SHELL ECO MARATHON ASIA (SEMA)

Focus Applied Technologies was invited as a Shell Partner for Dynamometer testing at the recent Shell Eco Marathon Asia in Manila. We provided one unit of our 10kW “Hyper Mileage Chassis Dynamometer” for testing by the student groups free of charge.

Some cars were tested repeatedly after modifications to confirm mileage tuning and overall mechanical integrity. We’re proud to say that almost all of the teams found the testing very helpful and were able to rectify their problems, or improve the vehicle significantly via the dyno testing. Several of the teams were given copies of the data (speed, torque, power, and motor current for EVs) from the testing for further analysis.

A few of the more interesting cases include an EV which repeatedly failed to complete the track on time due to improper speed reading (ran at 20kph max, though reading was 40kph). After calibration on the dyno (it was off by 50%) the controller speed was adjusted, and the car ran at over 32kph, completing the laps in time. Several Fuel Injection cars were able to tune in the Air/Fuel Ratio, with the aid of a Wide Band O2 sensor, for greatly improved performance and mileage (2 of these teams won 1st place in their categories). Both gear selection and sprocket ratio selection was optimized on several cars, allowing huge improvements in mileage (2 of these cars also won 1st place in their categories!).

We’d like to thank Shell for their help in providing the venue and invitation, and of course the many teams that came by and tested their cars on our dyno. Congratulations all on a very successful SEM Asia!

Focus Applied Technologies Support of Shell Eco Marathon Asia 2017

Focus Applied Technologies was at the Shell Eco Marathon (Asia) for the 3rd year as the official Dyno Test Team. This year showed a great improvement in the team’s performance, with fewer fundamental car problems, and many more teams performing tuning and optimization on the dyno. We ran over 20 cars, some multiple times, in only 2 days of testing, and were able to improve the mileage of some teams as much as 50%.

For dyno testing we use our commercial Hypermilage Chassis Dynamometer (link: ). On the dynamometer we can measure the road speed, power and torque of the vehicle, as well as controlling the load for a normal track load, or higher loads for acceleration testing. Drivers can follow drive cycles to exactly simulate the course, and check fuel consumption or current draw. Many running issues that are difficult to investigate on a stationary car, or on the track can be easily checked on they dyno. For example during high torque operation on the dyno the engine or motor may shift on it’s mounts, loosening the chain, causing it to fall off. In a static (non moving) situation, this will never show up, so it only happens on the track, when no one can see what is actually going on. On the dyno we can give increasing load, and directly observe the movement of the motor, transmission, wheel and chain.

Dyno testing can help the teams trouble shoot engine, transmission, chain and running gear issues, verify gear ratio and maximum/average speed, confirm power is sufficient for required track speed, measure fuel consumption and/or current draw, trouble shoot fuel flow problems, current supply and temperature problems, help hold a steady load for spark timing optimization, and air/fuel ratio tuning and much more. Our technical staff is extremely experienced in engine and vehicle tuning and can offer advice and trouble shooting help to the teams as they test, all Free Of Charge!

Here is a pareto of issues resolved on the dyno this year:

Once again we have a perfect safety record with zero incidents thanks to the tremendous help from the Shell Safety crew. Instilling good safety practice in the participating universities is an important role we’re happy to help out with.

Remember that we offer in-depth seminars (courses) and hands-on training on “Hypermileage Vehicle Design, Testing and Optimization”. We also have the Hypermileage Chassis Dynamometer for sale, and have a “piggy back” fuel injection controller “Fuel Strecher” that lets you increase or decrease the fuel delivered to the engine as simply as tuning a “graphic equalizer” on a stereo.

Congratulations to all the teams competing this year! Hope to see you again before the next SEM Asia in 2018!