The University of Glasgow Racing (UGR) team recently took part in the Formula Student 2024 competition with the support of the Incorporation of Hammermen of Glasgow. The competition requires teams to design, build, and race a car against other students, requiring skills including technical engineering design and manufacturing skills.
The competition is split into classes. The Formula Student (FS) class is the main event, followed by the FS-AI class which focuses on artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles. If teams only have a project and a plan for a FS class car, they can compete in the Concept class. There’s also an FS Sim Racing series, separate from the main competition and designed to be an extra, fun challenge.
Each team’s prototype is judged by industry specialists and must demonstrate that it would be a viable business model for both parties.
Formula Student class
Static events
The UGR team ranked 1st overall in the static events, finished 2nd in both cost and design and becoming finalists in these areas for the first time ever. They achieved 6th place in the business plan presentation (BPP) and 2nd place in the lap time simulation. Their overall score of 376.4 out of 400 was one of the best static results ever seen at the competition.
Dynamic events
Unfortunately, the UGR team did not compete dynamically this year due to scrutineering testing, however the amazing achievements in the static events resulted in the UGR team placing 10th overall in the FS class.
FS-AI class
Static events
The UGR team places 8th overall in the FS-AI static events, achieving 7th place in the BPP section, real world AI, and simulation development events. They also achieved 8th place in the design aspect of the event.
Dynamic events
Out of the 20 teams competing in the FS-AI part of the competition, only two teams including UGR managed to complete three out of the four dynamic events. These were acceleration, autocross, and trackdrive, achieving two 2nd place finished and a 3rd place finish respectively. The team also managed to achieve their first sub-40 second lap.
The combination of these events pushed the UGR team to an impressive 3rd place spot for the FS-AI competition.
Concept class
The concept team was comprised of all new members, resulting in a first place finish out of 34 teams. This is the highest concept score ever achieved by UGR , all thanks to the hard-working team members. The BPP achieved a 27th place score, followed by a 4th place finish in cost, a 2nd place design final, and an impressive 1st place lap time simulation, all of which catapulted the team to their top-scoring place overall.
The hard work and perseverance given by each member of the team resulted in the well-deserved 10th place overall finish in the competition, and the UGR team are excited to come back again next year with bigger and better results.
The Incorporation are always happy to help the next generation of engineers, and competitions like Formula Student are an exciting way to get involved.