UCSB FSAE, Gaucho Racing
Since 2022, I’ve been a member of UCSB’s FSAE team, Gaucho Racing. Gaucho Racing builds an electric race car for the annual FSAE competition. I worked on the design and manufacturing of powertrain components such as the drivetrain and cooling loop.
Drivetrain Design
From the 2023-2025 season, I led the development for a chain drive system. This consisted of mounting the motor, differential, and axles to the chassis and suspension components. Some design considerations include minimizing weight, and maximizing rigidity. The goal was to achieve a FOS of 2.8 with a max displacement of 0.05”. A combination of FEA, hand calculations, and physical testing was used to validate mounts. I had iterated on the drivetrain over the years to meet weight/rigidity targets:
GR 24 Drivetrain Assembly/CAD
GR 25 ANSYS FEA Analysis
GR 24 Drivetrain Assembly/CAD
Matlab Simulation
In addition to the structural design of the car I developed Matlab scripts to simulate the competition’s acceleration event. This script was used to determine the optimal gear ratio for minimizing the time required to traverse a 75 m straight. This reinforced my knowledge of dynamics and optimization.
GR 25 Acceleration Simulation
Going into the 2026 competition, the rules require battery temperatures to remain under 60 C. I utilized concepts from my thermodynamics classes to simulate temperature in a liquid cooled battery loop. Further design changes and testing are needed to ensure sufficient cooling.
GR 26 Preliminary Cooling Simulation
Drivetrain Testing (GR24)
GR24 was UCSB’s first operational FSAE vehicle in 9 years. From lap testing data, we were able to validate the top speed and max accelerations of our vehicle. We also identified issues with suspension mounting and chain slipping that informed our design for GR 25.
