The 7th brainchild of the Cerber Motorsport team from the Auto-Moto-Club Student Scientific Association (photos)
19-07-2021
A team of 24 students from several faculties of Bialystok University of Technology worked on the seventh generation of the Formula Student car.
After reading the article you will find out about:
– what innovations have been introduced to the new CMS-07 bolide,
– the parameters and performance of the new bolide designed for the Formula Student competition,
– the history of Cerber Motorsport from the Auto-Moto-Club.
BUT students have tried to build a new bolide for each competition season of Formula Student since 2011. Unfortunately, the pandemic has thwarted the whole world.
“It was quite a challenge to create a whole new team, especially in the situation we found ourselves in last year,” said Michał Gleba, the team coordinator of Cerber Motorsport. “Daily meetings and work in the workshop were replaced by meetings on Discord, and the workshop was closed until further notice. Thankfully, that is all in the past now. Not only did we manage to create a good team, but most importantly, we successfully built our newest bolide – CMS-07,” he added.
On 19 July 2021, BUT students presented their latest bolide on the square in front of the Centre for Modern Education. How does the CMS-07 differ from its predecessors?
“Thanks to new design methods we have created 25 original aerofoils. The rear wing was equipped with the DRS system (just like Formula 1 cars), which reduces the amount of generated drag force and changes the aerodynamic balance,” said Jakub Moroz from the Cerber Motorsport team. “This resulted in an increase of the lifting force by 45.2% (resulting in an increase of the drag force by 41.7%),” revealed Moroz.
When driving on the track, the communication system between the car and the staff is important.
“This year we installed a completely new communication system based on the GSM network,” explained Michał Gleba. “It simultaneously uses the GSM network and allows for connection via the local network in case of connectivity problems with the cellular network. Thanks to this solution, the access to computers in the car is possible from any place in the world. By using two independent solutions, we reduce the risk of connectivity problems, which is very important when collecting data while driving the car,” said Gleba.
CMS-07 is another car that uses a hybrid supporting structure made of carbon fibre and aluminium honeycomb spacers.
“The development of numerical calculations and the strength and stiffness parameters of composite structures we obtained allowed us to develop the supporting structure of the car, saving us time and resources,” revealed Jakub Moroz.
“Thanks to the new and improved technology of manufacturing composite structures, including the introduction of so-called ‘closed-form’ elements, we could obtain elements with lower weight, increased precision of workmanship and better visual effect. Additionally, we improved the ergonomics of the car and changed the position of the driver. This lowered the centre of gravity and significantly improved the comfort and freedom of movement while driving. We designed and manufactured the driver’s seat and steering wheel using reverse engineering,” explained Moroz.
The engine is the heart of every bolide. Their only limitation in this regard was the capacity of 710 ccm imposed by Formula Student. Any other modifications were permissible and could have possibly determined the success of the bolide on the track.
“The most major innovation concerning the engine and the powertrain was the introduction of a new lubrication system,” said Jakub Moroz. “It had a significant impact on lowering the vehicle’s centre of gravity, thanks to the modification of the oil sump which was made based on an original design supported by a number of tests. The total weight of the system with fluids was reduced by 1.2 kg,” he added.
Another innovation introduced in the bolide is an original 4-speed gearbox that improves vehicle acceleration.
“The power unit of the vehicle generates 57 Nm of torque and a maximum power of 82 hp,” explained Moroz. “The characteristics of the CMS-07 bolide have been oriented towards the ease of driving. As a result, near-maximum torque is available from 6500 RPM to 10500 RPM.”
Additionally, the Cerber Motorsport team used a low profile tyre for their new Formula Student bolide.
“The low profile of the tyre increases its rigidity, which translates into better car turning behaviour at high speeds,” says Michał Gleba. “In addition, we used a new steering gear which is 400 g lighter than the previous one. We have improved the technology used in the control arms, the front stabiliser of the vehicle has been redesigned, which resulted in a weight decrease of over 350 g. The car pedals have been designed to allow the ergonomics to be easily adjustable to every driver.”
It is worth noting that students from Cerber Motorsport have been supported by their tutors from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of Bialystok University of Technology – Jarosław Czaban, PhD Eng. and Andrzej Borawski, PhD Eng. – for many years.
This year the Cerber Motorsport team has qualified for the following Formula Student competitions: Formula Student Austria at the famous Red Bull Ring, Formula Student East at the F1 Hungaroring and Formula SAE Italy.
“We will compete for the highest prize with teams from all over the world once again,” emphasised Jakub Moroz.
The Cerber Motorsport team:
- Michał Geba – Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at BUT
- Jakub Moroz – Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at BUT
- Damian Kołos – Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at BUT
- Mateusz Zachariasz – Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at BUT
- Szymon Andrzejewski – Faculty of Computer Science at BUT
- Daniel Jańczuk – Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at BUT
- Tomasz Sobolewski – Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at BUT
- Patryk Siekaniec – Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at BUT
- Tomasz Łodziński – Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at BUT
- Hubert Dobecki – Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at BUT
- Kacper Staciewicz – Faculty of Electrical Engineering at BUT
- Łukasz Pilipiuk – Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at BUT
- Szymon Sakowicz – Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at BUT
- Łukasz Tymiński – Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at BUT
- Karol Myszkiewicz – Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at BUT
- Adrian Redes – Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at BUT
- Tomasz Dąbrowski – Faculty of Computer Science at BUT
- Julian Rząca – Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at BUT
- Marcin Twarowski – Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at BUT
- Mateusz Zolnik – Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at BUT
- Dawid Jakubowski – Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at BUT
- Krzysztof Grabowski – Faculty of Computer Science at BUT
- Marcin Mironiuk – Faculty of Computer Science at BUT
- Bartłomiej Chmielewski – Faculty of Computer Science at BUT
The Cerber Motorsport team, which is part of the Auto-Moto-Club Student Scientific Association, operates at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Bialystok University of Technology. The organisation was established in November 2011 by 17 students passionate about motorisation. Over the years, more than 200 people have worked on six generations of CMS bolides. Now, the team consists of 31 people and is divided into 7 subdivisions: Aerodynamics, Electronics, Suspension, Power Unit, Supporting Structure, Marketing and the newly-created Vehicle Autonomy Division. The main goal of Cerber Motorsport is to win top positions in the prestigious international Formula Student competitions. They are organised annually in more than 15 countries with 770 teams and almost 31000 members. Students design and build a bolide that competes against teams from all over the world. Winning the competition is not only determined by the speed of the bolide – construction, financial planning and sales planning are equally important. The competition is divided into static and dynamic. The judges are i.a. constructors closely associated with the automotive industry.
As the first Polish team, Cerber Motorsport stood on the podium of the Formula SAE Italy competition in 2016. This competition also brought them second place in the following categories: Acceleration, Endurance and Skidpad. The following years have also been quite successful. Currently, the team is working on their seventh bolide. One of the most important goals of Cerber Motorsport is to create ever better vehicles and to introduce innovative solutions to improve their performance, which translates into winning competitions. Combining theory and practice while having fun and competing is what the Cerber Motorsport team is all about.