Formula Hybrid Racing at Illinois Institute of Technology: Design to Implementation

The formula hybrid competition is a student competition where teams compete against each other in a real world engineering environment. The Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) decided to field a team in the competitions inaugural year. A true passion for designing, improving, and racing Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) has evolved at IIT from this remarkable experience. The team was named ACE for it primary sponsor, the Armour College of Engineering and performed beyond expectations by achieving a podium position in dynamic events. The competition provided students a fun environment to learn not only about HEVs and what it takes to build one, but also what teamwork and steadfast dedication can accomplish. A first time entry in formula competitions, launching a project like Formula Hybrid proved to be a demanding task for the ACE Team. This paper discusses the many stages of the ACE Team that spanned over 9 months providing insight into what it actually takes to participate in a competition of this nature while providing recommendations on how to go about it more efficiently. The paper also provides a review of the hybrids developed by other schools for the competition.