Last week, the FSAE Electric Racecar team was able to finish the design of our suspension. We decided to try and optimize our suspension by changing the position and lengths of our control arms. By doing this, we improve the way that our car handles.

This week, Daniel Yee will be describing the pedalbox and how he designed it.

One of the requirements the FSAE Electric Racecar team must meet is that drivers from 5’ 4” to 6’ 5” should comfortably fit within the cockpit and remain in control of the vehicle. To meet this objective, either the seat or the pedal assembly must be adjustable. Since our seat is fixed, the pedal assembly must be design to be adjustable. Last year, the pedals were bolted into a metal strip along the floor of the chassis. This allowed the pedals to be moved for different drivers, but moving them was difficult and time consuming. This year, we worked to make adjustments to the pedalbox faster and easier.

This design for this year’s pedalbox began with looking at different adjustment mechanisms. Many mechanisms were considered using a trade study. The selection was narrowed down to the design with highest strength and greatest ease of manufacturing. In the end, adjustable car seat rails were chosen because they are engineered to withstand high impacts. The rails also come with a positive locking mechanism using a return spring so that the lever does not unlock in road conditions.

After selecting adjustable rails, they were modified so that they could be securely fastened to the chassis. On top of that, redundancy was enhanced by adding another lever for adjusting the seat. This means that two people are needed to help adjust the pedal assembly.

To mount the pedals to the seat rails, a baseplate was designed. FEA was used to determine the thickness of the baseplate to ensure it can withstand 2000 Newtons exerted on the brake pedal. The results showed that the baseplate needs to be at least 5/8 inches thick to withstand the bending moment induced from the brake pedal. The baseplate also has cutouts throughout, to reduce the overall weight of the assembly.

Overall, with the optimized baseplate and adjustable pedal assembly, drivers of almost any height can race comfortably in our electric car. With the new pedal assembly, the FSAE Electric Racecar team is one step closer to placing top five in the competition.