Formula SAE Software Systems Officer
Formula SAE is a student design competition organized by SAE International in which a student team
designs,
builds, validates, and races a racing vehicle. The 2022 Formula SAE (FSAE) competition season was
challenging for . . .University of Manitoba Society of
Automotive
Engineers (UMSAE). The team had limited knowledge transfer due to the senior members graduating
over COVID-19; we had limited access to the hardware and the shop for a majority of the build cycle;
and
many of our sponsors were unable to continue their support this year due to the pandemic. This
resulted
in an 8-week build cycle using many recycled and experimental pieces. UMSAE Formula Electric was one
of
6 out of 55 electric vehicles to complete the final endurance event - the first time the team has
ever
completed the event.
As Software Systems Officer (SSO), my role was to manage the software system and lead the
integration
and development of all systems on the vehicle. There are two controller boards - the Vehicle Control
Unit (VCU) and the Accumulator Control Unit (ACU) in the rear. The VCU is to manage driver inputs
and
outputs, overall vehicle health, error reporting, and interfacing to external tools for monitoring.
The
ACU manages the high and low voltage systems, monitors critical temperatures, and manages the safety
circuits. Both controller boards use STM32 microcontrollers, and communicate to each other and the
rest
of the vehicle systems over CAN.
Also under my control was integration of the motor, motor controller, and Battery Management System
(BMS). For the 2022 vehicle, our powerplant consisted of a 373V accumulator managed by a EMUS-G1
BMS, a
Cascadia Motion PM100DX motor controller, and an Emrax 228 3-phase motor.
I managed a team of 9 software engineering students, distrubuted work, helped members when they were
stuck, and acted as a liason between software and the other systems. The compressed build cycle
resulted
in many late nights, early mornings, and long days. It was certainly challenging to balance my
permanent
employment with the time in the shop.
