[2021] The University’s Formula Student AI team gain an overall Autonomous Driving System (ADS) victory at Silverstone, and an all time best result of 21st in Formula Student Class. Image Though they had hoped to take a driverless race car to this year's FS UK competition at Silverstone, disruption to lab access caused by the pandemic meant the EUFS AI Team were unable to complete the build as planned. They did, however, compete in the static events and by doing so won the overall ADS class competition. The team also gained valuable feedback on the progess of their autonomous racing vehicle and believe they are on track for completing the project for the 2022 competition. Students from a variety of cultural and academic backgrounds are involved in EUFS, and Informatics students have played an increasingly important role since the creation of the AI team four years ago. Many of EUFS’s active members have an Informatics background, reflecting the society’s shifting interest towards automated driving systems. The team have increased their collaboration with academics this year by presenting their 4th/5th year projects to them for students to take. They can seek the help of technicians in the Informatics Forum workshop, and have access to lab facilities in Appleton Tower. As well as this, a 20-credit course has been set up in the School of Informatics for EUFS members. About EUFS Edinburgh University Formula Student is a student-led society that design and construct an F1-style race car every year. Once assembled, the car is then tested against other vehicles from all over the world in a competition at Silverstone. The Edinburgh team brings together students from a diverse range of academic backgrounds including informatics, engineering, business and marketing. EUFS gives students the opportunity to put their knowledge into practice, experience being part of a model company and, for some, achieve a dream. The society is comprised of two teams: Class 1, who build internal combustion (IC) and electric powertrain cars; and the AI team, whose aim is to build a driverless electric race car. The teams are united in their goal of designing and manufacturing reliable race cars that perform well in the Formula Student UK competition, which takes place annually. The Class 1 team are currently transitioning from IC cars to electric which means that both teams will soon be running electric vehicles, staying ahead of the curve in the motorsport industry and contributing to the development of the technology of the future. Formula Student competition Formula Student is the most established educational engineering competition in Europe. The competition aims to develop innovative, enterprising young engineers and encourage more students to pursue a career in engineering and its related areas. Each year, Formula Student welcomes over 100 university teams from around the world to Silverstone, to compete in both static and dynamic events that will test preparation and hard work. It is the hope that next year’s competition will be able to take place at Silverstone once again, rather than the online events that constituted this year’s competition. Related Links EUFS site Formula Student UK competition This article was published on 2024-03-18
