The new school year has just begun and we thought it’d be fitting to create our next blog post with new updates! We have some exciting internal changes going on currently, but this blog post is dedicated mainly to our car and team.
In terms of our team, we’re excited to report that we’ve onboarded two new team members, Ishaan and Aarush! We’ve also started the recruiting process. There’s more information about joining the team if you’re interested below. Now, onto the car updates:
Funding & Marketing
Starting with our outreach initiatives for our car, we’re excited to announce that we’ve received 8 new sponsors with a total value of funding totalling almost $16,000 so far! Thank you so much to our Diamond sponsors: Altair, Rapid Harness, QA Source and our Gold/Platinum sponsors: Coastline, Chem-Trend, Bay View Plastic Solutions, General Sealants, and Autodesk!
Switching to our marketing, our social media is now actively posting. Check out our Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/company/foothill-racing/ and our Instagram at @foothill_racing.
Powertrain
In regards to our engine, we’ve officially acquired a 2015 Honda Moped which contains the engine we hope to use for FRC-02, our car. We’ve considered a litany of different engines– from old taxi ones to tractor engines and have thoroughly vetted each option. We’re glad to invest into this engine; it’s currently in shipping and we’ll be documenting our building process with it on our Instagram!
Chassis
Our chassis design is currently in the works, and our subteam has been drafting sketches and designs online as seen below. The process from converting a sketch to a working design is a long one but our team has been working hard, and our design will be ready soon!
Electronics
While our throttle-by-wire system hasn’t changed, there are some updates and more info that we’d like to share. Here’s a peak into our workflow: we first begin with research and our schematics (a design of our electronic circuit). We repeat this process multiple times before we design our printed circuit board using software from either Autodesk Eagle or Fusion, which we have access to thanks to our sponsors. Currently we’re in the process of sending our CAD files to a manufacturer and we’re lucky to announce that we’ll be working with Bay Area Circuits in the future for this process. The electronics subteam has made fantastic progress!
Recruiting Process
While our team is a school club, we are constantly looking for other volunteers and mentors to join! Whether you’re an established engineer or professional looking to help the next generation, or a volunteer located in the Bay Area curious about any aspect of this club, we encourage you to join our team! Fill out this form for more information: https://tinyurl.com/joinfoothillracing.
Until next time,
Kriti Raj
Media Lead