260118 - FSAE Competition 25 reflection

Overall, as the first competition with a EV, it was a success. Although we weren't able to participate in dynamic events, tech inspection was able to teach us a lot. Understanding the process for inspections and the thought process for the judges allows us to be more prepared for 2026. Tech inspection was also able to give us some feedback on the vehicle as a whole and what to improve which was really valuable. 

Positives:

Meeting the people and the wider FSAE community was a good thing, the networking with other teams and people was very valuable. Seeing how other teams designed things and went around with things was a very valuable experience. Talking to other university such as Redbacks, Melbourne and UQ and discussing design choices and seeing their accumulators, wiring and pcbs allows us to draw inspirations for our designs. This wouldn't be possible without going to comp and being able to see other teams. 

Improvements:

In general the electrical side of the car was unprepared for the tech inspections, with many rules things being missed. It is acknowledge that it did take us a while to get the car working, however we prioritised a driving car over passing inspections. This year we should have a bigger focus on the rules, remembering that this is what will allow us to participate in dynamic events. At comp we had to make many modifications to the vehicle including to the segments in the accumulator.

In addition to this, a pre-comp check list would be required. This will include checking off things like making sure that things are in date and haven't expired. This would be Gloves and HV mats. This would involve talking with the university about getting people who can do this. This will prevent us having to wonder around Melbourne looking for gloves and mats. 

The documents that the judges use is also a important check list. This needs to be done at the latest 1 month before comp to allow us to rectify any possible issues that we might find. Ideally there won't be any issues found but it is always possible that we can miss things. This would involve people who haven't worked on the car such as alumni and staff. This would mean that we can catch any rules issues that we can encounter. x 

By doing all these things, we can avoid many of the issues we faced at the 2025 competition.