The only experience of car racing that most people have is with a gamepad in their hands – for example, in the legendary pixel worlds of "Colin McRae Rally". When the sports car belonging to Scottish racing driver McRae flies off the track in the video game, a virtual robotic arm picks it up and puts it back on the starting line.
But because this is unfortunately not the way things work in real life, vehicles used in car racing are constantly being optimised. The tiniest adjustment to a vehicle chassis or engine can prevent an accident – and deliver the decisive extra seconds.
With combustion engines, technology can build on decades of experience, set out in the regulations of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA). Yet there are now plans in Austria to launch the first fully-electric rallycross car – in this case, there are no benchmark values or load cases available.
Curtain up for battery manufacturer Kreisel Electric, who have been commissioned by the FIA to manufacture a standard kit for the Electric World Rallycross Championship. As a first step, they have created the prototype "RE-X1".
Requirements management on top
umlaut is part of the racing team and at Kreisel they are implementing a special type of software to handle the complex requirements management. This software documents the status of load cases, integrates parts of project management and automatically generates specification sheets for suppliers and for the FIA. The drive system for the RE-X1 has a large number of complex components, such as the battery, the engine, the housing, the inverter and a charging interface. In some cases these still needed to be developed and delivered.
