Department of mechanical engineering Racing Team of National Taiwan University: The questioned dream must shine more brightly.

Taiwan Province Provincial University Mechanical Department 13 junior student team spent a whole year looking for learning resources and funding, and a complete electric racing car was born from scratch. It is not impossible for them to put the mechanical knowledge they learned in school into practice and declare their dreams to adults.

Teaching and learning in the AI era, let science and technology support the curriculum and practice the classroom with students as the theme. The electric motor "tut-tut" whizzed past with the racing car Epsilon 1. In Kaohsiung International SDR Linear Acceleration Carnival Festival, this electric racing car, which was built by junior students of Mechanical Department of Taiwan Province Provincial University, galloped on the runway for the first time.

Recall that more than a year ago, I attended a course in China during the weekend and summer vacation, when I was about to enter the second year of the Mechanical Department of National Taiwan University. I got to know the motorcade classmates from other universities in Taiwan Province Province and found that they had been cooperating to manufacture racing cars for many years. Students of the same age in Tongji University and Harbin University also have the experience of self-made racing cars. "I want to know why NTU doesn't have this kind of activity, which can be applied to what the department has learned?" 」

Zhou Yi, who likes large-scale execution, finds that there are few opportunities to play in the department, but he is more eager for the sense of accomplishment of driving after the car race than the robot that mechanical students like. On her own, she called on 13 of her classmates to set up the first racing team in department of mechanical engineering, National Taiwan University, with the spirit of being fearless of tigers. The team also vowed to build their own electric racing cars and participate in the SAE Formula Competition in Japan during their sophomore year.

The participating schools of FSAE come from all over the world. If they stand out from the competition, they will have the opportunity to become professional automobile engineers in the future. Therefore, FSAE is also considered as the cradle of training famous automobile factory engineers.

"Know not to know that mechanical department is difficult to read? Do you know that sophomore year is more difficult? There are many compulsory courses. Senior two is a year when homework can't be finished and exams can't be finished. When Zhou Yi proposed the racing team plan to her, Huang Meijiao, head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at National Taiwan University, couldn't help but "remind" her. Compared with being supported, Zhou Yi's enthusiasm is a long and endless questioning and process.

Why are you so obsessed with racing? Including Zhou Yi, public relations director Huang and power team leader Peng, they actually studied mechanical engineering before they had the opportunity to contact. The more wit, the less courage. At that time, the team members had just finished studying calculus, basic physics, basic chemistry and other basic disciplines, and had no experience in large-scale implementation. They described the implementation process of making racing cars this year as "a year of knowledge explosion".

Explore actively and learn by doing. During the summer vacation, the knowledge team will go to the sponsor's factory to confirm the parts and assemble the body parts one by one. Provided by department of mechanical engineering Racing Team of National Taiwan University.

For this group of "Xueba" in the Department of Mechanical Engineering of National Taiwan University, there are more setbacks and failures than expected in the process of making racing cars. Too idealistic racing design has made the team undergo numerous modifications; The mistakes made were also more serious than expected. "When the selected parts were designed, but the specifications and dimensions were changed at the last minute, we had to compromise with each other. For example, in the engineering field, as long as there is no good communication in one place, the parts that need two weeks of manufacturing process may have to be reworked because the specifications do not match.

However, for the team, mistakes are opportunities for learning. Peng recalled that how to determine the specifications of the car, how to connect the communication system and how to arrange the power system came from the process of learning by doing. Huang also added the importance of cultivating one's own learning ability.

"You can learn without teaching. You can look at the areas that you find interesting, find information, digest it, and directly turn it into action. 」

Before being instilled with knowledge in the classroom, they became explorers and were willing to take the initiative, so that they could internalize the knowledge hidden in the details into their own gains.

Industry sponsors are also a great help to help them successfully complete electric racing and solve difficulties. The industry experience of sponsors provides different learning perspectives for racing team students, and the professional practice that can't be seen in textbooks fills the gap between learning and application. "I learned a lot from the industry, such as how to repair the battery? This is the accumulation of experience of manufacturers, but also a part of learning and industry integration. Not afraid of lack of knowledge, learn more, ask more and see more. Huang said that the growth accumulated by the team in the process of racing is also synchronized with the practical experience of entering the workplace in the future.

When asked about the balance between the course and the team, Huang confidently said that he used to arrange a whole week's to-do list at the beginning of the week, and the choice of courses would try his best to meet the needs of the team. "For example, if you need to use material simulation, you can choose courses related to material mechanics, or you can choose AI vehicles to realize it directly." Only by combining lessons with team learning can knowledge play a higher role and complement each other. Moreover, he is also used to arranging things in order of priority, and he can finish all the work as scheduled in busy periods such as mid-term exams and weeks.

After many times of cross-group communication, the carbon fiber skeleton of the racing car was finally formed. Provided by department of mechanical engineering Racing Team of National Taiwan University.

On the verge of giving up, I finally broke the doubts of the outside world. Just as the frame and battery box of the racing car were finished, a shocking bomb shattered the morale of the team. Due to the lack of competition documents, the students of the racing team were excluded from the dynamic competition in the Japanese student formula competition, so they could not let the racing car run on the track, so they could only participate in the "static test" competition of FSAE outside the track.

That was the closest the team came to giving up. "At that time, everyone didn't like me, so I must do racing. Because if we don't do it, our future siblings won't believe that we can really succeed. " As a team leader, Zhou Yi has no time to be upset and depressed. Faced with such a mistake of penny wise and pound foolish, the team decided to complete the car production and go to Japan to participate in the FSAE static race.

After a whole year's research and development, department of mechanical engineering Racing Team of National Taiwan University finally brought the racing car to Japan to participate in the Student Formula Competition. Provided by department of mechanical engineering Racing Team of National Taiwan University.

Team members will never forget the excitement of the first trial run on the campus of National Taiwan University. That morning, with the tired body of staying up all night for a year, the team members saw their first racing car running on the coconut tree avenue of National Taiwan University, screaming and jumping! Although more than three months have passed, Peng, who will be the captain in 2020, said, "We are still enjoying this feeling." Although this year's race has ended, the team continues to test various data and adjustment parameters of Epsilon 1, not only to test the performance of the first car, but also to make the new car smoother next year.

Looking back on this whole year, Huang Yiran thinks that what is valuable is teamwork and the accumulation of strength in the implementation process: how to integrate what the school has learned, apply what it has learned, and how to find resources to solve problems when encountering difficulties. Perhaps the team is in its infancy, and its experience and resources are certainly not as rich as those of other teams, but this team, which was completely initiated by students, finally made the eyes that once questioned them become the light to set off the dream practice.

Epsilon 1, as the name of the first racing car of National Taiwan University's mechanical racing team, represents the driving force of the circuit in electricity and can drive racing dreams; The meaning that the other team didn't find represents the meaning of "five" in the Greek alphabet, and it is also riding the momentum that the team expects to rush into the top five in the next game.

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