Formula Manipal car launched

Udupi, November 12: The 2010 Formula Manipal car, conceptualised, designed and fabricated by a team of over 30 students from the Manipal Institute of Technology was launched by the Chancellor, Ramdas M Pai at the Manipal University building on Friday.

The Formula type single seater, open wheeled race car, which won accolades at the competitions held in Melk, Austria recently, was displayed at the health sciences library for viewing. This is the third car made by the engineering students. Since inception in 2008, Formula Manipal has participated in Formula Student competitions held in Italy, UK and Austria.

This year, the car named FMX competed at Wachauring, Melk in FS Austria and cleared all static tests and competed in dynamic events. With a carbon fibre outer body, the FMX is the lightest Indian FSAE car. The team received the “Most Motivated Team” award at the competition. And even finished fourth among the 30 teams from around the world. FMX was the only team from Asia.

The Formula Society of Automotive Engineers (FSAE) hosts the competitions for student made cars from across the globe. The challenge is to make a race car with specific rules and safety considerations. This not only tests the engineering prowess of the students, but also provides great hands-on learning process unlike any other.

Team head, Pradeep Pandurangi said that after three years of experience, Formula Manipal is now ready to compete against their international counterparts and work towards excellence. To be able to achieve an even higher standard of performance in a limited amount of time, a complete plan for the year has been chalked out.

The performance and technical specifications of the car have become significantly better in the past three years. The FM08 and FM09 weighed 423 and 356 kgs respectively. Owing to a full carbon fiber outer body and use of better materials, the FMX weighed 266 kgs, almost 100 kgs lesser than the previous car.

On the electronics front, a data acquisition system was made for the car so that real-time data and performance of the car could be analysed and reviewed. The team's technical experience and engineering intuition has also been increasing exponentially every year. Overall, the FMX is a lighter, faster, safer and better performing car. The judges at the competition called it the "best Indian FSAE car".