advice – as the students strive to make the transition from student to engineer in one year.

build. A few years back, Revolve NTNU made the switch to an electric engine and has since relied on us to provide the 60-70 circuit boards necessary to run the car. An electric racing car engine is basically electro mechanical components and computers mounted on wheels, which is why we’re so excited to be a part of the build. Additionally, new and comince the inception of Revolve NTNU, Simpro plicated technology – like separately mounted elechave supported them in their endeavours to de- tric engines on each of the four wheels – requires velop the engineers of tomorrow. The practical ex- more complicated circuit boards. We help develop perience the students receive throughout the pro- and supply the technology required to make the car gram is invaluable. So are the industry contacts they run at peak performance. make. Today, countless former Revolve-students work for our customers; it is always a pleasure when Full access to equipment At our factory, the Revolve-students have full access we meet. Simpro offers end-to-end services for our elec- to our machine park and equipment. Our engineers tronics manufacturing customers, from design and are more than happy to help the students explore development, all the way through testing and ESS new concepts or improve their designs – whatever (Environmental Stress Screening), to the direct dis- they need to realize their ideas. Today, as a testatribution of products to end customers. We produce ment to our close cooperation, one of Revolve NTcomponents and electronic solutions that are built NUs formula race cars rests in the vestibule at our to withstand rough climates and challenging con- factory at Løkken Verk. ditions, like outer space and the bottom of the sea – Interdisciplinary cooperation ensures satisfaction and in this specific case, high-performance formula We are an interdisciplinary business; Revolve NTNU is an interdisciplinary project. Ensuring the race cars. satisfaction of our customers often require a creative approach to problem solving; realizing Revolve From combustion to electric engines When we first started cooperating with Revolve NTNU’s lofty goals require expertise and cooperaNTNU, they were making combustion-engine cars. tion across a plethora of disciplines. As an engineer, Then, in 2012, the world’s first hybrid supercar, the you will never learn how to do everything, but if McLaren P1, redefined the boundaries of plugin hy- you learn how to cooperate, you don’t have to. This brid engines. The formula racing engineering teams is one of the main reasons we’re such a good match took the technology and accelerated it beyond what with Revolve NTNU; their dedication to being amanyone had thought possible. Today, electric and bitious, innovative, and dedicated while also being hybrid engines are standard in the F1 racing world open to input and fresh ideas, resonates perfectly with our own values of being flexible problem solvand are taking over the racing industry. Simpro is an integral part of Revolve NTNUs yearly ers on behalf of our customers.

Cooperating during the pandemic Last year was a challenge for many of us, and I cannot even begin to state how much we missed the visits from the Revolve NTNU students. Working with Revolve NTNU is always a pleasure, as they bring an energy and drive into our factory that’s both inspiring and contagious. Curious, skilled and always asking questions – they force all of us here at Simpro to be at the top of our game. Although our factory was closed for a significant part of last year and many of us worked from home, we were still able to supply Revolve NTNU with the required circuit boards and the electro mechanical equipment required to complete their build. Although access to our machine park and testing equipment has been vital previous years, we were able to work with the students at Campus Trondheim, still offering our expertise on their build. We are proud to be working with Revolve NTNU, helping them achieve their goals. We cannot wait to welcome them back to our factory and wish them all the best in this year’s Formula Student competition!

Deep Dive: Master & Bachelor In our previous issue, we got to know more about Torbjørn Smith’s Master’s thesis about lap time simulation. In this issue, we’ll delve deeper into two theses: Ola C. Våge’s Master about model predictive control and the Bachelor thesis of Emanuela T.V.T. Tran, Oscar Meisal and Simen Bergsvik about autonomous steering.

Photos by Revolve NTNU

Cybernetics & Robotics Ola C. Våge Autonomous Systems: Control Engineer Cybernetics & Robotics

Electrical Engineering Emanuela T.V.T Tran Embedded Electronics: Group Leader

Oscar Meisal Mecharonics: Group Leader

Simen Bergsvik Mechatronics: Accumulator & Safety Systems

Predicting the Future Master Thesis

Text by Ola C. Våge Photos by Ola C. Våge

i! My name is Ola, I’m 26 years old, currently writing my master about designing a new control system for our driverless vehicle, Atmos. The driver in a racecar controls the steering wheel and accelerator/brake pedals to follow a desired path around the track as fast as possible. A processing unit on an autonomous racecar has the non-trivial task of replacing the driver, sensing the environment and using gathered data to choose new control inputs. This objective fits well in with the three basic elements of the robotic paradigm; sense-plan-act. In my master thesis, the latter two elements will be explored. A pro driver is actively using his mental model of the car and its handling capabilities to decide both what driver inputs should be applied now, but also in the near future. To do this, it is vital for the driver to have information about how the future track is going to look.

Taking this analogy back to driverless control systems, a less sophisticated controller will only start to act when deviations from the desired path are discovered. For most control system applications this is an OK approach, but for an autonomous racecar, you need a system that works in a more proactive manner. For this reason I chose to focus my master thesis on developing a controller that is using a simplified mathematical model of our car to plan how it is going to behave 2 seconds into the future. This suite of control is called Model predictive control (MPC) which is an optimization based, advanced control technique. MPC’s have gained increased popularity in industry applications because of its optimization nature, allowing companies to maximize profit given a set of resources. The output from the optimization problem is a series of control inputs that satisfies defined constraints. The first control input in the series is ap-

plied to the plant, and then the loop is repeated. In other words, the MPC is applying control inputs in a receding horizon fashion. Previous control schemes at Revolve NTNU Driverless have separated longitudinal and lateral control, using separate controllers to calculate wheel torques and steering angles. Since we are solving a path-following problem this is a bit problematic. If the car is not able to follow a sharp turn, both decreasing velocity and increasing steering angle will have an effect. A decoupled controller will only govern one of these inputs. The idea this year is that a coupled control scheme will have a better chance of finding the optimal tradeoff between velocity and steering angle to navigate Atmos around the tracks this summer.

The main input to the MPC is a list of track-curvatures that is going to be present in the near future. This is being used by the inner dynamics of the MPC to ensure that the car stays within track limits with the newly chosen outputs. The controller also takes in the current position, rotation and velocities of the car to be able to place the car in the map and track progress. Using these inputs, a nonlinear optimization problem is solved, which outputs a new desired steering angle and wheel torque. The controller’s objective function maximizes progress around the track, and minimizes heading and cross-track error over the horizon.

Since the car dynamics is nonlinear, the optimization problem also becomes nonlinear. When using a real-time MPC that is being solved online at every control step of the car, pretty tough runtime demands are placed on the solver. We have been lucky to be sponsored by Embotech, which supplies us with the Forces Pro solver, capable of solving our optimization problem within 0.025 seconds. In the pictures you can see how the black line is my controller’s prediction of where the car’s position is going to be over it’s 2 second horizon.

I chose to write my master thesis for Revolve NTNU because it is such a special opportunity to work with advanced control theory and later see it run on a physical car. When you are writing your master thesis for Revolve NTNU, you also become a regular member of the team. This is a great thing because it gives you a great basis to be able to communicate and work together with the people making the other modules and systems within my division.

Designing an In-House Steering System for our Driverless Vehicle Bachelor Thesis

Text by Emanuela T.V.T Tran and Oscar Meisal Photos by Emanuela T.V.T Tran, Oscar Meisal, Simen Bergsvik Poster design by Mia Elisenberg & Written by Emanuela T.V.T Tran, Oscar Meisal, Simen Bergsvik

his spring three students, Emanuela, Oscar and Simen wrote a bachelor thesis for Revolve NTNU. Besides writing a bachelor thesis this semester, Emanuela is also the group leader for the group Embedded Electronics, Oscar is the group leader for Mechatronics and Simen is Safety Systems Engineer and accumulator responsible. The three of them study electrical engineering with subjects within the electronics and cybernetics field. By combining their shared knowledge, the three of them, together with the Chief Electrical Engineer, saw the potential of designing an in-house steering system for future driverless race cars. The thesis documents the development of an inverter and motor controller prototype for a brushless DC-motor. The inverter was designed as a prototype for further development, where the prototype consists of two printed circuit boards that runs the control algorithm and converts direct current to alternating current at 50 kHz. By the use of a bootstrap circuit the inverter is able to switch the six MOSFETs between on- and off state.

The control algorithm is based on the field oriented control method, which by the use of Park and Clarke transformation, converts non-linear AC-currents and represents these as linear DC-currents. Two current controllers control the stator currents, while a PID controller controls the position of the rotor. The control algorithm is designed in Simulink in such a way that enables code generation for simple implementation. After a full semester of development, their work has resulted in a prototype that will be used as a reference for further development. The three students are grateful to have had the opportunity to write their bachelor thesis for Revolve NTNU and to be able to dive deeper into subjects that went beyond their knowledge.

See how the steering system works in the infographic poster! 16

How can a car steer itself? In order to design an autonomous steering system, a three-phase inverter and motor controller must be developed.

vtri vcontrol, A vcontrol, B vcontrol, C

Three-Phase Inverter

Sinusoidal Pulse-Width-Modulation

A three-phase inverter consists of

Pulse-Width-Modulation is a technique

transistors that work as switches. By the

used to shape and control the frequency

use of six MOSFETs switching every

and pulse-width of a control signal. To

20th microsecond, a sinusoidal

obtain balanced three-phase output

ac-waveform can be produced from a

voltages in a three-phase PWM-inverter,

dc-input voltage.

triangular voltage waveforms are

In order to protect vital components

compared to three sinusoidal control

from harmful transients, the inverter

voltages that are 120° out of phase. This

also features bootstrap and snubber

results in three pairs of complimentary

circuits to ensure reliable switching.

PWM-signals that controls the inverter.

θ ref

I q -ref Position Regulator

I q -Regulator

va Invers Clarke/Park Transoformation

vb vc

I d -ref

I d -Regulator

Id Iq

Clarke/Park Transoformation

Field Oriented Control Field Oriented Control is a vector control algorithm to accurately control both torque and ﬂux generated in brushless DC motors. By using Park and Clarke transforms, the three stator currents are decomposed into two orthogonal dq-currents which can be controlled by PI controllers. The output of the control algorithm produce three sinusoidal voltage references, which are then modulated as PWM-signals before being applied to the inverter.

How do you keep control of a fully autonomous race car? Text by Oscar Meisal Photo by Oscar Meisal

longside the processing unit(PU), the autonomous control unit(ACU) is one of the most important pieces of hardware on our driverless vehicle. While the PU is in charge of sensing the surroundings and computing the correct commands for the actuators, the ACU serves as a checkpoint between the processing unit and the actuators that can control the car. To put it shortly, the ACU decides if commands from the processing unit are allowed to execute based on the state of actuators, sensors and other safety-critical components. In addition, the ACU acts on external events such as loss of brake pressure or communication failures.

software Revolve Analyze. This will allow us to see exactly what’s happening, all while the race car is To achieve this critical function, the ACU is rundriving by itself. Not only will this let us keep track ning a finite state machine to determine which of everything that is happening, but it will also help actions are allowed when the vehicle is in a given us analyze the overall state of the vehicle and record state. For example, if the brake pressure were to which events lead up to a certain action. Needless drop or the emergency button pressed, this would to say, this is extremely helpful when debugging an be registered by the state machine and the vehicle already complex race car. would immediately transition into an emergency state. In emergency situations like this, there are To summarize, the autonomous control unit is ala number of tasks that must be completed so that most like the heart of our autonomous race car. It the vehicle is safe. The high voltage tractive system keeps the overall autonomous system on a leash to must be shut off, brakes must engaged and so forth. ensure the race car can perform at its best while Likewise, other states such as the driving-state also pushing the boundaries of autonomous racing. have a set of tasks that are executed continuously. Because of this, the software running is highly complex. The state machine is implemented using a real time operating system which continuously monitors the state of the vehicle in order to determine which state the system should be in. What’s challenging about a system like this is that there are alot of variables that affect the overall state. It’s easy to get lost in the web of parallel tasks, and because of this we are currently working on implementing real time monitoring of the system through our own

In-wheel

The Name of our New Drivetrain Concept Text by Eivind Vikne Photos by Eivind Vikne

yres are the first defining choice made when designing a racing vehicle. After that, everything else is designed and built constrained to make the most out of the grip and control produced by the tyres. Revolve NTNU have used the Continental 13-inch tyres for the last four years with great success, but these tyres are not the only game in town. For our R21 vehicle, we are going with the Hoosier 16-inch tyres! There are many reasons for this decision. First of all, the new tyres are smaller and lighter. This leads to a reduction in unsprung, rotating mass (the worst kind of mass), and it leads to a tyre with a smaller aerodynamic footprint, reducing drag and disturbance of surrounding aerodynamic devices. Comparing the behavior of the Hoosier 10-inch tyres to the Continental 16-inch tyres, we believe we also gain the advantage of a tyre that is more forgiving, as it has a wider range of possible driver inputs where it produces peak grip. The optimal range for the Continentals may yield higher peak grip, but the Hoosier tyres provide peak grip for a wider range. As our drivers are not professional, we believe this is an advantage that will yield a vehicle that is easier to drive at peak performance, and because of this, yield faster lap times. The Hoosier tyres are also less sensitive to a change in camber, the angle of the tyre to the ground in the front view. This frees up our vehicle dynamicist to focus less on camber gain and more on other kinematic considerations when designing the kinematics of our suspension.

chassis. For the Hoosiers, this is impossible without colliding with the suspension rods or severely restricting the design space for a kinematically sound suspension. We have pushed both the motor and gearbox further inside the wheel to get out of the way of the suspension rods. To make this possible, we designed a completely new rim center. The new center not only functions as rim attachment, it also serves as a gearbox. The gears in our planetary gearbox are the same as last year, except for a modified sun gear which needed to become longer. Although we didn’t change too much of the gear design, we have changed the gearbox configuration. The ring gear has been mounted to the upright the past years, and the torque was transmitted through the three planet gears. For this year’s design we have told our planet gears to stay still and decided to turn our ring gear that is now attached to the rim center. This way, we reduce our gear ratio to compensate for the smaller tyre radius. This new in-wheel design also required a redesigned upright. The upright is 3D-printed in titanium and post machined. Our stationary planet gears are seated at the end of the upright which also function as a part of the gearbox. Lastly, we have designed a carbon fiber rim to mount the Hoosier tyres.

This rework of the in-wheel packaging has given a design with fewer parts that do more, and it will allow us to run the Hoosier tyres and design a good suspension. The combination of a lighter rim, tyre, and drivetrain has resulted in a total weight loss of about 1 kg for each four corners of R21, which in The Hoosier 10-inch is no free lunch, however as our racing world is a lot! In addition, our motors will the switch has forced a complete redesign of our not mess up the airflow for aerodynamics since they drivetrain’s in-wheel packaging to package our are almost completely sheltered inside the wheel. motor, gears, upright, and brakes inside the smaller 10-inch rim. For the Continentals, our motors were placed outside the wheel, closer to the central

This redesign would not be possible if it weren’t for our amazing sponsors that make our ambitious ideas happen. Mjøs Metallvarefabrikk AS are machining the 7075 aluminum rim center. K. Lerøy Metallindustri AS are making the planet carrier and other critical parts for the new gearbox. DMG Mori Additive is printing our redesigned uprights in titanium, Kongsberg Gruppen and Krona are great contributors to the rim production, and Semcon does the post-machining of the printed upright geometry. We strongly believe this will make us go faster around the corners, and we cannot wait to finally show you what we have worked on this past year.

Trondheim Stål Text by Mats Erik Haugan Photo by Mia Elisenberg (Revolve NTNU)

rondheim Stål is one of Revolve NTNU’s sponsors, located at Melhus in Trondheim. they mostly works with steel in the construction industry. The fact that they comply with the CE marking requirements of NS-EN 1090-2 class EXXC3 and ISO 9001 + ISO 14001, allows for their presence in projects of all categories. However, with skilled employees in many different disciplines, Trondheim Stål is in no way confined to steel and the construction industry. With waterjet cutters, CNC controlled trimming presses and various other machinery, Trondheim Stål can produce parts in a vast amount of materials and thicknesses. From the very beginning, Trondheim Stål has been a part of Revolve NTNU; from our steel tube chassis days to the carbon fibre monocoque days. Throughout the years they have been the sponsor that has produced the most (both in total number and unique) parts for us in Revolve NTNU! The most remarkable parts are the carbon fibre inserts.

While the parts need high tolerances, the more unique side of it is that the laminated part makes for a delicate material to cut. However, with high precision, right machinery and the needed competence delamination is avoided. Both Revolve NTNU and Trondheim Stål strongly believe in the importance of practical experience. This goes for everything from hands-on experience and understanding of materials, to production methods. To promote the importance of such experience, Trondheim Stål and Revolve NTNU attended Yrkesfagkonferansen together in February 2020, and we hope to continue to promote this for the years to come!

Dassault Systèmes Text by Christian Østby Photo by Sam Moqadam

assault Systèmes is a world leading provider of software solutions for product development, design, and support. Through several years Dassault Systèmes has supported Revolve NTNU with licenses to their SIMULIA and CATIA® software, which has been used to verify and optimize our designs to achieve the team’s technical goals. By using Dassault Systèmes’ Abaqus software for Finite element analysis (FEA), in combination with their parametric optimization tool, Isight, when designing our CFRP (carbon-fibre reinforced plastic) rims, we have been able to optimize the design and layup with regards to weight, strain energy and deformation. In addition to running optimization studies, we are also benefiting from being able to run simulations on our CFRP monocoque, and other mechanical parts and assemblies, using Abaqus. The results gathered from these simulations helps us shape our design through the design process, and finally validating the final designs, giving us the confidence that our new car will perform optimally and last throughout the season.

Having access to world class tools enables Revolve to become a world class team in Formula Student! Revolve NTNU is grateful for Dassault Systèmes generous support and look forward to our continued collaboration.

Milwaukee Tool Text by Mats Erik Haugan Photos by Revolve NTNU

ilwaukee Tool Norge is a new partner of Revolve NTNU this year. Milwaukee is a global supplier of power tools. This year we have partnered up with Milwaukee Tool Norge, to help us build and maintain this year’s and the following cars. Together with Milwaukee, Revolve NTNU hand picked a wide range of Hand Tools, Power Tools and personal gear. Everything from High quality scissors for carbon fiber production, to cordless circular saw for cutting MDF moulds for the wing package. Milwaukee Tool achieved a major step forward in the industry when they invented the technology that enabled the use of lithium-ion in power tools. It was an achievement that marked a turning point for every trade in the industry They made the strategic decision to design, develop, and manufacture their own battery packs and motors in-house while investing in electrical engineering resources to design and develop leadership in electronic capabilities.

Are you ready to see our two new vehicles?

LUNA Chassis Simulated torsional stiffness of 3250 Nm/degree roll Integrated slots for wire harness 21 kg

General Specs Total weight of 159 kg CG height of 263 mm 1560 Nm of torque

Electronics New decentralized sensor systems 340 sensors New battery management system with SoC/SoF estimation Moved from passive external to passive internal cell balancing New cell stack-up to double exposed cooling area Decreased max temperature of cells during endurance by 8% in simulation

Aerodynamics 1020 N downforce @ 60 km/h More than 800 design iterations 800,000 CPU hours of CFD Weight of only 8.3 kg

Software Online tyre parameter estimation In-house developed software with a comprehensive toolbox for vehicle analysis and support for real-time parameter monitoring

Suspension & Powertrain New “in-wheel” drivetrain-packaging 3D printed, topology optimized uprights in titanium New Hoosier 16” tyres Gear ratio of 13.4:1

ATMOS Driverless

Environmental Perception Lidar-based obstacle detection, collecting measurements of 1.4 million points per second, at 360 degrees and up to 200-meter distance

General Specs Autonomous racing capable Total weight of 185 kg 1 308 Nm torque

Control Engineering A coupled MPCC controller finds optimal steering angles and wheel torques to maximize progression around the track while penalizing behavior that violates track limits 28

SLAM & State Estimation State Estimation using ESKF, estimating angular and linear velocities, pose, measurement biases using the IMU and dual GPS with indirect pose feedback from the SLAM algorithm

Path Planning Particle Filter path planning, simulating and evaluating thousands of trajectories every second, estimating the race track 1530 meters ahead

Compute Electronics

Custom-built autonomous processing unit with 5GHz clock frequency and 8 cores, all safely enclosed in the left sidepod

Redesigned autonomous control electronics and overhauled wire-harness

Revolve NTNU and 4Test Instruments Partnership Creates Valuable Insights Text by 4Test Instuments Photos by Eskil A. Mogstad (Revolve NTNU)

The technology revolution of electrification of transportation and autonomous self-driving are amongst the most significant impacts to mankind, and it is all happening right now.

For EV testing, there are a lot of considerations and areas to get insight: 1) Testing battery capacity and performance at cell level and pack level. 2) Charging test. For commercial applications a CDS (Charge Discovery System) tester is also es4Test Instruments has transformed its business sential to ensure chargers can interoperate with starting in 2019 to focus on the primary technologmultiple brand EV. ical advancement areas in Norway and the world. 3) Power Semiconductor test, such as double Providing measurement solutions that give scienpulse testers and IV characterization. tists, engineers, and technicians the all-important 4) Inverter testing for efficiency and thermal dymeasurement Insight into how their electronic denamics signs operate during research, development, certification, and manufacturing. Sponsoring Revolve in 5) All the electronic control modules and sensors in the EV 2020 and 2021 was a match made in heaven. The Revolve team wants to win and learn and 4Test Instruments has the leading measurement solutions that can provide the Revolve engineers the information and insight to characterize, troubleshoot and optimize vehicle powertrain and electronics. Specific examples are battery simulation and tests with a regenerative bidirectional Power supply/ eLoad from ITECH, market leading Keysight Oscilloscopes for measuring inverter/motor drives and troubleshooting with serial communications protocols such as I2C and CAN. Another example is Power Analyzers from Hioki that can measure the efficiency of a power train to get maximum motor torque from minimum energy usage.

For 4Test, the Revolve team is a great example of what we see happening in the overall Norwegian industry. Adoption and implementation of new technology in the area of sustainable energy, 5G communications, advanced radar and bespoke communications systems, AI and medical electronics. In all these areas, 4Test has the measurement platforms and understanding that can support the Norwegian industry getting the required measurement insight to successfully implement new designs. So, what are the key types of solutions that 4Test Instrument provides the Norwegian academia and industry?

The challenges the Revolve team has to overcome is to learn and understand how their ideas and simulations behave in the real world, to gain the required insight to succeed. This partnership is a great representation of what 4Test strives to achieve with the Norwegian electronics industry every day.

• General Purpose Instruments: DMM, Scopes, Power Supplies and Function Generators. • Power Measurement tools: Semiconductor curve tracers, regenerative bidirectional power supplies/ eloads, Power analyzers, Current and High voltage probes. • Wireless Communications Measurement tools: Signal Analyzers and Generators, Base station emulators, RF simulation tools, Battery drain analysis. • EMC testing: EMC chambers, EMC receivers for radiated emissions, Conducted immunity test. • Digital Communications: Market leading Oscilloscopes up to 110GHz, DDR, USB, Ethernet, MIPI, PCIe, and many more. • RF testing: FieldFox portable all-in-one RF tester, VNAs in multiple formfactors, Power meters and more. 31

SLAM & State Estimation Text by Sander Furre Photo by Sander Furre

n an autonomous racecar, accurate knowledge of pose and odometry states in an inertial reference frame is key to be able to contextualize the operation environment and to navigate within it. To obtain this knowledge, our state estimation algorithm uses available sensor data and works interdependently with our SLAM system to provide reliable pose and odometry updates 100 times per second. On Atmos, state estimation is managed by a software module which is interconnected with the rest of the autonomous pipeline through the opensource ROS framework. Currently, a nonlinear observer is the core of our estimation algorithm. The observer is robust, but it provides no insight into estimate confidence, is prone to modelling errors and has no feedback. Thus, we are developing a new Error-State Kalman Filter (ESKF) algorithm core which uses strap-down equations of motion and has feedback from both the onboard GNSS system and our SLAM system. Improved robustness and state estimate accuracy are target objectives of this development.

The ESKF is prone to sensor noise during dead reckoning, causing state-drift. Thus, pose feedback from SLAM is essential. The SLAM system on Atmos solves the problem of both mapping the operation environment (racetrack) and estimating pose within this map. Pose estimates from the state estimation system and landmark detections are used to achieve this simultaneous localization and mapping behavior. We utilize a state-of-the-art combination of JCBB data association and GraphSLAM to achieve versatility, dependability, and high accuracy in the SLAM system. A challenge with this highly sophisticated SLAM system is computational complexity. To keep runtime low, the SLAM system therefore features a combination of concurrency and other optimization strategies that are continuously improved upon through agile development. State estimation, localization and environment mapping are essential problems to solve for an autonomous racecar like Atmos. In Revolve NTNU we strive to push the limits of the systems solving these problems beyond state-of-the-art as we prepare for a summer of fierce competition in Formula Student.

How Atmos Sees the World Text by Johan L. Holst Photo by Johan L. Holst

ne of the most challenging aspects of achieving self-driving is being able to accurately perceive the world. Humans see well enough with our eyes, but how do we give true depth understanding to our autonomous race car? The answer is Lidar sensors from our partner Hesai, a technology known as Light Detection and Ranging. Placed at the peak point of the vehicle, the small and lightweight sensor watches over the nearby obstacles like an ever-present lighthouse. This technology gives those who seek to understand their surrounding environment superhuman capabilities, providing centimeter-precision measurements for hundreds of thousands of points at 360 degrees. This is how Atmos Driverless identifies where the racetrack is, how it knows where to drive and what obstacles to avoid.

sensor innovation, winning customers spanning 70 cities in 23 countries and regions. Lidars use active visual detection to calculate the distance of obstacles by measuring the time between laser emission and light return. In contrast, cameras are passive detection systems that receive ambient light as the signal. Because it is actively emitting light at wavelengths beyond the visual spectrum, a Lidar’s presence will be completely imperceptible to humans, even in complete darkness where the lidar will still see better than ever.

Lidar is a key technology for the future of the automotive industry, however, there are so many other use cases for creating highly accurate and dynamic ultra-resolution maps, and that is transforming Revolve NTNU Driverless is proud to have Hesai many domains including surveying, archaeology, Technology as a partner, providing us with state- geography, seismology, and forestry! of-the-art sensors. They are a global leader in 3D-sensors, spearheading important technological We really appreciate our partnership with Hesai. advancements enabling autonomous developments Their expertise, friendliness, and enthusiasm for in all parts of the world, from their headquarters in our student project is truly remarkable. We look Shanghai to the roads of California and now also forward to showing what we think is the absolute the streets of Trondheim! coolest way to use these new sensors; autonomous racing in Formula Student! Hesai’s team has created a suite of innovative sensor solutions that combine three core strengths: industry-leading performance, manufacturability, and reliability. Their unique micro-mirror and waveform fingerprint technologies lead the market in 33

How to Make BPP Great Again, and Again Text by Usman Zarar

ormula Student is a competition combining practical engineering experience with soft skills, such as project management and business planning, to properly encapsulate real-world engineering experience. One of the static events in Formula Student, is the Business Plan Presentation. In this event, teams present a business idea relating to their car for a panel of judges that base their judgement on everything from the idea and content, to presentation skills and graphical design. During a hectic year revolving around the design and production of a race car from scratch, teams run the risk of neglecting this part of the competition until it’s too late. This year we decided to implement a framework to avoid this, with an end goal of being a recurring BPP finalist in all future competitions. Our framework focuses on the following points.

to neglect BPP because the official deadlines are few and far between. If you add the fact that picking up BPP work requires you to work on a problem you’re stuck on, then your motivation might take a hit. Don’t be afraid of doing things imperfectly in the beginning. Do a less than perfect job, move on, get feedback, and return. Speaking of deadlines and feedback. Set your own deadlines to present your MVPs for the team. Not only will this help motivate members of your taskforce as well as create an arena for feedback, it also makes BPP a bigger part of the whole team

Document everything Our goal is to become a recurring finalist. This means that it is not enough to do a good job this year and leave it at that. One of the most important tools to reach that goal is to document our work. Start early with a dedicated task-force This ensures consistency in quality over the years. Previously we have tended to start work on BPP a Being able to look back at previous years to deterlittle too late. Last minute work tends to be associ- mine what worked, and more importantly, what ated with rushed solutions and shortcuts instead of didn’t work, allows future teams to improve upon something enjoyable. To quote an Alumni who pre- earlier projects. Using that as reference makes the viously led us to victory, “BPP can be crazy fun, but whole process easier you have to start early”. Having a dedicated task-force from early on lim- Last but not least, have fun with it. BPP work can be its the risk of BPP falling between the cracks when fun if you attack it with the right mindset. And the people are getting into the busier parts of the project quality of the presentation will definitely be affected year. Scout out people interested in business and fi- by the motivation of those involved. nance, presenting or graphical design early on and see if they want to join this task-force! MVPs are your MVPs Another perk of starting early on is the ability to try and fail many times. To properly utilise this, you need to remember, “Mininmum Viable Products are your Most Valuable Players”. Getting stuck on a topic because you aren’t happy with the current solution can potentially be a huge time-sink. BPP work is done parallel to other work. It is already easy

Developing new services means a need for new expertise Text by Bertel O. Steen Photos by Bertel O. Steen

Otto, one of the start-ups linked to Bertel O. Steen, offers smart and sustainable mobility through their service for car sharing and shared micro-mobility (electric bikes and electric scooters).

– For Bertel O. Steen it is important to strengthen the development of services to the customers, says Simona Trombetta, EVP Retail Development and Services within Bertel O. Steen.

Bertel O. Steen AS has evolved from being a traditional car importer to becoming a mobility company continuously seeking solutions and services that move us forward in a sustainable and client-oriented way. This development requires expertise in technology and analytics – typically to be found amongst the students at NTNU!

optimized its internal organization to further develop our services and offers, says Simona Trombetta. She is EVP for the new department “Retail Development and Services” within the company, effective as of January 1st 2021.

– To understand the customer, it is crucial that we possess the proper data tools, the insight and the Bertel O. Steen AS is one of Norway’s largest com- expertise both technically and analytically. We must panies in car-related business. Founded in 1901, know the buyer’s digital journey, the sales process the company has a long and solid history, and rep- has to be smooth and we need a CRM system that resents some of the most well-known car brands harmonizes with our customers’ needs. With this in Norway, like Mercedes-Benz, Kia, Peugeot, Cit- new department, we ensure that Bertel O. Steen gathers the right people with the adequate knowroën, Opel, DS Automobiles and smart. how to develop and enhance services that meet the clients demands, Simona says. Understanding the client is key The automotive industry is undergoing major changes. The transition to a more electrified car Want to know more about Bertel O. Steen? fleet represents one of the changes, the arrival of Within Bertel O. Steen, there are numerous initicompatible offers for car sharing and car subscrip- atives for improvement and development on systion as opposed to the traditional car ownership is tems like business intelligence, data analytics, IT systems, customer journey etc. Linked to the group another one. are also start-ups like Otto (car sharing) and Fleks Another change that is increasingly important to (car subscriptions). master, is the customer’s digital transition and his We believe that Bertel O. Steen will provide exciting or her expectations when it comes to simple online career opportunities for NTNU students. services as well as hassle-free encounters with the Follow Bertel O. Steen on LinkedIn and check out dealership physically, whether it is for a buying a the career site www.boskonsern.no/karriere. car or for repairing a car. Bertel O. Steen has been one of the main sponsors of Revolve NTNU since 2017. – As a result of this evolvement, Bertel O. Steen has 35

A Future Powered by Data and Digital Solutions Text by Aker Solutions Photos by Aker Solutions

“

We are proud to contribute to this rewarding race-car product development process and give young and enthusiastic engineers the opportunity to demonstrate their skills on a challenging and exciting project ,” says Nada Ahmed, vice president transformation at Aker Solutions.

According to Nada, the rapid pace of technological advancement creates a paradigm shift, giving the company unprecedented leverage and opportunity when shaping a common zero-emission future. Exploration and continuous learning is an important part of the journey.

Nada holds a master’s of science in environmental analysis and engineering from Rice University and has 14 years of project management and leadership experience in the offshore energy and maritime industry. Over the past seven years she has been leading various innovation and business development teams with a special focus on digital transformation.

“We explore how increased connectivity, sophisticated sensors, edge computing and advanced analytics can be combined with physical and 3-D models to produce digital twins that revolutionize the industrial experience,” she says. “We challenge ourselves to think different, to work different, and ultimately reimagine a more robust and sustainable future.”

Nada sees many similarities between building a race car from scratch to finish on how she and her colleagues work to solve complex problems and develop new innovative solutions. She is also passionate about how new technologies will fundamentally change how projects are developed.

“It is time for a transformation and we are ready to lead it.”

About Aker Solutions Aker Solutions delivers integrated solutions, products and services to the global energy industry. We enable low-carbon oil and gas production and de“Innovation and continuous improvement have al- velop renewable solutions to meet future energy ways been at the core of our product development needs. By combining innovative digital solutions and operations,” says Nada. ”Now, digital technol- and predictable project execution we accelerate the ogies such as industrial internet of things and ma- transition to sustainable energy production. Aker chine learning and A.I., allow for a step change to Solutions employs approximately 14,000 people in fundamentally transform the way that we work and more than 20 countries. deliver our products and services.”

We want to be among the best MedTech operators Text by Eker Design Photo by Eker Design

he world is facing immense challenges connected to health. We will shortly be faced with an increase in the number of older people in society, and we know that the health sector lacks resources. That forces us to think of new measures within this sector.

robot manufacturers, and the boating industry. Everything from industrial design, engineering, and prototyping to small-scale production happen under one roof outside Fredrikstad. With 35 years of experience, Eker Design is among the veterans in the industry. It has been a supporter of everything from start-ups to well-established industrial comEker Design applied for funding from the county panies for several years. municipality to increase employees’ competence within medical equipment development when the Electric and autonomous ferries Coronavirus came, and was granted 2 million kro- In addition to investing in MedTech, a strongly ner for skill development. growing market, Eker Design is strongly involved in Bård Eker’s new ferry investment, Hydrolift Smart EpiGuard and the development of the EpiShuttle City Ferries. The ambition is to offer 200 self-prorepresented the start for Eker design in the medical pelled and electric ferries to be used in scheduled technology market. traffic by 2029. The goal is to have a pilot in the water during the next year - but then initially with an To develop the EpiShuttle, we had to acquire more onboard captain. competence by employing within that field. The development of technical, medical products requires Supports innovation a process to be quality-assured the entire way, and Eker Design has a relative pair of machines per prowe will make sure more employees get this compe- duction of prototypes and small-scale production tence, says COO Victor Rosenvinge. for start-up companies. We provide Revolve NTNU with scanning and milling of MDF molds and millLong experience ing of carbon fiber tooling. Eker Design is known as Bård Ekers industrial design firm, behind successes such as Projection Design and Koenigsegg. Today, the company is an A-to-Z industrial design company that delivers turnkey solutions. There is a great diversity among the customers, including artists, stonemasons, 37

38 | Photos by Revolve NTNU

Photos by Revolve NTNU | 39

The Sense of Winning Text by Molstad Modell & Form Photos by Molstad Modell & Form

molstad

an you teach an old dog to sit? Yes, for sure, we say at Molstad, looking back at the last years under the wings of PartnerPlast ownership. In 2015 we had a turnover at 12,5 Mill NOK and was acquired by PartnerPlast in June. In 2020 the turnover in Molstad passed 42 Mill NOK, proving that the choices we made back then were the right ones. We have not only performed a huge transformance ourselves, but also made a considerable influence on our Mother company. Together we are a winning team, making way in both old segments like the oil and gas industry, but also performing well in new areas like offshore wind, renewables and aquaculture. Our values are: • Proud – Of our work, the company and of each other • Solution Oriented – Find solutions where others may not • Engaged – Always willing to walk the extra mile • Creative – Strive to think differently • Competent – Aim to be the best in our field • Willing to Change – Focus on continuous improvement

With this in mind, we are excited to once again have got the opportunity to assist our future engineers and smart leaders at NTNU with parts for the famous racing car project Revolve NTNU 2021. We wish you all the best of luck with the build and races to come. In the future, when you are looking for someone to supply moulded plastic or metal parts, or you just want a great place to earn your salary, think of us, we will be there for you. www.molstad.no

K. Lerøy Metallindustri AS Text by Benjamin Halsøy and Fredrik Larsen Photos by K. Lerøy and Mia Elisenberg (Revolve NTNU)

Part of the planetary gearbox ready for inspection.

. Lerøy is a specialized manufacturer supplying precision made components in tough materials for all kinds of customers. In the same way that we are involved in a wide array of industries, Revolve NTNU’s ability to bring different fields together to build something extraordinary is something we value and can relate to. We are confident that students that engage themselves in a multidisciplinary project like Revolve will gain experience and insight valuable to their future engagements. This is our second term supporting Revolve NTNU, and it is an easy choice to make! Revolve NTNU continues to impress us with both their level of technical solutions, and as a well-run organization. We can vouch for the Revolve NTNU team and the effort they lay down each year. To machine the planetary gear box and bellcranks for the suspention system for Revolve NTNU we made use of our Index R200, Traub TNK 36 and DMG Mori Milltap 700, a 5-axis simultaneous milling machine. This machine has the capabilities to produce some incredible geometries. It also has a user-friendly robotized feeding of material that makes it possible to run unmanned even on small series. However, this is only one of our advanced and precise machines we have running at our factory on Osterøy. As a sponsor we naturally see this as a good opportunity to make an impression on the students that

soon will start their careers. But it is important for us to show that it is possible to manufacture almost anything you need using Norwegian suppliers. Our mission at K. Lerøy is to materialize your ideas in the best possible way. It does not matter if you need some simple sheet metal brackets or are engineering high tech, next generation machine components. Our focus will either way be to understand your needs and to convey our knowledge and experience so that you get the quality you need in your product. We continuously focus on pushing the technology to its boundaries and by doing this we are confident that we will be in business when flying cars is Revolve NTNU’s focus. 41

A Year as A Driver Text by Lars van der Lee Photos by Lars van der Lee and Revolve NTNU

Most of Revolve NTNU’s drivers have never driven a race car before. Some have tried a bit of karting before, but a Formula Student car is in a completely different league. Therefore, all drivers train, study and practice a lot throughout the year. This article will provide you with some insight into the year of a driver in Revolve NTNU. Working out Before the testing season starts, all drivers need to be in good shape! Testing days are long, the summer even longer. Driving a race car for a full day requires a lot of strength, concentration and stamina. This isn’t built up in a week, and starting to work out a month before the season starts won’t be enough. The drivers work with a diverse training program, which focuses on core muscle strength and stamina. Workouts are done individually, with some group sessions every now and then. Reducing the mass of the race car is always a conversation topic around the lunch table at Revolve NTNU. As the driver is the biggest system on the car, in terms of mass, weight is important. A driver shouldn’t weigh too much, but it is important to maintain a healthy body-mass, so the driver thrives and feels good. A driver which weighs 70 kg, but is unable to focus due to fatigue is worth less than a driver at 75 kg, who is super fit and able to handle everything the competition throws at her/him. Studying and data analysis Understanding the race car is a fundamental part of being a driver. Most drivers have developed systems that are on the car, but the overall knowledge of the vehicle needs to be built up over the course of the year. Studying, attending lectures by other team members and practice quizzes are all part of the theoretical training for the drivers. In addition, data from previous seasons is analyzed to see how

the theory works in practice out on track. The theoretical knowledge allows the drivers to efficiently communicate with the engineers during the testing season, as technical terms and their effects on the car are understood by both parties. Safety first Learning how to operate a race car safely, and what to do in the case of an emergency is maybe the most important aspect of the driver’s training program. There are a lot of buttons and lights in the dashboard, and understanding how to use them is important for safe driving. The drivers also need to practice fastening all seatbelts, and how to loosen them. This is part of the driver’s egress. Every driver has to demonstrate that they are able to safely exit the race car, from a fully strapped in position, within 5 seconds!

Driving, driving, driving Eventually, all studying and training need to be converted into practice. Driving a car needs to be experienced in order to fully master the skill. During the winter months, the drivers spend hours upon hours in the simulator. Testing out new setups, looking at data afterwards and having internal competitions to set the best Auto-X times and driving the smoothest skidpad circles. As the go kart tracks have been closed this year, the drivers have not been able to fully experience the sense of speed and the g-forces act on their body. This means that the next few weeks leading up to the competition will be extremely important, for both the drivers and Luna! Being a race car driver is hard work, and most drivers also need to design and produce the systems on the car that they are responsible for. This leaves little time for other activities, and demands an immense dedication. This dedication is rewarded with the ultimate reward: being allowed to drive one of the most extreme vehicles you can find!

Mjøs Metallvarefabrikk Text by Jonas W. Ilebakke Photos by Johan L. Holst (Revolve NTNU)

jøs Metallvarefabrikk AS is a manufacturing company, with in-house production capabilities for prototyping, casting, machining, assembly, and testing. The company’s key strategy is to support customers with production know-how and provide engineering services with a real design-for-production approach. The company is well equipped for engineering turn-key solutions; as a stand-alone service or in joint cooperation with the customer. Mjøs Metallvarefabrikk AS manufactures a wide variety of mechanical precision components for the maritime industry, the offshore and subsea market, as well as other demanding industries. Mjøs Metallvarefabrikk AS is located on Osterøy, north of Bergen. The company was established in 1865, hence representing more than 150 years of proud heritage within the foundry and machining business.

and are participating in extensive development programs with renowned industry partners and research institutions. We also attach great importance to maintaining a close dialogue with relevant educational institutions–both to ensure the recruitment of future employees and to convey the industry’s requirements and expectations of the respective educational institutions.

Sponsoring Revolve NTNU is a great opportunity to support technological development and to participate in the creation of an ever more impressive race car. The journey taken on by a new team of students each year truly correlates to our own mission–putting theory in practice. In 2018 and 2019 Mjøs Metallvarefabrik AS machined our rim centers. Last year they took on a new challenge for the 2020 season; our aluminum, fully machined uprights. Through their expertise, they turn and mill almost 70 kg of raw aluminium into highly complex, three-dimensional structures, Technology weighing in at an average of 498 grams a piece. This Mjøs Metallvarefabrikk AS focuses on state-of-the- season they machined our new rim centers while art technological solutions to ensure competitive also functioning as the hub for our new gearbox deand sustainable production of mechanical compo- sign allowing us to utilize new tires and suspension nents and products. This requires sustained focus geometry. and continuous development of our own organization and the technological tools and equipment we utilize in production. To ensure our competitive strategy, we are conducting a number of internal development projects 44

Semcon & Revolve NTNU, a Perfect Match! Text by Semcon Photo by Semcon

ith a dedicated focus on innovation, the office in Kongsberg is known for its creative culture and exciting, innovative technical solutions, always with the end user in focus. Semcon is an international product development company with more than 1800 employees around the world. We combine technology, usability and design in new ways – from creative concepts to production systems and digital information solutions.

high quality components to Revolve NTNU for many years. A few of the deliveries has also been manufactured on very short notice on request from the project, this also reflects our agile approach to the projects we run.

Revolve NTNU is a front-runner when it comes to new technology, this is important for us to support. Semcon Norge strives to be the best in innovation, focusing on new products, systems and services. Semcon in Norway is located in Kongsberg with Just like Revolve, we must be in front of the techabout 85 employees. We work with development of nology development to provide our customers the complex systems and solutions within a wide range best service and together create new business opof industries. Our projects varies from electrically portunities. adjustable ski bindings for Rottefella, new technology for cancer treatment to advanced remotely op- “In order for us to be able to offer our customers the erated robotic vehicles for more sustainable ship- expertise they require, it is important that we keep up-to-date on the latest technology and research. ping. The development is rapid and we must continuousWe deliver complete systems, being able to start ly improve to stay ahead and be relevant.” Hans Pefrom an idea and go all the way to a finished prod- ter Havdal, Division Manager Semcon. uct. Most of our projects are executed in-house with a multi-disciplinary team mainly within the mechanical, software and electronics fields; which contributes to our creative and open culture. We look at the Revolve NTNU project with great interest, knowing that the team consists of next generation up-and-coming engineering stars. Our prototype-workshop, which is a central piece of our iterative development process, has delivered 45

NTNU is Revolving the Industry Text by SKF Photos by SKF

As a leading supplier of quality bearings and mechanical components we in SKF are both responsible and privileged to contribute to the development within mechanical engineering. Since founded in 1907 we have been working closely with customers across industries and all over the world, contributing with knowledge and expertise to help create the best mechanical solutions. The NTNU Revolve project is both the perfect project to showcase how we work, and a project that we believe contributes to trehe development within mechanical engineering. Every year students join the Revolve team looking at challenges with new eyes, creating new solutions, continuously improving, developing and learning. After studies students will go on bringing the Revolve experience with them creating and shaping tomorrows mechanical solutions. In SKF we recognize this and see it as both our responsibility and privilege to contribute with our knowledge, expertise and awesome bearings to create the most amazing full electric fourwheel drive racing car.

In SKF Norge we have been working with the NTNU Revolve teams since 2013. We deliver bearings for the upright gear system, the electric motors, and the suspension system. Many of these are going through some kind of modification every year, where our technical team are being challenged to deliver slimmer, lighter and more reliable bearings. The NTNU Revolve team really pushes the limits on what’s possible for our bearings, sometimes beyond what we are comfortable with. But that’s the great thing about this project. The students aren’t afraid of limits and new solutions, and again and again we have seen how good ideas have prevailed. There have been some really talented mechanical engineers working with us during the years. Some have actually started working in the car racing industry, others are working in high tech industry companies.

This year we are delivering both slim thin-section SKF Kaydon bearings and hybrid ceramic bearings. Both technologies are problem solvers where space and weight is important. Ceramic bearings was first developed for NASA during the 1970’s used in space missions. It’s light weight ceramic rolling elements “Working with NTNU Revolve is both technically with its smooth surface makes it suitable for high interesting and great fun. We enjoy working with speeds and need of less lubricant. The ceramic rollhighly motivated people in the team and gladly con- ing elements are also non-conductive so a problem solver in applications where electric current is a tribute where we can”. challenge.

SKF are continuously developing new solutions to increase rotating equipment performance. These days a lot of attention is focused on collecting data from rotating equipment with vibration monitoring systems and the use of artificial intelligence (AI). With access to more data and the use of powerful analysing tools and automated machine learning algorithms it’s possible to optimize operations and extend equipment lifetime more than ever before. In turn this reduces carbon emissions and life cycle cost for our customers. Reducing carbon emissions is an important objective for SKF. Already we have decreased our manufacturing carbon footprint by 36% and we are operating two carbon neutral factories. Last year SKF announced to aim for a fully carbon neutral manufacturing footprint by 2030. For our customers we also offer reconditioning and reuse of our bearings. When stopped in time before too large damage is inflicted, bearings can be refurbished and reused. A rule of thumb is you save 2 kg CO2 for every 1 kg of bearings. As the industry moves from linear to circular economy using reversed logistics this is a major opportunity to reduce carbon emissions. All around us things are rotating and spinning. Our components might be small, but our impact is huge, on sustainability, technology and industry value creation. From bearings to AI we work towards “a world of reliable rotation”. 47

48 | Photos by Revolve NTNU

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Induform Text by Eivind Vikne Photo by Mia Elisenberg (Revolve NTNU)

nduform is a machining company based in Levanger, Trøndelag, and one of our longest lasting sponsors. The company focuses on delivering highly complex, high quality parts for the oil industry, as well as other customers. Most of Induform’s projects have very short lead time thanks to their versatile machine park operated by experienced staff.

For many years Induform has helped us in Revolve NTNU producing parts with highly complex geometry. Our brackets are what holds the car together and they need to be both stiff, strong and light. This is achieved using geometry which is hard to machine, but with the support of Induform, no challenge is too big. The answer is always “we’ll make it work”! It is easy to spot the atInduform has extensive experience in development tention to detail in the parts we get from Induform, and testing of prototypes and offers consulting and we in Revolve NTNU greatly appreciate their all the way from an idea to a finished and tested enduring effort to help us make the best race car product. With their 40 years of experience within possible! the mechanical industry and their modern design tools, they offer a top guarantee to make ideas become reality. Induform specializes in a wide range of materials, from aluminium and plastics to wood and different foam materials. Induform was founded in 1975 and started producing moulds for the plastic industry. Since then the company has transformed to always be best prepared to face the challenges of tomorrow. Their first CNC machine was purchased in 1984, and their first 5-axis machine was installed in 2000. In 2014 they were certified by ISO and Achilles. Today Induform has an advanced machine park consisting of a number of modern machines, such as Hermle and Doosan. They have three 5-axis machines which makes them capable of producing whatever their customers demand. When it comes to casting plastic parts, Induform uses an Arburg injection moulding machine.

PLM Technology AS Text by Eivind Vikne Photo by Eivind Vikne and Pietro Jeng

PLM Technology AS is one of the first Value Added Resellers for Dassault Systèmes in the Nordics. They have over 10 years of experience delivering world leading engineering solutions, training and services to the industry. PLM Technology delivers courses in use of the Dassault Systèmes software and has a team of highly qualified specialist’s. They are eager to contribute and share their knowledge From PLM Technology’s theoretical knowledge and with our team. practical experience they are nothing but a perfect PLM Technology AS have sponsored Revolve match for Revolve NTNU. We are looking forward NTNU with training and support in Abaqus for to continuing solving engineering problems tofour years, they also include the 3DExperience - gether in the future! one of the most sophisticated engineering packages on the market. Revolve NTNU always wants to learn and explore advanced techniques in order to gain higher performance. Nonlinear topology optimization has become an integrated part of our design process where load cases and manufacturing constraints are used to identify optimal geometries for any given part. In cases where topology optimization is impractical, for example optimization of CFRP (carbon-fiber reinforced polymer) layups, we are using Isight - a parametric optimization tool. This year, a fully-fledged workflow of the wheel shell was created to find the stiffest and lightest solution within our design space. The same working methodology was used to design the layup of our carbon fiber suspension rods, giving us more confidence about the compliance in our structural suspension. 51

Shape Text by Varshan E. Shankar and Simon Desta Photos by Shape Norge

Chassis Mold made by Shape for Revolve NTNU.

hape is a manufacturer in 3D modeling, prototyping, product development, reverse engineering, and mold production. They play an important role in Revolve NTNU after having been a sponsor for several years. They have mainly been aiding the Aerodynamics and Chassis department of Revolve NTNU. This year, Shape has been making parts for the production of the aerodynamic wing package. This includes molds in MDF and foam core parts, used for the molding of elements for the front and rear wing, as well as the side tray. Shape has also been helping the Chassis group in Revolve NTNU by milling foam core which will be an essential part in the production of the monocoque Accuracy and production quality were also key for these parts, and the results met all our requirements. Last year, Shape also helped us out by doing fourpiece tooling from just two-piece. Shape reduces material cost and is more eco-friendly. They did an excellent job in making this for us, and we were very pleased with the outcome! Shape has many years of experience with customers from a wide variety of industries and has been able to extract and adapt the best solutions from across those industries. Customers range from visual artists to multinational, high tech corporations. Production ranges from simple prototypes to state-of-the-art small-scale machining of parts

in aluminum and steel. Shape also provides services within reverse engineering and 3D-modelling, often working closely with industrial designers in the process. Visit their website at www.shape.no or their page on Facebook https://www.facebook. com/shapelv for more information. Year after year this partner of ours located in Skodje, a five-hour drive from our workshop, has delivered high-quality parts for us. Shape has skilled employees, modern technology and a great amount of experience within many industries and is capable of handling a large magnitude of advanced projects.

Fieldmade Text by Fieldmade Photos by Fieldmade

Fieldmade engineers utilize 3D-scanning and reverse engineering for supporting obsolescence spare part problematics.

ystem availability is crucial in both the military- and the energy sector. These organizations uphold large and costly inventories of spare parts, many of which are never used, but the risks and consequences of inoperability are too large to ignore. By embracing the industrial revolution of additive manufacturing, spare parts can be sourced on-demand. Fieldmade is already delivering mobile additive manufacturing solutions and has also developed a marketplace to uphold the digital inventory ecosystem – thus unlocking the potential of digital supply chains. The similarities between these sectors and Revolve NTNU may not be apparent at first glance, but the need for high operability and the endless chase for high-value components is always a priority. The latter is indeed one of the main reasons Fieldmade chose to support Revolve NTNU in 2019/2020, and increased the support for the 2020/21-season. The chase for high-value components coincides with our day-to-day operation and our mission of bringing transformational AM knowledge into logistics. There is no doubt in our mind that Revolve NTNU members are at the forefront of engineering students, both in terms of work ethic, practical experience and expert knowledge of engineering subjects. In 2018, Fieldmade chose to recruit a previous Revolve NTNU member, and has ever since looked at Revolve NTNU as an ideal place to develop engineering students.

For the 2020/21-season, Fieldmade is supporting Revolve NTNU with both certified components and R&D. One of the main contributions of the year is a scale model of NOVA, which will be used for verifying- and benchmarking Revolve NTNUs CFD models. Experiments will be performed in the large-scale wind tunnel at NTNU, providing a great insight into the loads and flow structures due to the aerodynamic design. Fieldmade wishes the 2020/21-team the very best of luck in the upcoming months. The great Enzo Ferrari once said: «What’s behind you doesn’t matter», so keep looking towards the future, keep chasing innovative solutions and high-value components, and bring the gold home to Trondheim. We look forward to continuing our support for the Revolve NTNU team in the coming years.

Fieldmades NOMAD™ solution for mobile additive manufacturing – specifically designed with industrial additive manufacturing capabilities whilst transportable by air, land, and sea.

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