As part of the international engineering competition “Formula Student”, students from more than 500 universities across the globe design and build Formula racing cars every year for use on the race track.
Formula Student was first held in 1981 in the United States. Since 2006, the competition has also been held in Germany under the patronage of VDI (Association of German Engineers). In addition to a large number of participating racing cars with combustion engines, the number of electric racing cars entering the competition has increased since the introduction of the electric class in 2010.
STW supplies battery management systems
Due to the incredible strain put on battery cells during the race, the choice of a battery management system (BMS) is extremely important for ensuring the safe operation of the racing car. The modular powerMELA© mBMS provided by Sensor-Technik Wiedemann GmbH (STW) monitors the individual cell voltages, flowing currents and temperature inside the battery. In addition, it limits the maximum charge and discharge capacity, records the state of the battery’s health and monitors insulation resistance in the HV system. Thanks to its wide range of functions, the BMS plays a key role in the safety design of the vehicle.
STW equipped five teams in this year’s electric class competition with battery management systems and components.
Those teams took the following places:
7th place: Stuttgart DHBW “eSleek”
8th place: Ingolstadt UAS “Schanzer Racing”
12th place: Augsburg UAS “Starkstrom Augsburg”
13th place: Ravensburg DHBW “Global Formula Racing”
16th place: Karlsruhe KIT “KA-RaceIng”