Formula Student Electric in Peru
This is a project that is still in work. This is the first prototype of a Formula Student Electric car from Peru, which will eventually lead the OHM Formula Racing team to compete in the FSAE Electric competition.
For Formula 1 enthusiasts, the Formula Student competition is an introduction to the career of high-performance automotive engineering. In our case, OHM Formula Racing seeks to promote electromobility in the region, since electric cars are not common in the country.
In this post, I will briefly show some experiences about what I have done and learned from participating in a project as challenging as Formula Student.
As is well known, carrying out student projects is an immense challenge, for which you need committed people, contacts and a lot of motivation. And a project like a Formula Student Electric is even more so, since it requires building a car from scratch and being the first in the country.
I began my journey in the Formula Student in the area of Wheels and Brakes, in which eventually I became the leader. We were able to design and select the necessary components of the car in harmony with the parameters and requirements needed by other areas such as Suspension and Steering.
For this, CAD modeling programs such as SolidWorks, Fusion360 and Ansys for FEM analysis were used. In these, we can emphasize the design of the uprights, which are the main components of transmitting the reaction forces of the tires to the suspension system.
Likewise, we have the pedals which allow force to be applied to the hydraulic pumps for vehicle braking.
But, the Formula Student is not only the engineering area, but also the Operations and Marketing areas. It is these 2 which allow the development of events for the promotion of electromobility and the project. This is how events such as Engineering Brak could be held, which consisted of explaining and showing the progress and importance of the project in the university environment. Likewise, we have the Electro UTEC event, aimed mainly at companies, which discussed the difficulties and success stories to form a venture regarding electromobility, as well as the importance of taking the transition step in Peru.
This project changed my mentality in what it is like to carry out a project from scratch, strengthening my soft skills and also giving me interest in topics that I did not think about, such as automobiles. Currently, I am part of the team’s board of directors, having as my main task the search for allies that can financially support us in the development of this project, to demonstrate that in Peru, there is interest and support in the electric vehicle market.