02 - Newsletter January - EN

January 2021 - Vol II Green LETTER

table of contents News 1 NewsGP21’s Manufacture Now that GP21 has been revealed, the pro- 2 team leader’s remarks duction can begin, which would not be possible without the collaboration of our Vítor Teixeira sponsors. 3 Siemens Innovation We will, once again, have moulds ma- Aerodynamics chined in MDF, and we’ll prepare them for the infusion of the body’s negative moulds 5 sponsors by sanding and painting. After laminating EMMAD & BENECAR the body and the carbon tub, all the compo- nents can be assembled on the vehicle. 6 #TeammatesMiguel D’Ajuda; João Vargas; Filipa Almeida 7 Photo of the month Unfortunately, given the new lockdown phase, new restrictions have been imposed Throwback GP17 on the essential work to be done at the workshop, with the number of active mem- 9 meet iberia’s teams bers being reduced once again. However, VNB Racing we will do everything to meet the dead- lines, so that we can compete with GP21, in 11 Greenpower Track List August, at our first race in Spain. Aintree 1

Team Leader’s Remarks “Delays were predictable, But with a good plan, We can easily manage to Achieve our goals” Vítor Teixeira In January, the production rate slows down, which is normally due to the team members hav- ing their final exams. But this year, it slowed even more because of the new confinement and the new restrictions it imposes. Fortunately, we were only denied access to the workshop temporarily, until a new HR and Manufacture Management plan was approved. Obviously, the new plan implies a reduction on the active members at the workshop, which will cause delays in the production of the car. However, this is the first season at PSEM that production starts as early as January, and it was defined this way to account for the entirely predictable delays, given the circumstances. Nonetheless, the team is still strongly motivated and we’ll prepare everything so that, when the parts arrive - after being machined by our sponsors - we only need to assemble the car and get ready to race! 2

Siemens Innov Aerodynamics One of the most important parameters in the aerodynamic development of high-performance vehi- cles is downforce. However, given the low power of our cars and their low centre of gravity, we focus most of our resources on reducing drag and getting downforce close to zero. Taking this into account, after having the general dimensions for the carbon tub defined, a GP19 style water drop shape was developed and we then started optimising it. With new knowledge on CFD, we could develop a better FEM mesh to bet- ter approximate the virtual wind tunnel to real world conditions. Overall, we reduced the length and width of GP21, when compared to GP19, and ensured a smoother surface progression from nose to tail. 3

vation Regarding the nose, we carried out several simulations in order to understand what was the best position for its leading point, taking into account how it affected the drag/lift ratio. We opted for a medium-low position and for a sharper nose than the one in GP19. Another interesting detail of GP21 is the presence of two channels that connect the cockpit to the wake of the car, which reduces both lift and drag. The new prototype’s bodywork has a very efficient aerodynamic beha- viour and represents an improvement of about 17% in drag and 50% in downforce when compared to GP19, which was already a highly opti- mized vehicle. 4

Sponsors Emmad designs, develops, and produces Founded more than 25 years ago, Benecar industrial wooden packaging for the trans- Automóveis’ main activities are the pur- port of industrial equipment, standing out chase, sale, repair, rental and representa- for combining experience, innovation, tion of vehicles. technology and human capital. For PSEM, Benecar has shown itself avail- Emmad has manufactured a customized able to grant transportation for the team two-story box, which not only allowed and the prototype to the competitions in the transportation of our prototypes dur- the United Kingdom, as well as providing ing the competitions, but also of the tools a vehicle to go to meetings with sponsors necessary for their maintenance. They’re across the country. In this way, the team now building a new modular case that will expresses its deep gratitude to Benecar transport the 3 current generations of pro- and hopes that this will be a long standing totypes, as well as the ones to come. partnership. 5

Miguel d’ajuda #teammates joão vargas I was born in Oeiras and I am on the final year of the Electro- technical Engineering Masters. I love to travel and in 2019 I filipa almeida spent 6 months in Asia. On what is my 3rd year at PSEM, I have already worked on almost everything that involves the car’s electronics, and I am currently the leader of that same department. During these years, I learned se- veral competences, which will help me become a better engineer, with critical thinking and a very complete practical experience. Watching the car run is always a remarkable moment for me, as I feel that we have contributed to something bigger! I am in the 4th year of Mechanical Engineering, in the Systems’ specialization area. I joined the Electronics Department in 2019, where I worked on the development of GP21’s speed controller. I am currently the co-leader of my Department. Seeing GP19 race for the first time around Tecnico’s Central building, made me realize that all the hard work that my col- leagues and I developed is implemented in a real product that represents the joint effort of a great team. I’m 20 years old, I come from Cascais and I’m on the 3rd year of Mechanical Eng. In my spare time I play piano and accordion. I joined the team in the 19/20 season, in the Mechanical Project Department. I currently coordinate the steering team, after hav- ing worked on the structural part of the car and the transmission last year. The main skills I acquired were related to software us- age, in addition to reinforcing my teamwork competences and having gained a lot of practical knowledge at the workshop. The main target now is to increase PSEM’s ranking on Green- power’s, on our country’s and world’s stages. 6

Photo of the m 7

month 8

Meet VNV racing Paula Navarro - Supervisor 9

VNB Racing was founded in 2020 at Vila Nova da Barquinha school, in Abrantes. Even though we received our kitcar in April of last year, we could only start working on the car in the new academic year, in September, with the goal being to build and test the vehicle before the end of the semester. All the planning was done by the students and they rapidly organised themselves in departments: mechanical, electronics, aerodynamics, marketing and management. The main issue of working in the midst of a pandemic is not being able to joint the 3 student teams that work on the car, which made it quite challenging to plan the schedule for each group. However the goal was achieved: the car was successfully built and we tested it recently in the school grounds. The kids are extremely motivated and often ask questions - at school and at home - about what can be done to improve the car, which also gets the parents involved in the project. In this next semester we will design and build the bodywork for the car. We hope to get everything ready to race in the next academic year, but we’ll have to see how the current Covid situation evolves. @vnb.racing @V.N.B Racing 10

Greenpower Track Aintree Circuit is located in Aintree, near Liverpool, England. It is a very well-known place as the Grand National, one of the most famous horse racing com- petitions in the world, takes place in this circuit since 1839. In 1954, a 4.83km circuit was built around 11 the horse’s track and since then a few automotive

k List: aintree events took place there, like Formula 1. Nowadays, Aintree Circuit is one of Greenpower Challenge’s tracks, in which we finished in 6th place with GP17. Evo, back in 2019. 12

Thank you for your support! 13

Follow PSEM’s Adventures on: @psem.ist @psem_portugal company/psem @Psem_Portugal [email protected] (+351) 218 419 561 Vítor Teixeira Bruno Vitorino Team Leader Technical Director (+351) 913 548 111 (+351) 935 820 953 Leonor Barata Leader of the Comms & Marketing Dept. (+351) 968 275 408 14