07/05/2012

ETAS: Premium Partner of Stuttgart University’s GreenTeam

As a Premium Sponsor, ETAS supports the “GreenTeam Uni Stuttgart” throughout the 2012 racing season by providing essential prototyping, measuring and calibration tools needed for the development and commissioning of the electronics for the new Formula Student electric racecar, designated E0711-3.

GreenTeam Uni Stuttgart
Powered by a purely electric propulsion system, the E0711-3 racer of the GreenTeam Uni Stuttgart starts in the newly designated “Formula Student Electric” class inaugurated two years ago. Already in the founding year of 2010 and driving the first racer, designated E0711-1, the racing season rewarded the GreenTeam Uni Stuttgart with victories at Hockenheim and Torino, making it the unofficial Formula Student world champion. In 2011, the second racer, called E0711-2, its propulsion unit still controlled by a MicroAutoBox, managed to capture second place in Torino.

In the construction of the E0711-3, the racer for the 2012 season, the 40 students making up the GreenTeam Uni Stuttgart have benefited from the competitive experiences of the last two years. Also, in order to build on the successes of the initial season, the team has joined with strong engineering partners such as ETAS.

Faster across the finish line with ETAS support
Initial contacts between GreenTeam and ETAS were made towards the end of the last racing season. A few meetings later, the overall concept for the electronic controls for the E0711-3 had been hammered out.

At the heart of the control technology for the new racer, the compact prototyping, interface, and measurement modules of the ETAS ES900 and ES400 hardware series are ideally placed. What tipped the scales in favor of the solution presented by ETAS were its sophisticated metrology, powerful interfaces, versatile configuration options, and the broad based support provided by suitable software tools.

The options for the quick and easy validation and adaptation of new control functions offered by the ETAS environment paved the way for efficient software design. In light of the short project runtime, the availability of these options represented an essential prerequisite for success.

The ES910 Prototyping Module controls the E0711-3 electric racer.
As the target system for the electronic control, the new E0711-3 uses the ES910 Prototyping and Interface Module, i.e., a full-fledged ECU substitute: All algorithms performing vehicle monitoring and control functions were implemented on the ES910 module. As a result, the ES910 module monitors the high-voltage system, captures the vehicle status, controls the cooling system, and handles the complex control of both electrical machines that optimize the vehicle’s driving dynamics.

To capture measurement signals and control the actuators, the ES930 Multi-I/O and the ES410 A/D Module were connected to the ES910 module. In this manner, the signals output by the wheel speed sensors and thermocouples were captured, while at the same directly controlling both fan and water pump of the cooling system.

INTECRIO and ES720 Drive Recorder for integration, validation, and calibration of electronics
ETAS INTECRIO was deployed for the integration of electronic functions and validation of the electronic system. Thanks to this integrated prototyping environment, it was possible to test and optimize implemented software modules on the ES920 module already during development. In this way, function models could be quickly modified and signals and parameter values directly captured and adjusted. This facilitated a significant reduction of the amount of time required for troubleshooting during the development phase. As a result, the electronic system of the E0711-3 race car could be powered up at quite an early stage. This was followed by efficient precision tuning of electronic controls and vehicle during the subsequent testing phase.

The ES720 logs measurement data during both testing and actual racing. Based on the measurement data captured, the parameter values of the electronic control functions are fine-tuned by means of the INCA calibration tool. In this way, the driving performance is constantly improved.

Formula Student
“Formula Student” and “Formula Student Electric” are the designations for international construction competitions sanctioned by the Society of American Engineers (SAE) for students enrolled as degree seeking undergraduate or graduate students in a college or university. Beginning in 1998, Formula Student competitions have also been held in Europe. Each year, the student teams of Formula Student and Formula Student Electric (the latter, FSE, having been founded as recently as in 2010) compete against each other in a variety of disciplines with their self-built experimental racecars. There are a total of 430 teams worldwide, with 140 of them located in Europe.

GreenTeam Racing Schedule

• ZF Race Camp: June 30 through July 2, 2012, Friedrichshafen
• Bosch Boxberg Calibration Event: July 5 and 6, 2012
• Formula Student (FS) Austria: July 17 through 20, 2012; Spielberg, Red Bull Racing Ring (FSE teams are also starting)
• Formula Student Electric (FSE) Germany: July 31 through August 5, 2012; Hockenheimring
• FS Spain: August 30 through September 2; Barcelona