It happened at a time in spring of 2022...
... when Alex, one of our production employees, approached CEO Michael Sporrer with a request. Both Alex and three of our other employees work as team leaders for the "High Octane Motorsports" organisation and were looking for sponsors for their recent project. The pitch of the project raised inspiration and interest within the company. In the end, Michael decided to sponsor a KUMO VI for the Octanes and the journey began.
The KUMO VI sets off on its journey
Arriving at the Octanes in Erlangen, our KUMO started a special journey. In the racing car of the 22/23 season, our digital signage PC is responsible for supporting autonomous driving.
The KUMO is installed in the chassis behind the driver's seat. A few changes had to be made so that it could be installed in this position and use its performance in the best possible way. As the regulations require all calculations to take place in the vehicle, a new housing was made for the KUMO VI, which must be waterproof and at the same time ensure good cooling. Among other things, the entire vehicle is subjected to a so-called "rain test", which ensures that the sensitive innards in the vehicle remain dry even when used in pouring rain. In addition, the PC must be secured in such a way that it remains in place despite the acceleration and centrifugal forces.
Ready, set, go - rollout in May 2023
At the beginning of May last year, the time had come - the rollout of the racing car was completed. Our trainees Patricia and Maxim had the honour of attending the event and watching the presentation of the FAUmax Pi. During the presentation, many exciting facts and sub-projects of the car were explained, as well as difficulties during production.
Finally, there was the opportunity to take a closer look at the FAUmax Pi, take pictures and, above all, ask questions. Here, our trainees had everything explained in detail by the team members who also work in spo-comm.
How will the journey continue?
The Octanes took their "Pi" to three events in 2023 and, despite a few setbacks, were able to win a few awards for their car. The Octanes were able to hit the mark with a few refinements during the technical acceptance tests and demonstrated a number of strengths. Driving didn't go as planned at the beginning and there were a few stumbling blocks along the way, but the team was able to develop their vehicle well over the course of the season.
As our employees are still active in the team and are interested in Formula Student, we remain in close contact and are always able to keep up to date with the Octanes and our KUMO VI. We have already been informed that our PC will be used again in the new racing car for the 23/24 season. We are very excited to see what will change and how the journey will continue.
We are looking forward to the upcoming Octanes season and would like to thank Alex for the great cooperation with the Octanes, which has always worked flawlessly.
