School of Engineering, Computing, and Mathematics

Research in the School of Engineering, Computing, and Mathematics is organised into cross-cutting, interdisciplinary themes. 

Research is supported by the UK Research Councils and the European Commission, industry and charitable foundations and we have an excellent reputation for knowledge transfer.

As an award-winning Formula Student team,  it is our mission to build a mulit-year legacy as a competitive, high quality team. After a long and successful history of combustion entries in the formula student competition, OBR is making the shift to electric for the 2020 season. With a new team structure and a class 2 project to serve as a R&D platform, OBR aims to develop a platform to not only take on the top FS teams in the world, but to also serve as a test bed of innovation for electric vehicles and controls software.

The concept is based around a 4WD in-hub motor configuration with AMK AC servo motors mated to a compact epicyclic gearbox capable of producing over 300 N-m of torque at each wheel. Energy is supplied from a 600 V, 6.6 kW-hr battery pack using LCO pouch cells with a peak output of over 130 kW. All of this is managed through an open controls platform ideal for implementing torque vectoring and advanced vehicle controls to unleash the full performance potential of an EV competitor.

With the design of the car in full swing and test and manufacture on the horizon, there is an opportunity to be on the forefront of not only performance, but also the industry by gaining both the knowledge and hands on experience working with electric vehicles.