FEST07

When it all began…

The birth of FS Team Tallinn

The idea of Formula Student began to spread in Estonia in early 2005, when Sten Soomlais, an automotive engineering student at TTÜ, presented the concept of Formula Student at the Motorsport Technical Seminar at TTK. That spring, the first two theses on Formula Student topics were completed.

Building on the experience of the Formula Student theses defended successfully at TTÜ and TTK in 2005 and 2006, and inspired by a visit from the Helsinki Metropolia (Stadia) University of Applied Sciences FS team, a joint Formula Student team of transport engineering and product development students from Tallinn University of Technology and Tallinn University of Applied Sciences was formed in October 2006. Enterprising lecturers Janek Luppin and Risto Kõiv organised the first meeting for interested students; the turnout was large but dropped quickly, leaving only those seriously interested, who formed the core of the team.

The team set itself the goal for its first year of taking part in the Formula Student finals in England in July 2007 in Class III, gaining enough experience to serve as a basis for building a reliable prototype car and competing already in 2008 in Class I. Taking part in Class III required creating a virtual prototype: the overall concept of the car was worked out, the suspension components, brake and steering systems and the bodywork were designed as three-dimensional virtual models, together with reports describing their construction and cost.

At the competition held at the Silverstone circuit complex on 12–15 July 2007, the team presented the virtual prototype of its formula car to the judges. Before the competition the team had to compile and submit technical documentation about the car, covering its technical solutions and describing the manufacturing technology and cost estimates for certain assemblies. The team had to give three presentations covering the overall design of the car, the manufacturing technology of the designed assemblies, and pricing, as well as the project as a whole. Each presentation was followed by a detailed discussion of nearly an hour with the judges, intended to establish how thorough and practical the chosen solutions were. In addition, every team had its own pit area where it could present its project to anyone interested. It was also possible to watch the spectacular Class I car competitions, get to know the technical solutions of finished cars and make contacts with teams from different universities.

The team returned with fourth place in Class III among 15 participating teams, with the top three being the “B teams” of more experienced teams.