The Club
High-Octane Motorsports e.V. is a registered, nonprofit organisation and also a university group at Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg.
As a formula student team we are building race cars since our founding in 2007. All tasks necessary for our goal of building innovative new race cars each year are solved by our team members without professional Help. The Students develop their own concept, model it in CAD and construct the race car. The car also needs to be tested before each race to ensure safety and performance.
The team members are students from all faculties who gather knowledge independently and learn about automotive engineering and manufacturing technology. The interdisciplinary topics from technical to economic Fields are unique in formula student as the race cars are not only judged by the technical aspects but also on financial points.
Sponsoring and Support
To accomplish our goals we are working together closely with Sponsors in the fields of industry and economy. For their support we are not only offering marketing opportunities but also contact to the engineers of the future. Through the close contact between students and companies in the development both sides have benefits. If you want more information about sponsorship you can find them in the section Sponsors.
Formula Student
Formula Student is a racing series departed in three different categories. In these categories electric, combustion and driverless vehicles compete against each other. High-Octane Motorsports e.V. represents the FAU in the combustion and driverless class (since 2018). And in the upcoming season we are going to be develop our first electric race car. There are different international events in countries all over the world and the competitions take place on famous tracks, like the Formula Student Germany at the Hockenheimring or the historic Silverstone track. With the example of Formula Student Germany we want to explain the different disciplines and the process of the events.
The Disciplines
Formula Student is a combined event like the athletics. In eight different disciplines our team is competing against the others and collect points depending on our results. In the end the team with the highest overall score wins.
The diversion of points (see combustion and electric above, driverless below)
The diversion of points (driverless vehicles)
The disciplines can be parted into static and dynamic. While the dynamic events are classic motor sport disciplines like acceleration, SkidPad, Autocross or Endurance the static disciplines, Business Plan, Cost Report and Engineering Design Report are covering different areas of product development.
Acceleration
The Accelertion event is a accelerating race for 75 meter. The fastest teams reach the finish line often in less than 4 seconds. Even though this event seems to be the easiest one, the Acceleration hat great technical challenges. Engine torque, drive and traction have to be perfectly balanced to enable an optimal speed and prevent wheelspin.
“Beim Beschleunigen müssen die Tränen der Entzückung waagrecht zum Ohr hin abfließen.”
– Walter Röhrl
SkidPad
The SkidPad-Course is probably the most striking course in motor sport and is best described as an infinity sign. The shape of the course demands a high cross acceleration and at the same time good handling as the circles only have a diameter of 15 meter. The driver has to complete two consecutive laps as fast as possible, while the shearing force of up to 1.4 g are affecting the car.
Autocross
The autocross course is a twisting approximately one km long track, which has to be completed as fast as possible to set the starting order for the endurance event. The task for the driver and the car compares to the endurance and there fore the Autocross is excellent to compare the different Teams. It also gives the first opportunity to test the car in racing condition and perform last changes for the endurance if necessary.
Endurance
This discipline is the most important one of the dynamic events. 30% of the total score can be scored in this event only. The goal is to prove the power of the vehicle and the drivers skill for a track of 22 km. After the first 11 km the second driver gets into the car to minimize the risk of an accident and to keep the physical and mental requirements of the driver low. This discipline shows how much the teams regarded the interaction of the different factors like speed, handling, fuel consumption and reliability of the parts.
Trackdrive
In the Formula Student Driverless Class Trackdrive replaces the discipline Endurance. In this event the vehicle has to navigate itself around the given course for 10 laps. In Trackdrive the classic factors like speed, fuel consumption and reliability are tested again. Additionally the autonomous car has to manage with a completely new and unplanned track.
Fuel Efficiency
The fuel consumption is one of the most important statistic in modern automotive engineering. For that reason young engineers also have to prove their knowledge in this discipline. In this event to score points not only the fuel consumption but also the speed is important. No extra track has to be completed, the data from the endurance event is counted. Only the teams that completed the endurance with less than 5.7 liter on 22 km score points at all.
Business Plan
At the Business Plan Presentation the teams have to show their knowledge on marketing. Each team has to work out a concept on how to bring their car on the market and present it to the judges. marketing Know-How is rated as well as techniques of presentation. Even though the concept is never put into practice, it has to be developed close to reality and logical justified.
Engineering Design Event
In this discipline the team has to defend their design decisions in front of the judges, which are representatives from the industry and motor sport. For this event forward-looking Ideas and lots of simulation are requested in the development phase. The looks of the car and its components are only judged on technical topics, where innovation is very important for the success.
Autonomous Design Event
This discipline is, as the name says already, only relevant to the driverless competition. Here the judges rate hardware and software decisions that are important for the autonomous control of the vehicle on top of the overall concept of the car as explained in the Engineering Design section. Some of the judged topics are the choice of sensors and their placement, the perception of the track or the thereon based path planning.
Cost and Manufacturing Event
In the Cost and Manufacturing event a cost report has to be developed on which base the teams cost efficiency can be compared. This cost report includes a listing of all materials and parts as well as the working hours that are needed to build the car. So this report shows the overall costs of the projects. During the presentation for the judges the team also has to explain their knowledge about cost efficient working.
