Newsletter March 2020

newsletter March 2020

CHANGING TO HOME OFFICE Text: Lars van der Lee Photo: Sindre Solberg & Lars van der Lee

The corona virus is affecting the daily lives of a lot of people. Schools and universities are closed and everyone who is able to work from home, should work from home. This also goes for us in Revolve NTNU. It is Thursday, the 12th of March, and the board is just discussing how the corona virus might affect Revolve NTNU. Someone knocks on the door. “School is closing down�. Not a very unexpected message, but one with a lot of consequences.

For the first time in my role as Project Manager, I am taking a round through the offices and workshop to send everyone home. The aerodynamics group was about to start moulding the rear wing endplate. Embedded Electronics members were reworking their PCBs and the suspension group was machining parts at the MTP workshop. Everyone had to stop and pack their bags.

All revolvers, with their PC monitors under their arm, went home to set up their home offices. The office and workshop may have been closed, but there is still a lot we can do. All systems on the car need to be defended on Engineering Design, and the business plan also has to be prepared for the competition. So the team switches focus onto the static events, while we await the development of the situation.

A home office, as the name indicates, is located at home. All of the sudden, we have access to stoves, fridges and roommates. Quite a change for a Formula Student member that usually only sleeps at home.

Lucky for us, the world of technology allows us to stay in touch with the rest of the team. Meetings are being moved to digital conference calls, we have a digi-

tal “office�, and can continue to work together using our confluence server and google drive. Using these tools, Revolve almost functions as normal.

Even the Sunday meetings are still taking place. Gathering all 75 members into one big conference call, with the presentation on a shared screen.

Here we discuss how to progress forward and what the current status is. During meetings like this, it is important to utilize the virtual backgrounds fully! A cabin trip, from the comfort of your home office chair is not to be underestimated.

After two weeks of virtual standups, meetings and hanging around in our vir-

tual office, the first competitions started to cancel this summer’s events. After meetings with all groups, we came to the conclusion that the current situation is not suitable for us to complete the 2020 EV car. It is unpredictable when the University will open again. Instead, we will use Nova, last year’s EV car, as a base car for testing of the 2020 systems that can be adapted to fit. This will ensure that most members still can complete their engineering cycle.

The DV crew will still push on to achieve the performance goals set for 2020. Us-

ing the simulation tools we have developed, development can be done from home. Regular stand-ups ensure that we still work in the same direction, getting ready for when the world normalizes again.

Until then, we want to thank all sponsors for their support and for believing in us and the project. We wish everyone the best of luck in this situation, and cannot wait to invite you all to an event with our cars once the world gets back on its feet!

POWER SYSTEMS AT REVOLVE NTNU Text: Hermann Schips Photo: Marion Christine Løkkevig

Say hi to this month’s group: Power Systems!

Power Systems is the group responsible for correctly dimensioning one of the key elements in an electric race car – the accumulator (battery pack). In addition to provide a safe and sound power supply, the group has the task to secure all members and spectators from the high voltage running through its “veins”. This is done by enclosing our PCBs, accumulator and inverter with composite casings. Last, but not least, this group build the connection between all other systems with a state-of-the-art wire harness. As a member of Power Systems, one spends the greater part of the autumn exploring concepts, deciding essential parameters to evaluate them with – and then fully engineer the problem-solving designs.

This phase is the root of our organization, and how Revolve NTNU makes students into world class engineers.

What have you done the last month?

Since the last newsletter came out, we have had a busy and exciting time building our systems. First of we checked all 700 battery cells provided from Melasta. This was done by visual inspection, in addition to voltage and inner resistance measuring. Thereafter we began the process of making a functional battery package out of them. This year’s car has a completely new design for the internal securement of cells from external forces. With the help from our friends in Fieldmade and Polymaker the concept was brought to life, and we are now confident that the cells will be snug as a bug even under a 40G acceleration. Two of our guys spent the month in Kongsberg, casting this year’s inverter and accumulator casings. Getting access to the expertise and facilities that Kongsberg Group has working with composites, gives the team a unique chance of learning the properties of materials such as carbon fibre and Kevlar.

Hermann Peter Schips

Would preferably be renamed Hermann Potato Schips. The group leader and a part of the bicycle-trio, which means he rode his bike called “Lynet” no matter the weather and temperature. That was however until his bike gradually broke down and eventually was stolen. As his birthplace is Volda, he is a person that enjoys long hikes in the mountains and is up for any adventure that pops up. Unfortunately for us this is where Ivar Aasen was born as well, which means Hermann is obsessed with the mysterious and encrypted written language called “nynorsk”. Other than doing the administration part of being a group leader, he has spent countless hours milling and sanding moulds for production, showing his skills as an industrial surface finisher. With strong roots from the outskirts of Munich, he is undeniably a person that introduces German quality and discipline to the team. Also, who said Germans don’t have humour?

Eirik Berge Sæther

Next up is the man responsible for the casing which holds the accumulator. Throughout the autumn, he collected valuable information from alumni (earlier team members) in order to sort out issues that occurred in earlier designs, and how we needed to assort the task of improvement. Thereafter he has had a tremendously steep learning curve with digital 3D-modelling software and how production restrictions play their role in choosing designs. Even though he spent the whole autumn putting the casing together using computer animation, there were no signs of exhaustion in his face when he held the final product raised above his head. While growing up he was a promising soccer player for Hødd, the team which has their stadium where the series of “Heimebane” was filmed. In addition to being a dedicated team member, he is the alpha male of the bicycle-trio and enjoys skiing back home in the Alps of Sunnmøre.

Ivar HansgĂĽrd

If you have any questions regarding battery cells – this is the man to ask. As the person in charge (pun intended) of the accumulator itself, Ivar has made a big leap towards fully understanding the magic chemistry that propels our car. After thorough investigation of power consumption and cell characteristics using Revolve Analyze, he landed on the decision of using pouch cells. Pouch cells use the same technology as your typical cylindrical ones (AAA) but have fewer restrictions regarding geometrical shapes and sizes.

He studies the field of electrical engineering and has now established a steady foundation for the rest of his degree. One of the biggest reasons for why he applied for his position is that he since childhood has taken electronics apart and reassembled them. He now also works on designing his own keyboards (not musical ones as far as we know) and the experience picked up from his work in Revolve is easy to apply there as well.

Daniel Vorhaug

Lord of The Wire Harness is one of the most thorough people on the team. Always double and triple checking if everything is alright with connectors and wires. “Wouldn’t it be easier to just…” is a frequently used phrase of his, and more often than not, he is correct. You’ll always find him either organizing our inventory of connectors or browsing the web for new ones. If there is a wire with a connector that is not being used, be assured: he will cut that connector of. Somewhere in the garage, he has a drawer full of them. Even though he is a freshman, this man has senior knowledge in most topics especially movies! So, in addition to help building the accumulator, he designs and lays all circuits of wires going in the car. He has maintained a great relationship with our contacts in the business world and made us a part of ODU’s test personnel for their new connectors.

Bjørnar Åsebø

The man, the myth, the legend Bjørnar is the CAD master of the group. Whipping the group back in place once the Power Systems CAD assemblies gets out of hand. When not whipping, Bjørnar can be found with an Oscar Sylte soda in his hand, looking at cars on the internet. If you’re guessing that his origin is a rather small village outside Molde, you’re absolutely correct. Therefore; If you were to disagree with his thoughts on a car, be prepared for a lengthy and lively discussion. Bjørnar is one of the team members that has a certificate of apprenticeship as an industrial mechanic, which has come in real handy through all phases of this project. An ideal summer afternoon for him would be to take a couple of friends out fishing on a still fjord, knowing that he can do exactly the same tomorrow.

Edvard Ronglan

The last but not least part of our bicycle-trio, Edvard. In the organisation we have a running joke where we call him “Milling Jesus”. The reasoning behind this is that he has shown that dedication and excitement for learning new things really makes the difference. During the milling of moulds, the CNC machine used was dysfunctional because of a bug in the software for running our G-codes. Technical assistance was [HHA1] informed but did not seem to understand how to fix this bug. Edvard – a marine technology student – therefore decided to sort out the issue himself and read through biblical measures of user manuals before stumbling upon the solution. Edvard is the group’s trønder and has therefore no issue making his point clear under discussions, regardless of the topic. When not at the office Edvard is also fond of hiking, trail running and randonnée skiing.

REVOLVEDAY Text: Caroline Tran Photo: Johan Ludvig Host, Helge Bergo & Martin Berger

26 companies, everything from electronics, mechanical and consultant firms - even bank & finance! Hundreds of students, iconic balloon drop, inspiring motivational speech by up and coming entrepreneur Elin Nørve and much, much more. Last month our annual career day: RevolveDay was held at campus Gløshaugen!

RevolveDay is an event the team has been looking forward to in months! The first planning of it started already in autumn, right after the bootcamp. This is a day the whole team gets together to arrange the best event possible for students in collaboration with sponsors. Every member contributed with various tasks and it was a nice “break” to do something different than everyday technical tasks and the best part was that we could do it together!. Everything from transportation to cake-baking was delegated. New members were excited about what all the fuzz was about, while alumnis prob-

ably were curious if the event would be as good as in previous years. Old sponsors had their expectations from earlier and new sponsors have been hearing a lot about this big event. In other words, there were quite a lot of expectations for the marketing group who had the main responsibility for planning the event.

The day started off with the team meeting up in the building at 7:30 am for the last preparations before sponsors arrived to meet their contact-Revolver and set up their stand. An early start gave us more time to fix miscellaneous situations that might occur. Right before the clock turned 9 am, everyone, both the team and sponsors, stood ready to welcome the first students. Goodie bags were given to the first 100 students and with that the career day officially started!

Throughout the day there were various happenings and activities and the hallway was flocked with students. We had

a big balloon drop with 400 balloons each and every one of them filled with prizes! A big thank you to all the shops and restaurants that sponsored us with all the prizes! At the big auditorium the program was filled with exciting presentations about many different companies, informing the students about all the amazing opportunities they got everything from job offers, internships and summer projects! We were also so lucky to have founder of Future Leaders, Elin Nørve, hold a motivational speech!

As the face of a bold new approach to management and corporate operations that emphasizes sustainability, as well as a social, environmental, and financial impact, also known as the “triple bottom line” she taught the students about leadership and management of the future!

For the career-hunters, speed interviews were sat up with different companies in the more quiet 2nd and 3rd floor. On the 1st floor visiting students could enjoy free ice cream and hot dogs from Simens isbar. At the same floor you could also find interactive stands that made the meeting between sponsors and interesting students even more fun! There were quizzes with BDO, a team-building game and Kahoot at COWI’s stand and flying drones at the stand belonging to FLIR to name a few. The companies had also brought with them cool props on stand to ensure the newest technology was on display for students to see!

Our precious Nova was placed in between our main sponsors: Kongsberg Gruppen and Bertel O. Steen in the middle of the hallway right in the center of all the student traffic! We also had a Driverless stand with Atmos where students could see how the Lidar and camera detection worked in real time, with our very own simulation environment running right next to it. Right next to Driverless were one of our older race cars Gnist used as a simulator with VR headset to let students test their driving skills as Formula Student drivers! Here we used a game called Assetto Corsa where you get to drive a F1 car without cones.

This is similar in some ways to racing in Formula student. You train on race lines, speed, braking and turning and get very realistic. We also used a VR headset to make the experience even more realistic.

The person that was the closest one to our drivers top time would bring home a Sony headset from Norsonic.

After a long and successful day it was time to pack down stands and get ready for dinner at Frati! It was time for celebration and evaluating the day that has been over tasty food and drinks. We want to thank all the sponsors that participated and made this possible - we couldn’t have done it without you! We hope everyone is satisfied with the day, both students and sponsors, and we’ve already taken notes of the feedback from all of you to make an even greater RevolveDay next year!

We had a ballooon release with 400 balloons filled with prizes.

The students could try a VR simulator of the car.

There were a lot of stands where students could talk to companies or join competitions.

There were company presentations, so students could know more about each company.

MONOCOQUE PRODUCTION Text & photo: Clara Ghattas

In the middle of February, the monocoque group travelled to Kongsberg to embark on the month-long journey of producing this years’ monocoque. We optimize the use of carbon fiber, aluminium honeycomb and foam to create a lightweight, yet stiff and strong chassis.

Monocoque production is truly a unique and rewarding experience that very few students have participated in.

The production period is what the whole year leads up to after months of planning, CAD, and testing. It is exciting to see the hard work manifest in front of our eyes in the form of a monocoque during production. We finally see the designs coming together and working, and can also see what does not work and can be improved for next year.

During production, we work in the facilities of our main sponsor, Kongsberg Gruppen. They lend us the space, the high tech, high quality machinery, materials and tools that we use to make our

monocoque. Many people there are interested in the work we do and will come and chat with the group and give their expert advice.

No two days are the same during production. The day starts at 07:00 and ends at 23:00. In between those hours, we can be doing anything from laying fiber, sanding down parts, placing core, gluing inserts, and bagging for the autoclave depending on the stage we are at. It is a long and labour intensive period, but we learn a lot and it is also a lot of fun!

After the long days we drive back to our cabin, and chill together with a lot of frozen pizza and watch something all together.

There are around 5 days of work left before the monocoque can be finished.

Sadly we had to halt production due to COVID-19. But the group is motivated and as soon as the dust settles, we will be back to finish the last of it!

SES TESTING Text & photo: Clara Ghattas

The recipe for the perfect ses panel SES, or the Structural Equivalency Spreadsheet, is a document handed in to show that the monocoque design and layups are good enough to meet the strength, stiffness, and safety requirements set by competitions.

Ingredients • To make the perfect SES panel you will need: • Your fiber of choice • 275 x 500mm of core • An autoclave (you can substitute with an oven, if an autoclave does not work for you) • Moulds • Time • Adhesive • Testing jigs Pre-preparation Before you can begin making your perfect ses panel, there is some preparation that needs to be done first.

You have to start with a layup and add in some calculations of the force that is needed for that layup to pass in the SES. Then you should sprinkle in some classical laminate theory to make sure that the stress in the skin does not make the panel fail. You can also add a pinch or two of finite element analysis to bring the whole panel together, so you can visualise how it will perform and know what to expect.

Recipe Now that the preparation is done, you are ready to start making your panel Step 1: Cut out your outerskin and lay it on an aluminium tray, ready for autoclaving. You will want to bag it here as you want to keep all the pressure inside to get an even baking process. Refer to your datasheets for the perfect curing time.

Step 2: While the outerskin is curing you can prepare the rest of the panel. You will need to wash your core and lay the innerskin layup on it.

Step 3: When the outerskin is finished, you will need to take it out and assemble the rest of the panel on top of it. Don’t forget the adhesive!

Step 4: This is an important step, if you don’t want your core to get crushed from the pressure, then you will need to place your moulds around the core now.

Step 5: Your panel will need another round in the autoclave. While you wait for it to finish, it may be a good idea to set up your SES spreadsheet for this panel, so you can input results as soon as they are ready.

Step 6: This is the fun part. When your panel is finished in the autoclave, it is time for testing!

Our preferred testing place in Revolve NTNU is at Krona in Kongsberg, but you can use whatever works for you. You will need your 3 point bend jig and testing machines for this. Remember your safety equipment like goggles!

Step 7: If you hear a loud crack at a force bigger than the one calculated earlier, then you have successfully made the perfect SES panel.

If not, then do not fear there is a solution!

As with any recipe, there is a secret ingredient that makes for the perfect panel. Iteration!

You can save a lot of time and material by doing this in the preparation section to optimise the panel. Keep repeating until it works and you can’t make it any better. Unless of course you run out of material, then it is time to call it a day.