Microlease Champions Bath Formula Student Team
A test equipment rental company, Microlease, is supporting the Team Bath Racing Electric (TBRe) project as they gear up for Formula Student 2017. This annual event, hosted at Silverstone in collaboration with the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, challenges students to design, build, and race their own cars. It attracts teams from 130 universities across more than 30 countries, featuring categories for both electric and petrol-powered vehicles.
The TBRe team consists of ten master’s students and thirty third-year undergraduates from the University of Bath, each focusing on different parts of the project as part of their degree theses. They are also joined by around twenty to thirty first and second-year students.
“This event is a great chance for university students to get real, hands-on experience in taking an engineering project from concept to completion,” said Glenn Howard, a field sales engineer at Microlease. “Our partnership with TBRe on their electric car is helping to nurture future engineers.”
Microlease has equipped the team with various tools. For instance, the Keysight U5857A thermal imager helps monitor temperatures around the battery pack to locate hotspots. This tool is also used to investigate energy sources in the brake callipers and will be part of future motor control tests.
Additionally, the team uses a Keysight 34972A data acquisition unit for vehicle diagnostics, which is equipped with thermocouple sensors throughout the battery pack. This helps ensure the battery and powertrain are operating effectively.
Looking ahead, Microlease will provide a Keysight N6705B DC power analyser and related software. This will help the team study and optimise DC loads during races. Currently, they are finishing up subsystem tests and will begin system-level tests and rolling road tests in the spring, ahead of the July race.
“Microlease’s support has been invaluable over the last eight months,” said Sean Thompson, a senior member of TBRe. “The equipment and ongoing technical advice have allowed us to make improvements that give us a competitive edge.”
