Formula UFSM: Electrical Subsystem
Electrical subsystem work and track testing for the Universidade Federal de Santa Maria Formula SAE race car.
Overview
During my bachelor’s in Control and Automation Engineering at UFSM, I was a member of Formula UFSM, the university’s Formula SAE team, which designs and builds a race car each season.
What I did
- Electrical subsystem: installed the car’s electrical systems and evaluated strategies to reduce weight.
- Track test campaigns: took part in track sessions evaluating car performance across powertrain, electrical, transmission, telemetry, brakes and other systems.
- Troubleshooting: dealt with issues involving brakes, the steering wheel, the differential and more.
- New steering wheel: contributed to the ongoing development of a new steering wheel.
- Cross-team support: helped the braking subsystem with tasks like changing the brake fluid. It was a humbling, hands-on experience.
What I learned
Formula SAE taught me how tightly a vehicle’s subsystems depend on each other, how to troubleshoot under time pressure at the track, and how to work in a multidisciplinary team, all of which carried directly into my work in aerospace.