Going into the competition next month and hot after their car unveiling last week, Alejandro Garcia, OBR's Head of Business Development, presents their newest contender for Formula Student and talks about their excitement of going electric. However, the key question remains: can OBR make it to the very top this year?
Please give us an introduction and background to the team.
Oxford Brookes Racing (OBR), the award-winning Formula Student team from Oxford Brookes University. OBR has competed in Formula Student since its inception in 1999. The team designs, builds and races a single-seat Formula Student car. The team is made up of approximately 200 students from across the department’s engineering courses.
Congratulations on coming runner up at FS2018, how did it feel?
The 2018 season brought the team’s best performance to date, which motivated the team into further innovation and engineering improvement. The teams 2018 contender secured a top placing at FSUK of 2nd place overall and “Best UK Team”. This success has elevated the team into the most won “Best UK Team” titles of all FSUK contenders.
Some predict that OBR may join Cardiff Racing as UK winners of their home competition this year – how confident are you feeling about that?
For the last 20 years OBR has been innovating constantly, leading to being placed as top UK team 6 times. With 1st overall place in FSUK being the ultimate goal for the team, OBR will push towards excellence this summer. (editor's note: "watch this space" then!)
What do you think you did that contributed to your performance?
A key element was the management of the team, focusing on an organised timeline, from concept design to vehicle testing, OBR made sure every process was done in the most accurate but yet efficient way possible. Refining last year´s design and focusing also on iterative refinement.
Tell us about your new car this year; what can we expect?
Further evolution of the vehicle has continued alongside team performance. The 2019 contender features a single cylinder KTM 450cc engine, 10” wheels, a moulded 3⁄4 monocoque, and a high performance aerodynamic package. This car will be part of the 2019 team having the 1st place in FSUK as a goal.
What objectives do you have for this year?
The team has furthered its ambitions by integrating two projects (Class 1 & Class 2 vehicles) into each season. This ambition allows the team to develop high performance concepts over multiple years.
Aside from Class 1 winner, what other awards are you looking to win this year?
After a long and successful history of combustion entries in the formula student competition, OBR is making the shift to electric for the 2020 season. With a new team structure and a class 2 project to serve as a R&D platform, OBR aims to develop a platform to not only take on the top FS teams in the world, but to also serve as a test bed of innovation for electric vehicles and controls software.
Tell us more about your new Electric car!
The concept is based around a 4WD in-hub motor configuration with AMK AC servo motors mated to a compact epicyclic gearbox capable of producing over 300 N-m of torque at each wheel. Energy is supplied from a 600 V, 6.6 kW-hr battery pack using LCO pouch cells with a peak output of over 130 kW. All of this is managed through an open controls platform ideal for implementing torque vectoring and advanced vehicle controls to unleash the full performance potential of an EV competitor.
How are you balancing work on both your IC and EV entries?
OBR implemented a new team structure this year, with the purpose of making the team´s work more efficient and effective. By maintaining a One-Team philosophy, a management board was implemented, having as well a dedicated team for both IC and EV, giving more students the opportunity to have a lead role.
As we get closer to returning to Silverstone, what are you most looking forward to?
We are looking forward to see the culmination of our combustion era! Without a doubt OBR19 (named Lily) will be a very special one, aiming for the win and representing the 20 years of hard work of OBR. We are also looking forward to see the results of our Class 2 team hard work on the Electric Vehicle design, this will be the start of a new era!
What advice would you give everyone competing this year?
Being this an engineering design competition, our best advice would be to learn! Look closely into new technologies and always discover new ways of innovating. Take every challenge and learn from it. Acquire experience that will build each one of you as professional engineers and gain lessons that will not only build you as engineers but also as individuals.
What would you say for anyone thinking of getting involved in the competition?
This competition opens so many doors for engineers, Formula Student is the best way of becoming a vessel for innovation in engineering. Industry is looking into Formula Student constantly, due to the research and development that happens in this environment. Adding up to what we learn at our universities, this competition adds an extraordinary amount of knowledge and experience!