Designing, Manufacturing and building Processes

The design and build for each Formula Student team differs slightly.

Kingston Racing's process can take around a year to complete from start to finish.

The Debrief

Initial talks and discussions of the previous year

Before designing begins, Kingston Racing have a small series of debrief meetings after the previous competition year ends in August.

Here they discuss the positives, negatives and how they can improve in the following competition season.

Kingston Racing then restructure their team after series of debriefs. This involves members taking up certain managerial positions within the team hierarchy and taking charge of their designated department which are split amongst the systems on the car.

These systems include powertrain and drivetrain, suspension, steering and brakes, chassis, electronics, body work and aerodynamics, business team and cost and manufacturing. 

The Planning Phase

Designating roles, responsibilities and planning their next steps

Once roles have been designated and the new team lead is appointed, the management team, amongst other team members, hold various meetings about vehicle performance and Product Design Specification (PDS) - how the car looks.

These set out Kingston Racing's performance targets for the year and give them key figures and values to aim for in design areas such as overall weight, overall vehicle concept, and points and performance targets for each event such as acceleration and endurance.

When agreed Kingston Racing have a baseline guide for the design.

They then split the car into its systems and designate a total weight target for these systems, e.g. suspension, aerodynamics, chassis, and they are then broken down further into their assemblies, sub-assemblies and finally at individual component level. 

With this Kingston racing can ensure they keep to a weight target for each system, ensuring the overall total vehicle weight adheres to the targets set out. 

During this time, sponsorship is also sought after, for funding the car also also the team at competitions.

Designing

The official start to the process

During the design phase, there are weekly meetings with the management team and fortnightly meetings with the full team to discuss the trajectory of the project, design reviews and targets revisited to ensure Kingston Racing are on target. 

For an individual component there would be around a one to two month design period from initial concept to final design which is guided by various calculations and simulations to ensure full suitability for the loading and environmental conditions it is expected to withstand during a competition cycle. 

After this stage, physical testing of components may take place where necessary to validate data acquired from the simulations and ensure the component will be up to regulations. 

At the end of the design phase before anything is sent off for outside manufacturing or in house manufacturing there is a final design review where minor changes may be made if necessary.

Additionally, each year at the end of the design phase, Kingston Racing consult their technical staff at the university to advise on whether the design is sound before sending off to be manufactured.

The design phase does not always have a hard stop for Kingston Racing and it is common for things to change throughout each phase.

The Manufacturing Phase

Creating parts and assembling the car

Manufacturing typically starts after the winter break where the chassis is the first major component or system on the car to begin.

The chassis typically takes around 4-6 weeks from start to finish. Whilst work on the body continues, other components will be made in house.

The manufacturing and build phase typically starts in mid-January and finishes around early to mid-May.

The physical assembly and building of the vehicle usually starts to take place around mid-March/early-April.

This is for a completion target for mid-May, in time for the testing period of the project. 

The manufacturing phase includes various processes such as sheet metal fabrication, welding, CNC machining, turning on lathes, composite manufacturing and lay up for the aerodynamic package and body work, assembly of sub systems like the wheel assemblies and powertrain system.

During this phase the team are also constantly revisiting the rules for all the competitions they plan to attend which may follow different rules, to ensure compliance and smooth time during the competition. 

Other key elements of this phase include important document submissions such as the impact attenuator test data, structural equivalency forms for the chassis, cost and manufacturing documents, business case pitches and engineering design reports. 

The Testing Phase

With manufacturing and building done, it's time to drive

Once manufacturing and building is complete, testing for initial shakedowns, start around mid-May and is then followed by organised and structured testing sessions where vital data is gathered for vehicle performance and amend any issues.

During testing Kingston Racing also aim to cause failures and break the car, putting as much mileage on it as possible, so that problems can be addressed before the competition. 

An example of testing can be seen in this video below

The last thing that happens before competition is the launch event, which is the first time the vehicle is presented to a wider audience. The launch event for this year is scheduled for the 3rd of July (2 weeks before the competition at Silverstone).