Electrical Systems
During my tenure at Dallas Formula Racing, I engaged in numerous projects relating to the electrical systems on the vehicle. Specifically, I was responsible for creating a gauge cluster for the driver and delivering said telemetry wirelessly to a computer wirelessly during an event.
Initial work began with a limited selection of parts and tools, as many of the design specifications were laid out by previous team members who had since graduated the organization. That being said, I worked with my limited display resolution and hardware to help convey as much information as possible in a 16×32 pixel display. Ultimately, I was able to use the limited space and resolution to display lateral G forces, rpm, current gear, battery voltage, and engine temperature in a dynamically adjustable display. Since all information was being handled digitally, future adjustments to the UI could be made in the future, such as dynamically changing the colors of instrument readouts to indicate priority or importance.
On the hardware side, all of this information was read from the engine’s ECU using a combination of an Arduino for interfacing directly with any electrical components and a Raspberry Pi running a local server for processing data and displaying content to the gauge cluster. Additionally, a custom pair of ZigBee modules were used to transmit information wirelessly to a second Arduino connected to a pit computer, where data could be read and logged.
Much of the heavy lifting for the project involved interpreting the CAN-bus signals from the ECU and converting them into a readable output. Since there was no ready-made library for doing so, I developed a custom library that would translate the binary strings from the ECU into parseable values that could be used elsewhere in the system.
While I only contributed to engineering for a single year, I left a lasting impact by providing guidance for the future of the team before pivoting to another department. Specifically, one of my final projects on the engineering team was to provide a list of hardware specs for the upcoming year’s system, moving away from an LED matrix to a full-color LCD and more powerful controller system. This new hardware would allow greater fidelity for software and UI designers, allowing them to create more engaging and polished driver display systems.
Marketing
Following my time as an engineer, I headed the marketing department, helping to produce numerous marketing materials and designs. As one of the founding members of the marketing department, I helped to grow the team from a handful of individuals to a thriving department that handled marketing for internal events and promotional materials for our business partners. Additionally, I worked to create custom merchandise for team members and helped plan and execute various social functions.
