OxTS sponsored Team Delft during Formula Student 2017

OxTS is delighted to have been associated with Team Delft as they successfully competed in Formula Student Electric 2017; with their DUT17 car finishing 3rd overall at the FS East event and 4th overall at FS Spain. The tough competition, which attracts many teams from all around the world, is split into several categories from design and business presentations to endurance and handling events with points being awarded for each.

Our involvement with Team Delft, who are based in the Netherlands, came about because they were looking for a more reliable way to measure longitudinal and lateral velocities, body slip angle and yaw rate. As their DUT17 car with its signature small tyres and carbon fibre monocoque only has a mass of 164 kg and a small wheelbase, the compact and lightweight RT1003 GNSS/INS was the ideal system to use.

The RT1003 was permanently installed in the vehicle with antennas just visible on the nose and huge rear wing. It can measure slip angle to 0.25° at just 50 km/h and heading accuracy to 0.1°, with updates at 100 Hz. The blending of inertial and satellite measurements also meant the system could still output data during GNSS blackouts without accumulating large amounts of drift when operating close to high metal barriers or trees surrounding the race track.

Of the three events that Team Delft entered, they finished in the top three an impressive ten times—which is an amazing achievement considering the level of competition. OxTS is proud to have played some small part in this success and wishes the students the best of luck in their future careers.

Team Delft celebrating their 3rd place at Formula Student East in July 2017.

To read more about Team Delft and their race car visit the team’s website or visit their Facebook page.

Images courtesy of Team Delft