TM Racing Battery Management System

TM Racing Formula Student Team

We are TM Racing, a multidisciplinary team made up of passionate students from Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico. Our team is composed of people with different specializations in engineering and business, all working together to build a high- quality, high-performance electric vehicle. This allows us to apply real-world engineering principles in the development process of a race car, combining design and safety.

We compete in Formula Student, the most prestigious international engineering competition for university students where we design, manufacture, and compete with a formula-style race car. Last year, we won the first place in the concept class, being the first Mexican team to achieve this recognition. This year, we’re participating for the first time with a physical car; our goal is to race the most outstanding electric vehicle, demonstrating engineering excellence.

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Currently, we are developing our first physical accumulator, taking care of each detail of our design to ensure safety and the correct integration of the batteries. The accumulator is one of the most critical systems of the vehicle as it operates at high voltage, storing the energy required to power the electric motor. For the competition, we must comply with strict Formula Student regulations, including specialized monitoring systems for securing reliability and stablishing safety as the top priority.

In Formula Student, the battery pack is the most regulated component, being monitored by the Battery Management System (BMS). For our BMS architecture, a Master-Slave topology has been selected. It is built upon Analog Devices automotive-grade battery monitoring system, chosen for its high precision and modularity. The system performs continuous Open Wire Detection to verify the physical connection to the cells and monitors cell balancing and heat levels; in case any error is detected, the BMS triggers the Shutdown Circuit to protect both the driver and the vehicle.

Our accumulator is divided into segments, individually monitored by a slave board. Each PCB is connected to a group of cells, measuring voltage, temperature and allowing precise discharge of cells, while sending real-time precise data to the master and enabling fault detection. As slave of our Battery Management System, we are using the ADBMS6830 integrated circuit, which can handle the cell balancing process. We currently require 5 additional slave PCBs to complete our accumulator. Furthermore, without this system, the accumulator wouldn’t pass the technical inspection, and the car wouldn’t even be able compete.

As a student team, we operate with a limited budget while needing high-cost specialized components. Fast and reliable PCB manufacturing is crucial for our development, especially when entering our manufacturing phase. Support from PCBWay for providing the remaining 5 BMS slave PCBs to complete our accumulator would be a game-changer for us. It would allow us to ensure professional PCBs, avoiding mistakes that could disqualify the team and giving us enough time for our testing process, placing us as strong competitors at an international level.

Formula Student represents a unique and advantageous opportunity for students. Through this project, over 80 university students gain real-world experience and are given the chance to work with professional materials and equipment, preparing us for our future careers in the industry. Support from your company in manufacturing our BMS slave boards would significantly contribute to developing the next generation of exceptional engineers, leaving the future of electric mobility in the best hands.

Our goal is to successfully complete our electric vehicle, to pass scrutineering, and win internationally, applying technological innovation and motorsport excellence. Working together, we can ensure the safety, reliability, and high performance of our accumulator. We are excited about the opportunity to collaborate and bring pride and prestige to your brand, our university and our country in the upcoming Formula Student competitions.