It's one month until the 2018 F1 in Schools (F1iS) Nationals and Team Divignite is all set for the competition! Today's update will outline what we have accomplished thus far. We have made a lot of progress since starting out in February, but none of this would be possible without our sponsors such as Boca Bearings.
Design
In February, our team took a course in Fusion 360 to design a car from scratch. We made use of the various tools given to design a basic car body, as well as aerofoils, wheels, and axles to slot into the main car body. We were taught to use Autodesk flow design to stimulate airflow around the car and test for the drag coefficient. Our design engineers spent days researching possible car designs and drafted countless models of cars until we were finally satisfied with both the aerodynamics and aesthetics.
Milling Sessions
Our very first milling session was in early April. This was when we first got our hands on our school's very own milling machine (a Denford Router 2500 Pro) and learned how to maneuver it with the help of an external vendor. We set the car in place and adjusted the dimensions carefully so that our end product would be as precise as possible. We printed our aerofoils externally using a Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) 3D printer.
Manufacturing Process
The car was very rough and unpolished after milling, so we spent hours sanding and filing it with various tools in our school's design and technology workshop. We had to adapt and adjust certain dimensions of the car as some parts were not cut precisely. Next, we lined our car with a thin layer of putty, and then continued sanding. We repeated this until the surface of the car was completely smooth. After that we spray painted our car by hand. Spray-painting was a nerve wracking process as it is very heavy and can drastically affect the weight and speed of the car. After spray-painting, we finally topped our car off with varnish for a glossy look, and we were set for trial racing!
Trial Race
The trial race commenced at the end of April, where all F1iS teams in RGS gathered at our school's race track to compete and test out cars for the very first time. Although there were many areas for improvement, our team was satisfied with the performance in our trial race. We gained many useful pointers from the other teams, and gained inspiration to improve our final car design for Nationals.
Merchandise
Throughout June, our members worked with external vendors to personalize various items that would become our team merchandise to be given out during Nationals, as well as to attract attention on social media. Merchandise was one of our team's favorite part of F1iS, as we were free to make our childhood dreams come true. Be it personalizing rock candy, or having our own business cards, we definitely enjoyed this portion.
Social Media
Our team has gained a substantial following on social media sites such as Instagram, Facebook, and our website. We have been posting frequently about our progress and as advertising for sponsors.
With that, we thank you for your constant support throughout our journey. Nationals here we come!
This article was written by Team Divergent from Singapore.