Another month has passed and we are back with another issue of our newsletter!
We organised the event Formula Solcell together with Karlstad University, Teknikerjakten and Karlstad Makers! During two weeks, different middle school classes got to visit us for a day and build their own cars, powered by solar cells. The kids got to work together as a team to design and manufacture their own car and compete against their classmates. It was a great experience for both us and the kids!
We attended the work fair HotSpot at Karlstad University where we got to speak to students and interesting companies, we even got to speak to some of our lovely sponsors. Thank you to everyone who came by and showed interest in the project!
Some of us also visited our main sponsor Sandvik Coromant! We got to see their facility and even see some of our outsourced parts get made. They also gave us some useful advice when it comes to our in-house manufacturing. Thank you for having us!
Aerodynamics
During February the Aerodynamic group has continued with laminating different carbon fibre parts of the car, such as wings and parts of the bodywork. We have also received parts from Diab and Bergs Mekaniska, which will help the aerodynamic package to be as light as possible while maintaining structural strength and stiffness. We have also used our 3D-printers to print moulds for our diffuser. The Aerodynamic group is preparing to perform a scaled down wind tunnel test of the car to validate the CFD analysis, to make sure that our aerodynamic package will perform as expected and that having the aerodynamic package on the car is an advantage when it comes to increasing cornering and braking performance etc.
Chassis
February has been a busy month for the Chassis group. It all started with getting the welding jig ready for the chassis after receiving the parts from HANZA. Once we finished assembling the jig, we could finally start assembling and welding the steel tube chassis. Our CNC machine has been working non-stop, producing parts like the TSAC mounts for the chassis. We also received water jet cut parts from our sponsor, Bergs Mekaniska, which we greatly appreciate. Obtaining these parts meant spending many hours in the workshop, assembling and welding the aluminium containers for our electronics. Meanwhile, we’ve been keeping up with other tasks, such as updating the Structural Equivalency Spreadsheet, to ensure we meet our deadline.
Electronics & Drivetrain
This month the group has been busy with various lectures. A few of the members went to Stockholm for the required ESO training with Training Partner for the competitions this summer. We also had a lecture about the inverters and motors from AMKmotion so that we can understand more about the hardware and software that we have. The group has also been working with a lot of different circuit boards and systems for the car.
Suspension & Maneuvering
In February the Suspension group visited our main sponsor Sandvik Coromant in Sandviken together with our CNC manufacturing group. We got to see their showroom, parts of their R&D department and most importantly had the opportunity to watch them manufacture some of our parts. Also, we received valuable input on how we could improve our designs and drawings for better manufacturability and were taught some tips and tricks about CNC-machining. We were very content with the trip and went home with a lot of new knowledge and a few finished parts. Other than this, the members of the Suspension group have continued manufacturing parts within their manufacturing roles. Like the rest of the team they are working hard with manufacturing, eager to begin assembling as soon as possible.
Marketing & Finance
In Business & Finance, we have been preparing for the competitions and the static events, with our primary focus currently on BPPN, where we have a looming deadline. We are also diligently preparing for the day of the release, including a significant aspect: the release video. A substantial amount of filming has taken place in our workshop to create a professional and engaging video that highlights our work. The Marketing and PR part of the group has continued to create and publish sponsor content to our social media as well as planning future content. We’ve created and ordered our new rollups and also our team jackets that you will see us wearing soon!
Now we are getting back to work and we’ll see you again next month!
