April Updates

As competition draws closer, our team is wrapping up many components and preparing for the trip. The livery has been finalized and sponsor logos have been adhered! We can’t wait to see everything assembled.

Thanks to the Dean's Executive Committee for choosing us for the Give Day spotlight, and thanks to everyone who made a donation! We achieved our goal of 30 gifts which allowed us to redeem $5k for winning the give day challenge. UC Davis’s Picnic Day also occurred this month, giving our team a chance to show off their hard work and feature  this year’s car in the parade! We hope everyone had a safe and fun picnic day!

In Aero, airfoils are currently being printed and tested. Check out the time lapse below to see how it’s made:

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Unsprung is very close to finishing wheel package manufacturing, preparing to finish the spindles on the CNC lathe. The spindle will act as the central rotating point, allowing the wheels to move with the suspension. The uprights, which are part of the link between the suspension system and the wheels, will soon be made in the 5-axis CNC mill, the first time the team has been able to use this machine. We look forward to these final parts coming together!

Chassis has also kept busy with putting in the firewall, seat, and seat floor. This protective layer of aluminum and plastic is fire-resistant and acts as a safety barrier between the driver and the accumulator.

They have also bonded the impact attenuator to the anti-intrusion plate, ensuring safety in a front impact. These aluminum parts help to dissipate energy and provide a crumple zone in case of a collision. Roll bar padding was added to the main hoop, lessening impact force in case the car rolls. With these final safety considerations complete, the chassis component is now finished for the year, and the subteam has also finished the push bar used to move the car around at the competition. They have shifted their focus to determining the torsional stiffness of an old chassis, which is a key design consideration, and validate the FEA setup that they have been using to estimate the torsional stiffness over the past several years.

Looking into the next month, we’re excited to announce a track testing day on  May 16th at the Thunderhill Raceway skidpad! This event will last from 7am to 7pm, and we can’t wait to see you all there!