FormulaHybridDesignJudging

AStudentGuideforUnderstandingtheProcess
Atthecompetitionyourteamwillbeinterviewed.Thedesignjudgeshavealreadyseenyour resumeintheformofadesignreport.Thishasallowedthejudgestothinkaboutthestrengthsand weaknessesofyourdesign.Moreimportantly,ithasprovidedsomeinsightintoyourdesign approaches,decisionmakingability,organization,testanddevelopmentprograms,andvehiclefeatures thatyouconsiderworthyofnotice.Withthisinformationthejudgeswilltailorquestionsspecificto yourdesigngoalsaswellascoverthebasics. Thevehicleisthemostvisualendresultofyourefforts.Youmusthaveoneinordertobejudged. However,itisonlyapartofwhatwillbejudged. Knowledgeandunderstandingarenotsovisualresultsofyoureffortsandthejudgeswillbeasking questionstodetermineyourdepthofeach.Ateamthatappearswithacompetitivevehiclewillscore lowiftheycannotanswerthejudges'questions.Thosewhododemonstrateathoroughknowledgeand understandingandpresentanimpressivecarwillreceivehighscores. Thejudgeswanttoknowhowyoudevelopedyourvehicle.Whatwerethegoals?Dotheymake sense?Wasthereaconsistentdesignphilosophyormethodology?Dothestudentsunderstandthe functionalrequirementsoftheircomponentsandsystems?Dotheyunderstandthelawsofphysics behindtheiroperation,thematerialsfromwhichtheywereconstructed,andthemanufacturing processes?Dotheyunderstandtheenvironmentalconsequencesoftheirchoiceofmaterialsandtheir manufacturingmethods?Whywasthissystemchosenoverothers?Whatwasthetestprogram?How didtheorycomparetoactualresults?Whatchangeswererequiredaftertesting? Ifitisonthecar,bepreparedforindepthquestioning.Thatthepersonwhodesignedsomething graduatedorisotherwisenotattheeventdoesnotexcusetheteamfromfullyunderstandingthatitem. Nordoes"itworkedwelllastyear"demonstratemuchknowledgeonthesubject. Thereisnospecific"perfectvehicle"thatthejudgeswishtosee.Theanswerdependsonhowthe studentsdefinetheproblemthroughtheirgoals,aslongasthosegoalsmakesensewithinthe frameworkoftherules.Theeventissetuptoencouragenewideasandtopreventeveryonefrom tryingtodesignthesamecar.

FSAEFirstRoundDesignJudgingTheFundamentalsRound
Duringthefirstroundofdesignjudgingthejudgeswillconcentrateonthefundamentalsthatapply toallvehicles.Fundamentalsarethingsthatmakethatdesignareaabsolutelyrequiredtomakethecar accelerate,decelerate,corner,andadheretotherules.Featuresfoundonaminorityofcars,suchas tractioncontrol,wings,andothermoreadvanceditems,willbeanalyzedverybrieflyinthefirstround butwillbelookedatindepthinthefollowingrounds.Theteammusthavetheaforementioned

fundamentalsmastered,asdemonstratedbytheirpresentationandresponsestothejudges,before theyareconsideredforadvancementtothenextround.Thestudentsshouldstillbringalloftheir documentation,onallaspectsoftheirdesign,tothefirstroundjustincaseajudgefindstimetoask moredetailedquestions. Firstrounddesignjudging(interview)timewillbeutilizedasfollows.(Note:the Chief Design

Judge has the right to adjust first round judging times based on the number of entries and availability of judges, however "Questioning" time will not drop below 20 minutes.)

Setup(3minutes)
Keepaneyeonthejudgesandsetupassoonasdirected.Thecarmustfirstbepresentedon thegroundwithallbodypanelsandwheelsinplaceallowingthejudgesaviewofthecomplete vehicle.Storyboardsarestronglyencouraged.Bringnotebooksand/orcomputersforwhen additionalbackupinformationisrequired.Ifyoumadeacalculation,youshouldbeabletopresentit within60seconds.Displaypartsoffailures,alternatedesigns,andtestedpiecesareveryusefuland demonstrateyourdevelopmentprocess.Bepreparedtoputthecaronstands,removeafrontand rearwheel,removebodypanels,andadjustthepedalpositionsallowingajudgetositinthecar uponrequest.Setupshouldtakethreeminutesorless.Additionaltimeherereducesyoureffective judgingtime.Bequick.

Introduction(14minutes,team'sdiscretion)
Youwillhaveashortamountoftimetopresentyourvehicletothejudges.Thisisyour opportunitytolistyourgoals,pointoutfeaturesofwhichyouareparticularlyproud,emphasizeyour testinganddevelopmentefforts,andcoverwhatmakesyourvehicle,yourvehicle.Youwillnotgo intodetailshere.Itmaybeagoodideatointroducewhodesignedwhichmajorsystemsifthese peoplearenototherwiseeasilyidentifiable.

Questioning(2528minutes)
Yourteamwillbreakupandmeetwithjudgesinspectingdifferentareas.Thesejudgeswill determinewhichteamsadvancetothenextround.Indoingsotheywillcovermanyareasandeach tothedepthallowedwiththetimeavailable.Doyourbesttoseethatexceptionalfeaturesarenot missed.Also,beunderstandingifthejudgeneedstoswitchtoanothersubject. Youneedtohaveatleastone"expert"foreveryvehiclesystemthatyouconsidertobe important.FSAEisaneducationalprocessandweliketoseethatknowledgespreadovermany students.Itgreatlyhindersthejudgingprocessifthesamepersonhastoanswerquestionsforallof themajorsystems.Havingmorepeoplewhocanproperlyanswerquestionshelpsyourscore. Youmaybeaskedatanytimetoshowcalculations,photos,orotherdocumentationtobackup yourclaims.Beabletopresentthosequicklytokeeptheprocessflowing.Thedesignprocessoften startswithhandwrittencalculationsandsketches.Donotbeafraidtoshowthem.Onemustbe abletoanswerbasicquestionswithoutreferencematerial.

Ifyouarenottheproperpersonforansweringaquestion,itisperfectlyacceptabletopointthe judgeintherightdirection.Itisalsobettertosay"Idonotknow"thantotrytofoolanexpert. Specificareasintowhichthejudgeswillbequestioningarenotprovidedinadvancesincethe judgesaretheretocovertheentirecarandwilladjusttheirquestions,tosomeextent,totheareas thatyoubelieveareimportant.Thisiswhytheyneedtoknowyourdesigngoals.Youmaystillbe askedquestionsthatyoudonotwanttohear.However,youcanminimizethatandhelpthejudges tounderstandyourvehiclebystatingthesegoals. Onlyteammembersareallowedinthejudgingarea.Advisorsmaystandnearbyoutsidethe area.Allowroomforthejudgestomovefreelyaboutthecarandvisualaids.Thosewhowillbe answeringquestionsneedtobeimmediatelyaccessible.Thoseontheteamwhowillnotbe answeringquestionscanbeintheareabutyoumayconsiderhavingthemastepbehind.Anyoneon theteamcanbeaskedaquestion.Advisorsandmentorsmaylisteninbutcannotanswerquestions fromthejudgesorfromthestudentsduringjudging.Videoandaudiorecordingofthedesign judgingarenotallowed.Itistheteam'sresponsibilitytoprotectthearea. Inthesecondroundmorejudgeswilllookatyourcarwiththeabilityandtimetogodeeperinto morefocusedareas.Thefirstroundismoreaboutmakingsurethatthisteamhascoveredallofthe basics.

ScoringandDisplayRemoval(13minutes)
Leavethevehicleinplacewhilethejudgesmeet,decidescores,andputtogethertheirwritten commentsfortheteams.Theysometimesneedtoreferbacktothecarorotherworkwhen discussingdetails.Leavethejudgesaloneduringthistimeandremoveeverythingonceinstructed. Likesettingup,removalmustbequicksothatthenextteamcangetstarted.

Feedback
Formoreinformationwestronglyencouragethestudentstobringtheircarandteambackto thejudgingareaforverbalfeedback.Youwillusuallybeabletospeakwithdifferentjudgeswhoare expertsindifferentareas.Oftheentiredesignjudgingprocess,thestudentsfindthisthemost educational.Teamsmayreceivefeedbackaftertheyhavecompletedalloftheirroundsofdesign judging.Onereasonthatthisfeedbackissogoodisthatitcanbeatwowaydiscussionbetweenthe teamandajudgeorwithseveraljudges.Videoandaudiorecordingofthefeedbackisuptothe discretionoftheindividualjudge.Please,askbeforerecording. Feedbackwillnotbeprovidedduringthejudgingrounds.Timeislimitedandthejudgesare theretoaskquestions,nottoprovideanswers,especiallywhenateammaybeadvancingtothenext judginground.
FormulaHybridDesignJudgingFebruary17,2010