NYU Motorsports FSAE is the motorsports design team that participates in the Formula SAE electric competition. As part of the suspension subteam, I worked with a team of 3 students to design and manufacture suspension components for the car. I was involved with the calculation of design parameters, research, welding, and lathing.
To design a Formula vehicle, we first needed to determine key parameters and obtain values for them in order to maximize desired factors such as stability, top speed, acceleration, energy efficiency, etc. As part of the suspension team, we had to consider various factors regarding the suspension geometry, the main three being camber, caster, and toe. I created a program in MATLAB to determine these factors with our target weight, size, and height of the car. For instance, I created the simple MATLAB program below to calculate the vehicle's optimal center of gravity height. This allowed the team to have a dynamic way of interacting with the parameters of the car. It also ensured the required calculations were done correctly, eliminating the risk of making a mistake.
Program used to determine the optimal center of gravity height
As of right now, our team is working on bending metal beams and welding them according to our CAD design. I was responsible for finding appropriate shock absorbers that have the appropriate lengths and pounds per inch necessary for the vehicle. I'm responsible for maintaining the shocks, adjusting their pre-load length, and adjusting the rebound and compression values. The shocks being used are Ohlins TTX 25s. I've also contributed to the CAD design of the vehicle by verifying that the sizes of the tubes bought are reflected in the design. I've also marked the tubes at joints to prepare them for welding. This made it much easier for the team to manufacture and assemble the car. It also made sure that the manufacturing was done correctly and accurately, which is crucial since welded parts cannot be undone.