designs and builds a formula-type racecar each year to take to this competition

Competition Introduction with related photos:

The competition I am preparing for is the SAE Collegiate Design Series. I'm a part of UMSAE, the University of Manitoba chapter of SAE International, a team which designs and builds a formula-type racecar each year to take to this competition. Here's a photo of us from our most recent competition in Lincoln, Nebraska. Unfortunately, I'm the fifth person from the left, with my face covered:

Project Introduction:

I am a member of UMSAE – the University of Manitoba chapter of SAE International, and I work on the formula team, which competes in the FSAE Collegiate Design Series. On my team, I am responsible for the system which relays information to the driver. My design consists of an electronic dashboard and an indicator module which will be located in the steering wheel of our car. My project consists of two printed circuit boards – one for the dashboard, and one for the steering wheel. I would be very happy to have this first project manufactured for free, and I am also very interested in the reduced manufacturing charge which students in competitions can utilize.

A.      Project Details

I will summarize the function of both PCBs:

Dashboard

• Designed to inform the driver of only the most important information, mainly:

?      Gear position

?      Shift timing

?      Failure or damage to critical systems

• Contains one 16-segment display to inform the driver of the current gear position.
• Contains four status LEDs located around the 16-segment display to warn the driver about critical systems on the vehicle.
• Connects to buttons and switches to allow the driver to control some vehicle systems
• Connects to the CAN network to communicate with the rest of the vehicle's systems

Indicator Module (IM)

• Designed to provide the driver with more detailed information about the vehicle, like:

?      Coolant temperature

?      Fuel level

?      Acceleration

?      Oil pressure

?      Battery voltage

• Contains two four-digit 7-segment LED banks for displaying accurate numbers
• Contains two RGB LEDs whose colour will indicate the meaning of the displayed data
• Connects to four buttons to change the displays, as well as change the vehicle's traction
• Connects to the CAN network to communicate with the rest of the vehicle's systems

This driver interface is an iteration on last year's driver interface. Last year, the entire driver interface module was located in the dashboard. Our drivers complained that this made the dashboard too cluttered. Therefore this year we decided to only provide basic, necessary information via the dashboard, and move the less important information to the steering wheel. Another problem which was encountered last year was that the driver interface module was drawing too much current out of its power supply. By splitting the driver interface into two separate modules, each with its own power supply, we hope to alleviate this issue and improve the reliability of our system.