Five teams of UPC students have entered their vehicles in Formula Student 2018 this summer

The arrival of summer marks the start of the international university competition Formula Student, in which the UPC student teams Dynamics UPC, e-Tech Racing, ETSEIB Motorsport, UPC ecoRacing and Vilanova Formula Team are participating. The five UPC teams will compete in various European circuits within the competition and will meet from 22 to 26 August in Formula Student Spain at the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit in Montmeló.

Jul 27, 2018

Formula Student was started in the 1980s in the United States with the aim of promoting innovation and R&D, and it has now become one of the major international motor events involving universities. Every year, students from all over the world, in more than 400 teams, compete in one of the many trials that are held within this competition in Europe, the United States, Japan and Australia.

The international teams must calculate, design and manufacture a single car during a process that ends with competitions on professional circuits. These competitions include static tests, in which the students defend the design of the vehicle before an experienced jury, and dynamic tests, which evaluate the performance of the car in motion and on the track.

The goal of Formula Student is to generate a bond of cooperation between the teams, universities and the business world, while allowing students to showcase their skills to car manufacturers from all over the world. The participants show their capacities through tests that measure not only speed but also the ability to solve the problems of engineering and management involved in designing and building a racing car.

The Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) is participating with five teams that will compete at various European circuits and will all meet in August at the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit in Montmeló, 22 to 26 August.

The UPC teams will also go to the following events at the European circuits of Formula Student 2018: 31 July to 4 August, Most Autodrome. Formula Student Czech Republic and 6 to 12 August, Hockenheimring. Formula Student Germany

Dynamics UPC starts the summer season
This group of students, who three years ago embarked on this design and construction project for a formula-type car, has just come back from its first competition of the season. The Dynamics UPC team was formed this year by 34 members of the Manresa School of Engineering (EPSEM). It was the first UPC team to test its vehicle, DYN-03, in Formula Student 2018, at Formula Student Netherlands on the TT circuit in Assen, from 9 to 12 July.

The students have designed the latest evolution of this electric vehicle, with which they obtained second place in the general classification for combustion engines and a total of 554 points. The team will also participate in Formula Student Spain at Montmeló.
 
The most innovative version of E-Tech Racing
With a new team, E-Tech Racing are returning to the circuit that gave such good results last year, the Formula Student Spain.

The team of the Barcelona East School of Engineering (EEBE), which presented its ETR-04 vehicle powered by two independently controlled engines on July 26, has faced a project of great technical difficulty this season. The new car has the most ambitious and innovative design that the team has developed. It incorporates a carbon fibre monocoque as the main structure, a suspension system with wheels of smaller diameter and a new transmission system with planetary gear. The aerodynamics, cooling and the ergonomics of the vehicle have also been improved. In addition, the new set of electric batteries can be monitored thanks to a control system designed by the team.

The ETSEIB team will visit three circuits of the competition
This year the veteran ETSEIB Motorsport is composed of 39 students of the bachelor's degree in Industrial Technology Engineering and the master's degrees in Industrial Engineering and Automotive Engineering of the Barcelona School of Industrial Engineering (ETSEIB). The team will participate in three of the 13 circuits of this international competition: Most Autodrome in the Czech Republic, Hockenheimring in Germany and the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit in Montmeló. The new CAT11e car, with two-wheel drive, will start in the Czech Republic, where the team will try to defend the good results achieved in other editions of the competition. It will also be defending the title of the best Spanish team that it obtained in 2017.

At present, ETSEIB Motorsport holds 15th position of a total of 139 in the world ranking of Formula Student Electric, and in this new edition it is aiming to consolidate itself as one of the best teams in Europe.

The ESEIAAT is committed to sustainable and innovative technology
UPC ecoRacing, composed of students of the Terrassa School of Industrial, Aerospace and Audiovisual Engineering (ESEIAAT), will premiere the new ecoRX electric vehicle at Formula Student Spain in Montmeló. The team were the first in Spain to build a hybrid racing car and have a long list of awards from international competitions in Europe, America and Australia.

Faithful to their innovative approach, this year the UPC students in Terrassa have built a car with full four-wheel drive. Sustainability was the core principle behind all the innovations introduced in the design and manufacture of this car. UPC ecoRacing thus starts a new stage after 10 years linked to the world of sustainable mobility, facing the season with the aim of continuing to be one of the pioneering teams in Spain in this sector.

Fourth year in a row for the students of Vilanova
Another group of students that is participating again is the Vilanova Formula Team of the Vilanova i la Geltrú School of Engineering (EPSEVG), which will compete with its new car at Formula Student Spain for the fourth consecutive year. The 30 EPSEVG students of the team will start the year in Montmeló.

A year after the best season of its history, the team has focused on improving the dynamics and reducing the weight of the chassis and other parts of the running gear and bodywork. The design by the Vilanova Formula Team will be the only Spanish test vehicle equipped with an engine with a CVT drive. This is the most outstanding modification in comparison with its predecessor, and will allow the driver to reduce the time used for gear shifting to zero.