Formula SAE Competition Objectives
-from 2006
Formula SAE Rules
"The
Formula SAE ® Series competitions
challenge teams of university
undergraduate and graduate students to
conceive, design, fabricate and compete
with small, formula style, autocross
racing cars. To give teams the maximum
design flexibility and the freedom to
express their creativity and
imaginations there are very few
restrictions on the overall vehicle
design. Teams typically spend eight to
twelve months designing, building,
testing and preparing their vehicles
before a competition. The competitions
themselves give teams the chance to
demonstrate and prove both their
creation and their engineering skills in
comparison to teams from other
universities around the world.
Vehicle Design Objectives
For the
purposes of this competition, the
students are to assume that a
manufacturing firm has engaged them to
produce a prototype car for evaluation
as a production item. The intended sales
market is the nonprofessional weekend
autocross racer. Therefore, the car must
have very high performance in terms of
its acceleration, braking, and handling
qualities. The car must be low in cost,
easy to maintain, and reliable. In
addition, the car's marketability is
enhanced by other factors such as
aesthetics, comfort and use of common
parts. The manufacturing firm is
planning to produce four (4) cars per
day for a limited production run and the
prototype vehicle should actually cost
below $25,000. The challenge to the
design team is to design and fabricate a
prototype car that best meets these
goals and intents. Each design will be
compared and judged with other competing
designs to determine the best overall
car.
Judging
The cars are
judged in a series of static and dynamic
events including: technical inspection,
cost, presentation, and engineering
design, solo performance trials, and
high performance track endurance. These
events are scored to determine how well
the car performs. In each event, the
manufacturing firm has specified minimum
acceptable performance levels that are
reflected in the scoring equations."
The following points are
possible:
