newsletter May 2020
EMBEDDED ELECTRONICS AT REVOLVE NTNU Text: Sindre Solberg, Eskil Aaning Mogstad, Francesco Fanin, Hermann Sundklakk, Jostein Brovold, Robin Henriksen, Silje Marie Marholm, Sivaranjith Sivarasa, Theo Degeorges, Trym Sneltvedt Photo: Marion Christine Løkkevig
The Embedded Electronics group in Revolve NTNU is the group making the hardware and software for the printed circuit boards (PCBs) for the electrical race cars. The PCBs are the brains of the race car. The main focus for our group is designing reliable electronics, in order to be one of the best teams in the competition Formula Student. We are the largest group in Revolve, consisting of 10 engineering students. This year the group has designed around 40 different PCBs. The Revolve year for our group can be divided in different parts, with a prototype phase in the autumn and final production in the spring. The group works with multiple parts of electrical system design, starting with potential concepts, progressing to schematics, PCB design,
soldering and testing, before ending in software development. Schematics and PCB design is done using Altium, the world’s leading provider of PCB design software. NCAB produces our PCBs and we are invited to Simpro’s production facilities at Løkken for our final production every year. The software development includes real-time systems, communication protocols and distributed systems. Here the focus is to develop functional and maintainable code. Because of the Coronavirus, the group in March changed focus to working on potential concepts for next year, in addition to soldering and testing this year’s PCBs.
The group consists of different areas of responsibility, here is an explanation of the different areas: • Accumulator Management System: Two different PCBs responsible for monitoring voltages and temperatures of every cell in the accumulator (battery) in order to be within safe operating conditions. • Dashboard: The PCB controlling the dashboard of the car which includes a LCD screen, indication lamps, buttons and a buzzer. • Inverter & Motor Controller: The inverter for our electric race car is self-developed over multiple years. This includes multiple PCBs to control the motors. The inverter converts DC from the accumulator to AC for the electrical motors. • Safety Systems: Electrical vehicles in general, including Formula Student, have high security requirements. Safety Systems includes multiple PCBs to make the car safe to operate. • Sensors: There are approx. 40 sensors on the race car, including two PCBs to collect the data from the different sensors. The sensors are used for safety features and race analysis. New this year were sensors for tire temperature, ride-height and ground speed. • Vehicle Control Unit: The PCB responsible for data processing, telemetry (wireless communication to a base station for real-time data analysis) and safety features done in software. The VCU also runs the torque vectoring algorithm which sets the optimal torque for each wheel of the car.
Sindre Solberg
Hi! My name is Sindre Solberg, and I’m the group leader for this group. I have a bachelor in Electronics and I’m currently studying for a master in Management of Technology. This year has been the last year of my studies, and Revolve has been a unique experience in many ways. This last year has given me practical experience in electronic system design and leadership. In my opinion, no other student organization in NTNU can compete with the dedication of the students in Revolve. The workload of the members in the organization is beyond normal. An average person could work with the project for 40 hours in a normal week, but a lot more hours may be needed in hectic periods. I have to say that Revolve has been exhausting at times, and combing personal life and school with Revolve has been challenging. At the same time, everything I have learned this year is impossible to learn by reading books in school. Having responsibility for leading and motivating a team like this has made me push myself like I would not have done in school. I am currently writing my thesis about team leadership and team development in student organizations, including topics as group dynamics and team roles and how the team leader can affect this. Being a group leader in Revolve while doing this research has been very interesting. I have been able to see the theories in practice and reflect on my behavior as a leader throughout the year. In Revolve you are part of a big team of dedicated students, and being part of a team like this is motivating. Working for Revolve is much like working in an ordinary organization, and I believe this experience has made me more prepared for the coming working life. I like challenging myself, and Revolve has been a great opportunity for doing this. Building a race car is a great way of accelerating your knowledge to a new level.
Eskil Aaning Mogstad
My name is Eskil Aaning Mogstad and I work with Inverter Development in Revolve NTNU. This year, I am one of three people working on Inverter Development. I am studying Engineering Cybernetics, second year. This is my second year in Revolve NTNU and in the Embedded Electronics group. Previously, I worked on the Dashboard and the Inverter. This year, my main focus has been software development, in addition to some hardware development. For the software part, my main focus areas are low-level drivers, state machines, communication interfaces and error-handling. Hardware-wise, I’ve mainly been working on the control card of the inverter, which is the board running the motor control algorithm and producing control signals for the power electronics. Due to the production stop, for the last couple of months, I’ve mainly been looking into a complete redesign of the inverter for the 2021 season. The main goal of the redesign is to improve the packaging and assembly process, in addition to reduce weight. Being in Revolve NTNU has been educational, challenging and fun. I’ve learned quite a lot about both hardware design and embedded software from my two years participating in the project. You will befriend and work with really talented people who have a deep passion for the project, and experience different disciplines of engineering first hand. Working in such a big team with people from different fields of study is definitely one of things that makes Revolve NTNU unique. Additionally, being able to see the race car you’ve been working on for several months drive well during testing and performing great at competitions is a fantastic feeling. I can still clearly remember shedding a few tears of joy a rainy day in Trondheim last June when Nova drove for the first time.
Francesco Fanin
My name is Francesco Fanin and I am responsible for the Motor Controller. I come from Italy and I am taking my master in Electric Power Engineering. Unluckily this will be my first and last year in Revolve NTNU because I am writing my master thesis and I am almost done with my studies. I regret that I did not join Revolve last year. I work with Eskil and Hermann but I am not designing PCBs like them. My goal is to research and develop algorithms to improve the inverter’s efficiency. I am the only member in the Embedded group who is not using Altium for developing circuit boards however I am using Matlab/Simulink massively. During the last racing season an impressive motor control algorithm was developed but it was not perfect. Noises in the current, thus in the torque, were noticed so my task has been to find ways to reduce this noise and make our signals smoother. I am writing my thesis on it and it has not been an easy task. During the first semester I studied various modulation techniques that can be applied on the inverter, I learnt a lot but unfortunately I have never seen my algorithm applied on the car because the university has been closed due to the COVID-19. I hope next year someone will finish my work. I am writing my thesis with the idea of transferring what I learnt this year to future members, this is the only thing I can do to help future teams. To join this amazing team has been the best decision during my studies, I learnt things that I would have never learnt in the “normal� university. I am talking with some important companies around the world and they would have never noticed me without the experience I have thanks to Revolve. I am sad that I did not spend more time with my teammates and I did not go to competitions with them. But I am very happy I met these amazing people with such a passion for this project. I will never forget this year.
Hermann Sundklakk
Work in combination with Francesco and Eskil in developing this year’s motor controller and inverter. Much of the work is done concerning the overall safety and performance of the system, as this is the largest contribution to weight, safety risk and achievable vehicle performance. Typical development cycle involves improving on previously developed systems from former seasons, in tight cooperation with Revolve NTNU alumni, relevant systems in the team and industry experts. We typically develop two runs of PCBs and have a continuous development of both Motor Controller and general embedded SW used on the system. Testing is done in great detail of the 600VDC power electronics and of the motors on our self-made test facilities, developed with the generous help of our sponsors and industry experts. Working with this system provides excellent opportunities to push personal development on both a personal theoretical and practical level, in addition to work with some of the finest engineering students Norway and the World has to offer. This in addition to the demands, level of achievement and help from the overall Revolve NTNU team and sponsors helps us develop genuinely impressive systems in a very short time span. From experiences gained over the last four years as a member of the team, I can positively say that it has been an awesome experience with incredible lows and highs mixed with very hard work alongside great people. I would highly recommend this experience to all engineering students. In Revolve, you will truly have the possibility to achieve and learn things not even remotely possible through normal studies. Revolve NTNU pushes, teaches and develops the problem solvers the world needs tomorrow, today.
Jostein Brovold
My name is Jostein Brovold and I develop the master controller for the Accumulator Management System, or AMS for short. I come from a small place north of Hønefoss. I’ve been interested in cars since I was born and I guess that’s what I love about the project, insane race cars. I’m studying Electronic System Design, third year. This is my second and definitely not last year working on the electronics on the cars. Previous position was Safety Systems, where I had responsibility for various systems on both cars, as well as the high voltage electrics on the driverless car. I’m usually to be found in the electrical office working on some LTSpice simulation or doing some advanced guessing (synsing) about how to make the electrics in the car more stable. The main focus for the AMS master controller this year has been to improve sensor accuracy and software development. This includes reviewing how we measure the voltages and current in the car and trying to find a better and more accurate way of doing it, cleaning up code and making it less demanding for the Real-Time Operating System and much more. Working in Revolve NTNU has been very cool. I’ve learned all kinds of things from PCB design to general maintenance of a race car throughout these years. You get to meet a lot of motivated and skilled people from all types of backgrounds. You get to design a top-notch race car through eight months, and top it all off with a tour of Europe with just the best people. I have so many fond memories from last summer, everything from testing in any kind of weather at Dragvoll (VSV anyone?), eating ice cream outside the workshop or just trying to find a place to eat in Karlsruhe city. And who can forget the evening at the workshop when Atmos, after many failed attempts, finally spun its wheels again. Shoutout to Revolve NTNU Driverless 2019, it was amazing!
Robin Henriksen
Hello! My name is Robin Berntsen Henriksen and I am responsible for sensors on the car. I am studying Electrical Engineering in my third year and I am currently writing my bachelor thesis for Revolve NTNU. The Sensor Broadcasting System on the car, called SBS for short is the main board for interfacing with external sensors on the car like linear potentiometers for dampers or temperature sensors for the cooling fluid. As responsible for the sensor system I have to communicate with team members, talk to sponsors and design solutions. My main focus this year has been to make a reliable system that Revolve NTNU can be confident is feeding correct information from the sensors to the car. As an electric racecar is a noisy environment for analog sensors, hardware filtering has been a huge topic this year. The reason hardware filtering is important is because aliasing can affect signals in unpleasant ways. Being a part of Revolve NTNU is challenging but at the same time very rewarding. Having the possibility to design a complex system, produce and then test it is a great learning opportunity. The responsibility can be a little overwhelming, but having great team members around pushing and helping you gives the extra motivation needed to improve. I think the experience from Revolve NTNU is a very positive addition going forward in the working career.
Silje Marie Marholm
My name is Silje Marholm (age 21) and I am responsible for half of the Safety System. Currently I am in my first year of studies in Electronic System Design and Innovation. When I started the studies I wanted to challenge myself a lot, and did that by joining Revolve NTNU. In the beginning it was very tough because it was a lot to learn fast. But with some will and motivation you get far, and I am very happy about the knowledge I have gained. The Safety System is a very important piece of the car, where the purpose of my PCBs is to monitor the voltage currently active in the car. This is very important for the safety of the members working with and driving the car.
Sivaranjith Sivarasa
My name is Sivaranjith Sivarasa and I work with the dashboard at Revolve NTNU. This year my main focus has been to improve the user interface of the dashboard. I have also been working in javascript to make software for designing ui. I am also a first year student of Cybernetics and Robotics. When I started my study last year I wanted to learn more outside school. Revolve was perfect for exploring programming and electronics. Being in Revolve has been hard, but the learning and fun outweighs all the challenges on the way. I would say that I have learned more in one year at Revolve than I have had at school. I would therefore suggest everyone to apply for Revolve, even if you are a first year student.
Theo Degeorges
My name is Theo Degeorges, I am coming from France and here in Norway for a two years master (Smart Sensor System with ELSYS). I love innovation and challenges, and Revolve is perfect for that. Revolve is a lot of work, but the project is very interesting and ambitious which is very motivating and it does not feel like a labour. I am working with the safety of our battery. The AMS has to monitor the voltage and the temperature of our 132 pair cells. It is very satisfying to work on and improve such advanced systems even though you almost know nothing when you arrive there. Also, there are many former members that are eager to help you throughout the year which makes the learning and progress very efficient and pleasant. I am also very proud to have been able to improve last year’s version of my system. Everything is correlated at Revolve and that makes it much more challenging and exciting. Join the experience!
Trym Sneltvedt
My name is Trym Sneltvedt and I work with the Vehicle Control Unit and telemetry at Revolve NTNU. I am also writing my master’s thesis with Revolve NTNU as an external partner. My thesis revolves around designing and testing a prototype breakout board for a commonly used circuitry, which can be reused in the coming seasons. Being a member of Revolve NTNU is demanding, but also extremely rewarding. Working in cross-disciplinary teams on a tight schedule teaches you to think as an experienced engineer. It also bridges the gap between the theory you learn at NTNU and the practical applications. Revolve NTNU has given me invaluable experience working as an engineer on large projects with other people, which I believe will be very beneficial in my career.
GET TO KNOW THE NEW BOARD! Text: Mats Schiøtz, Sven Jørgen Gjems, Christian Østby, Marius von Hafenbrädl & Johan Ludvig Holst
We are the newly picked board for next year’s team, and this is a little introduction to us and the roles we will fill. We are all excited to begin the work and looking forward to the next year! As of now, the board is yet to be complete. We are still searching for a Head of Marketing to join our team, and urge anyone who is interested to apply.
Matz Schiøtz Project Manager
My name is Mats Schiøtz. I have been working in the Perception & Navigation group this year and I’ve enjoyed being a part of Revolve NTNU a lot! I’m in my second year of Industrial Economics and Technology Management. This fits me perfectly as I have a great interest in both the organizational and the technical aspects of my work. This is also why I applied for the project manager, and Revolve NTNU gave the perfect combination of these two. I know I’ll gain a lot of different experiences and I look forward to keeping pushing the organization to be one of the best Formula Student teams in the world.
Sven Jørgen Gjems Deputy Project Manager and Head of Finance
My name is Sven Jørgen Gjems. I just finished my first year of Social Economics and I am excited to work as both the Deputy Project Manager and Head of Finance next year. I wanted to join Revolve NTNU because I’ve always liked to involve myself in more than just studies. I have been working at Studentersamfundet, so I know how rewarding engaging in organizations such as Revolve NTNU can be. I like being social, so I am really looking forward to focusing on team building along with my other responsibilities, safety, recruitment, close collaboration with the project manager and the reporting of economic activities. I have always liked to challenge myself academically and I am looking forward to gaining new experiences with a great team such as Revolve NTNU.
Christian Østby Chief Mechanical Engineer
My name is Christian Østby. I’m in my second year of Mechanical Engineering. Since I came to Trondheim, I’ve always liked to engage myself in more than just my studies, such as being a DJ at Samfundet and joining my student organization. But this year I wanted something more academically challenging, so I felt the position of the Chief Mechanical Engineer was perfect for me. It gives the best of both worlds as it gives me both a leadership role and the chance to work closely with the whole project. I get the opportunity to actually practice what I learn. I hope to gain many different experiences and to be able to give as much as possible back to the organization.
Marius von Hafenbrädl Chief Electrical Engineer
My name is Marius von Hafenbrädl. I study Cybernetics and Robotics, and this is my second year in Revolve NTNU. Ever since I came across Revolve NTNU, I’ve been hooked. After two years in Trondheim, I felt the need to engage myself in something more and Revolve NTNU looked like a perfect fit. This felt like a really engaging, ambitious and educational project. Last year I was group leader for Mechatronics and I enjoyed it a lot! I got a taste for the combination of administrative work and peaked my technical interest, so I felt the Chief Electrical Engineer position was perfect for me. Now I get to work with everything from leadership to advanced battery technologies, via the design and production of complex circuits and embedded computers to the development of real time software solutions.
Johan Ludvig Holst Chief Driverless Engineer
I am Johan Ludvig Holst and I’m in my second year of a Bachelor in Informatics. The past year I’ve been working on driverless Path Planning in Revolve. This has been a great technical challenge, but also incredibly rewarding and has now driven me to dive even deeper into the world of autonomous development as Chief Driverless Engineer. I’ll be in overall charge of all aspects of the driverless project, while also having high-level responsibility for Revolve’s Data Analytics group. I’m eager to get started and looking forward to working with everyone on the new team!
Head of Marketing
We are still looking for a passionate student to take on the leadership of Revolves marketing group. If you have a love for great marketing, communications and leadership, you would be the perfect candidate. As the Head of Marketing, you will be part of the board giving you a golden opportunity to push yourself and the organization forward. Some of your responsibilities as Head of Marketing will be the development and follow-up of our marketing strategy, both in the business world but also internally within NTNU. You will be leading a great team who are all eager to work with you to do the best job possible. There are no requirements to apply, so if you have a burning commitment and want to be a part of one of Norway’s most innovative student organizations, you should certainly apply. You can find more information about this position and Revolve NTNU on our homepage.
SPRING DATA GATHERING Text: Johan Ludvig Holst Photo: Waleed ElZoghby
In spite of global shutdowns, research and development within Revolve must go on. The Driverless team has been continuing work on the software stack driving the vehicle, using digital arenas to emulate our normal physical workspace for daily check-ins and meetings. Test time with Atmos, our self-driving racecar, is critical for our ability to perform at a high level. After spending the entire year developing new technical solutions, tests of all car systems during the spring validates the work that has been put down and gives room to tweak areas that show potential for improvement. In the Perception & Navigation group alone, there are three master thesis candidates crucially depending on genuine data to verify their results. Waleed has worked to develop a
state of the art stereo-camera-based environmental perception system, operating in parallel with Benjamin’s new lidar detection and cone color classification algorithm. All this data pipes directly into Per’s revamped localization and mapping module, to produce a precise, robust, and dynamic understanding of the space around the vehicle. The plan was to have a test-ready car in mid-April, but by the time snow had melted there was still no racecar on the horizon. Faced with the very real possibility of never having any true vehicle data for verification, the team scrambled for access to our treasured sensors and trusted trolly. The trolly is designed with sensor attachments in the same positions as they would be on the real car, making it a useful approximation of what the car would see if it was driving.
With a fully charged 12 volt battery, and two dozen road cones in shades of blue and yellow we collected data showing that the effort put in by the entire team throughout the winter has paid its dividends. More dependable environmental understanding and positional awareness make for a racecar with a stronger baseline for decision making and allows for tighter margins of error while still remaining safely within control parameters. The results from our trolly tests so
far are very promising, showing both camera and lidar detection surpassing design intent. We look so much forward to testing our systems live on Atmos. Nothing compares to running the car for real, but until we can do that we are thankful for the chances to take a test stroll with the trolly.
THE FS RUNNING CHALLENGE Text: Lars van der Lee Photo: Lars van der Lee & Johan Ludvig Holst
In the middle of April, all competitions got cancelled. This meant that we suddenly had become a racing team without a race. Luckily, we were not alone in this situation. Our good friends from TUW Racing challenged all Formula Student teams to a running challenge. We are always up for a challenge, so we all found our running shoes and set off! The FS Running challenge would go over three weeks. Every member participating logged their running on Strava, meaning we easily could get an overview of the total mileage for the entire team. This was then reported back to TUW Racing weekly, who kept count of the scores.
Week 1 Running is not something the average Revolver has as a habit of doing, but nonetheless did we manage to put in 60 runs! Despite covering a distance of almost 400km, we did not manage to get on the podium the first week. That meant we had to up our game for the second week!
Week 2 At this point, everyone is getting familiar with the concept of running. We also start noticing that Strava keeps track of the telemetry data from running! As engineers, nothing is more exciting than data analysis. With extended knowledge of our pace and heart rates, we exceeded the week 1 results with over 100 kilometers! This was enough to get us to second place for week 2!
Week 3 The final week started well! Motivated by the podium finish in week 2, we got off to a good start. But then the Norwegian weather took control! Snowstorms from Tuesday until Friday meant that running was limited, we even had a member reporting a cross-country ski-trip! Overall, we did manage to get 300 km on the board, but we did not reach up to medal positions during the last week.
Over the three weeks, we covered a total of 1230.7 km. That is just enough to take a trip from Trondheim and visit both our main sponsors, Kongsberg Gruppen and Bertel O. Steen! We have enjoyed the challenge, but are looking forward to racing other Formula Student teams on the race track again next summer!
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