The Tecnun eRacing team decided two months ago to take advantage of the mandatory break to give new impetus to project, and the progress is already bearing fruit. Despite the current status , the Tecnun eRacing team is moving forward with the same enthusiasm as always. Although the competitions have been cancelled, they are still working on next season's single-seater, the TeR21.

Their development began in September 2019 with a redesign of the suspension geometry and later with the design of a carbon fiber monocoque, the first in the team's history. They were doing all of this while working on this year's car, the TeR20. But when the confinement began, efforts focused entirely on the development of the new one.

The work has now been divided, and everyone can work on different aspects of the new vehicle from home. The new way of working and the ingenuity of the team members have opened up new possibilities where previously there were only hints of difficulties.

Working remotely is partly an opportunity. As Aitor Martín, student of Industrial Technologies Engineering, explains, "We are having more free time than usual, which allows us to make group calls on Skype to review designs or hold meetings. Although the current season has come to a halt, we remain positive thanks to all the progress we are managing to make on next year's car".

Aitor also makes reference letter to the phase of design, which "being longer than usual is allowing us to detect many problems in our designs, which may mean that there are fewer problems once the car has been manufactured".

In any team task, communication and welcoming newcomers is indispensable. As a veteran member, Aitor emphasizes this point: "We are taking the opportunity to document all the design decisions we make so that newer members can understand the process that has been carried out. In this way, the knowledge acquired over the years by the more senior members will remain in the team and will allow us not to make the same mistakes and to move forward in a more agile way. In addition to this, the heads of several areas are giving seminars by videoconference to their members to pass on this knowledge," continues Aitor.

The students of the Tecnun eRacing team know that there are many fronts to get the car up and running. Each of them requires a little attention to make position of the effort they are undertaking.

Suspension

Aitor says that simulations of the suspension kinematics can be performed at home, which allows us to see how the assembly will move. This financial aid to test if the tires behave as expected, as well as to visualize if there are going to be collisions between components. "Once the kinematics are ready, it's time to design the parts that will make up the suspension system." Finally, the students perform finite element simulations to make the part as strong as possible with the minimum amount of material.

Chassis

During the course, the automotive team conducted an ergonomics study in which they analyzed the most comfortable driving position for the driver. Once defined, they started designing the single-seater around the driver and, finally, they will wrap all the parts that make up the vehicle with the chassis. "This is the first time that a carbon fiber chassis has been designed in the team, which gives us more freedom when designing, as well as greater rigidity and a considerable reduction in weight," says Jon Pérez Blanco, student of Electrical Engineering. The members are currently working on designing and simulating the inserts that will be responsible for transmitting the suspension loads to the chassis. "It is a complicated task, but the team is very excited about this project", continues the university student.

Aerodynamics

Meanwhile, at department aerodynamics, they are working to improve the way the car interacts with the air around it. To do this, they are performing CFD simulations by remotely controlling the automotive lab's computers. Their goal is to increase downforce without increasing drag. In addition, they want to improve the simulation process to automate it as much as possible and minimize simulation error.

Electronics

The quarantine has given the team the opportunity to test, review and document new designs that will improve the vehicle's reliability and performance. In order to be able to work from a distance, the day before the confinement everyone took several tools home, such as oscilloscopes or voltage sources.

Drivetrain

Finally, Jon Perez explains that Drivetrain's main goal has been to optimize the cooling of the inverter motors that drive the car: "Based on data from an on-track test, we have sized the cooling circuit to improve its reliability. In addition, we have made efforts to improve the drive system, so that it works as efficiently as possible while keeping weight down."

The plan for the return to normality is already starting to gain momentum among the Tecnun eRacing team at Tecnun. Aitor is convinced that "although we are now focused on next year's car, we are not forgetting about the car we will be driving next year".