The driverless category is perhaps the one that has seen the greatest development in recent years in Formula SAE, especially because it is a relatively new field where there is significant room for growth. From a certain point of view, it also represents pioneering work, because while the automotive world is mainly focused on the electric transition, this technology is continuing to be developed in universities.
It is also for this reason that some companies in the sector come to the Formula SAE competitions, including the Italian one that took place in Varano last weekend and which also saw a growing number of teams participate in the autonomous driving class. The winners were Praga and Tallinn, among the fastest and most consistent teams at European level, also thanks to rather significant investments in terms of budget. Furthermore, Praga was the only team to complete the track drive in the pouring rain on Sunday, which guaranteed it a significant boost in terms of points.
However, Italian universities also performed well in Varano, including the UniNa Corse team from the University of Naples Federico II, which once again climbed onto the podium in the driverless category after having won last year. This year, with the competition being moved to September, other European teams also took part in the event, making it even more competitive.
Formula SAE 2024
Photo by: UniNa Corse – Federico I Racing Team
However, compared to the first two classified, UniNa has opted for a different project, focusing on a self-driving car, but based on a combustion prototype. Having already had experience with a vehicle powered by a heat engine, the boys and girls from the University of Naples embarked on this new adventure starting from an already known base, even if the entire sensor part, the most complex in a project of this type, started from a blank sheet of paper. In parallel, UniNa is also working on an electric prototype.
Other Italian universities have also started from a similar basis but, for now, the one in Naples is the one that has obtained the best overall results in the various tests, thus hitting the podium for the third consecutive year in the final ranking. Furthermore, it has achieved third place for best design, to which is added a second place in the dynamic events of Skidpad and Autocross. This is an interesting project, because according to Raffaele Fregonese, Director of Formula SAE Italy, designing a driverless car with a combustion engine base adds further challenges in the design phase for students compared to an electric vehicle. Undoubtedly, the sensor part plays a leading role, especially in terms of writing the code, but having to manage the gear change by “teaching” the car how to behave in certain situations adds an interesting challenge that can also find applications in the automotive world.
“The entry of driverless cars began a few years ago and the first impression is that autonomous driving is better suited to electric cars. This allows for a simpler ability to control the actuation system, and therefore the torque. If the pedal is already a potentiometer, you can simply, with the upstream intelligence system, connect that signal, telling the car how much to accelerate,” Fregonese explained.
Formula SAE 2024
Photo by: UniNa Corse – Federico I Racing Team
“It surprised us at the beginning that there were some combustion-powered cars that were driverless rather than electric. Some teams that have dedicated themselves to driverless reuse the cars of the existing team from the year before, so in some cases it was easier for them to have a ready-made car rather than create a new one. In any case, the bulk of the work on the driverless part is related to the sensors.”
“However, it is true that adding the actuation of the gearbox, even if many teams already have the gearbox actuated with the pneumatic system, adds in turn the need to control the clutch and the clutch-accelerator coordination, which is what the driver generally does even when he has to start off with less torque.”
Taking part in a competition like Formula Student is not just about building a car, but it also allows the students to gain transversal skills, ranging from teamwork to management skills, aspects that are also useful on the work front once they have finished university. A round of applause goes to the students of the racing team of the University of Naples for the project and for the podium achieved in such a complex class.
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