Testing Times

 

The first major event of the FSAE/FS season has passed with Oregon State/GFR winning the FSAE event at Michigan International Speedway a couple of weeks ago.

From my perspective the Michigan event was the best ever. This was mainly down to the efforts of our own Steve Fox who holds the position of Joint Design Captain there. Steve introduced many of our FSG practices, especially Rookie Design Judges and Design Judge Training, something we have done at Hockenheim since the very first event, as well as compulsory Design Feedback to every team.

One surprise for teams in Design was the introduction of a 5^th Percentile female ergo judge. The rules require cars to accept 95^th percentile male and 5^th percentile females, but most teams forget about the ladies! Be warned, this could happen again!

It was heartening to see every one of the FSG native teams who visited Michigan made it to the Design Semi Finals. This does not just show the quality of the European teams, but also that the teams have a good understanding of what they have achieved. Congratulations to all.

Testing

With only two months to go before FSG 2011, teams now enter the most dangerous phase of the event. The Pre-Event Testing phase! That is when accidents happen and with team members being tired and stressed, cars unfinished and shortcuts in safety taken, accidents happen!

Almost all teams I have talked with tell me they have experienced some kind of impact, collision or fire during testing. Testing your new car is one of the most dangerous practices you can undertake! You must be responsible and think ahead!

I have ‘discovered’ that quite a few teams do not follow good safety procedures while testing their FS cars on campus, prior to the competition. I have seen very few teams which I would rate as having exemplary test session safety procedures!

Here is a quick list of some of the things I have found:

Parking lots:

• Fixed object obstructions, to include, but certainly not limited to:
• Kerbs
• Light poles
• Parked cars
• Parking barriers
• Pedestrians
• Inadequate run-off area (needed in case of emergency)

Hazardous terrain just outside of the parking lot test area, which the car could get into if brakes/throttle failed:

• More fixed objects
• Fences
• Valleys
• Holes big enough to swallow a car (or flip it over)
• Buildings
• Water deep enough (1/2 meter or more) to drown in

Fire:
No fire extinguisher(s) present during testing.
No training on the proper use of said missing fire extinguishers.
Inadequate safety procedures involving storage of fuel at the test site. Improperly dressed personnel designated to operate fire extinguisher(s). Open toed shoes, short pants, nylon t-shirts, etc.

Driver safety apparel:
Half the teams I have spoken to have drivers missing one or more pieces of safety apparel while operating the car during a test session.
They almost always wear the gloves (by my reasoning, it is either a ‘cool factor’, or they feel that they get more control of the steering wheel with the use of gloves. Perhaps both.)
Quite a few teams including some of the bigger, better FSAE teams do not wear a fire suit while testing.

If a team has drivers wearing suits, a lot of those drivers will not go to the trouble of putting on driving shoes.
The overwhelming majority of teams do not wear fire resistant undergarments.
Wrist restraints are woefully under used and probably one of the least understood pieces of safety apparel.
Most students have wrist restraints adjusted way too loose, allowing the arm or wrist to get outside the roll over cage.
Most testers do wear a helmet, however we have certainly seen you-tube videos to the contrary (especially the infamous Thai impact test)!

What should you do regarding proper safety procedures when it is time to ‘kick the tyres & light the fires’?

Wear your safety apparel. No exceptions!  Fire resistant underwear, a two layer suit, shoes, gloves, balaclava, helmet, and wrist restraints.
Head to toe coverage! No exceptions!

Do a 'blindfold test' for every driver you intend to put in the car. The driver sitting in the car blindfolded must be able to find all controls and safety gear by feel.

Anyone who drives the car for any reason must be able to pass the blindfold test! This means that any and all potential drivers will need ample cockpit time to get familiar with the control layout of the car. You need to allow time for this critical safety procedure before you are at the test track! The drivers must know the car’s control layout like the back of their hand.

A thought to consider:
Are your drivers left handed or right handed? A right handed driver will instinctively reach for the emergency stop switch with one hand or the other. (The dominant hand might maintain control of the steering wheel, or it might go for the switch. It all depends on what training the driver has had.) The left handed driver might go for the emergency stop switch with the opposite hand. Consider installing two e-stop switches, one on either side of the steering wheel. That way, in the heat of the moment, you have given him twice as good a chance of shutting off the car in an emergency.
Create an emergency mental checklist for the driver. Have the driver memorize this mental checklist, then practice the checklist, so that when the time comes the driver instinctively takes the correct action.

The driver emergency checklist should be:

• Hit the e-stop switch. The driver knows exactly where the e-stop is, correct?
• Control the car. (Drive it in a safe direction away from fixed objects).  No matter what the emergency is, your priority is to miss the big immovable objects which will cause you the most harm!
• Bring the car to a stop, by doing the following in order:
  • Use the brakes. In the case of a brake system failure…
  • Down shift to a lower gear (be prepared for rear wheel lock-up, though, and the potential for spin as a result.) Scrub off speed by making a series of sharp turns left and right.
• When the car comes to a stop:
  • Remove the steering wheel.
  • Release the driver safety harness.
  • Egress. You CAN egress in 5 seconds or less, right?

---