Tuesday 10 September 2013

Rules Corner: FSAE2014 Changelog, Parts S and D

This is the third and last part of my FSAE2014 rules changelog. This time it is about the parts S and D.
The first post about the FSAE2014 rule parts A, T, AF and IC can be found here.
The second post about the EV part can be found here.

Disclaimer:
I have thoroughly compiled the changed rules, but there is no guarantee that these are complete or that there won't be another release which might make this compilation obsolete. So make sure to keep up to date when new rules are released. Although I will probably post another blog entry, if there is an update to the rules.

For the impatient, these are the rules you have to check out:
  • S4.9.1
  • D1.1.2
  • D8.8.2
  • D8.11.3
  • D8.12.11
  • D8.18.8
  • D8.22.3
  • D8.22.6

For the patient readers who are interested in the details:

S4.9.1:
Change: The Cost Report Upload procedure has been changed and clarified. Just read through it.
Impact: None.

D1.1.2:
Change: Added "malfunctioning brake light".
Impact: This is just a clarification that a non-working brake light also makes a car non-rule compliant such that it will be pulled out of any dynamic event. There were some discussions about that with teams which failed Endurance due to this, so now the Scrutineers and the teams know for sure: Brake light not working -> DNF.

D8.8.2:
Change: Added "If the run order will be determined by the finish order of the autocross event then electric cars which were disqualified for using excessive power will be fitted into that order according to their fastest corrected time."
Impact: This addition makes sure that electric cars which are disqualified for a power or voltage violation do not run with slower cars which could present a safety issue due to the speed difference.

D8.11.3:
Change: Clarification of time penalty (or let's better say the lack of), if a team is not able to immediately re-start after driver change or a red flag situation.
Impact: This is more a clarification for the scoring people and making sure that every competition treats this situation in the same way than something that directly has an impact on teams or their design decisions.

D8.12.11:
Change: Another clarification on how the driver change will be timed.
Impact: As for the rule above, this is a clarification on how to score/time the Endurance event and the driver change, so no real impact on vehicle design.

D8.18.8:
Change: It has been added that a team may change a punctured tyre and continue the Endurance. However, the team has to prove that this was caused by track debris and not due to a design fault or other parts failing. Otherwise the time taken to change the tyre/wheel will be added to the Endurance time, which usually means that a lot of points are lost.
Impact: This prevents a heart breaking situation in which a team gets DNF'd in Endurance due to a puncture and also to get penalized without their fault (read: a fault of the organizers to clean the track properly or another team that lost something on track).

D8.22.3 and D8.22.6:
Change: The text describing in which case a team is eligible to be included for CO2min has been slightly changed to make it clearer.
Furthermore it has been added that the minimum efficiency factor will be determined by assuming 60.06kgCO2/100km and 1.45*Tmin.
Impact: Fixing the minimum efficiency factor is a rather big change. It means that the whole efficiency scoring will be shifted upwards as it is very improbable that a team manages to "emit" the maximum CO2 and also exactly hits the time limit. This also means that no team will probably receive 0 points for Efficiency anymore as it was in the 2013 rules. Make sure to adjust your point simulations for this change.

Please note:
If you think that any content in this post is worth discussing, please do so in the FSAE.com forum and not in the comment section of this blog, to make sure that everyone can benefit from the contents of the discussion, even if he/she is not reading this blog.

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