Cockpit vertical cross section (Leg Template)

[PMC22]

Hi everyone,

I am currently looking at the chassis design for our car this year and I would just like to know what experience other teams have with the leg template (350 x 350 mm) during scrutineering? I've heard that they rotate the template 180° while passing it through the chassis but I can't find any rule that states this is a requirement. T4.2.1 states that it will be "passed horizontally through the cockpit" which to me doesn't imply any change in orientation, other than to get around the steering column. If it needs to be rotated then the template essentially becomes a circle with a diameter equal to the diagonal of the 350 x 350 template. Is this something I should be worried about or have I picked on somebodies baseless rambling?

Phil

[PatClarke]

Phil,

The usual procedure is to insert the template as far as it will go, until (usually) the steering column fouls the central slot.
The template is then removed and rotated 180 degrees and reinserted in the position it fouled, and the travel to 4" from the pedals is continued.

If anything else fouls the template, the test is a failure and modifications need to be made.

Off the record, I hate that particular template!

PC

[Michael Royce]

Phil,
Pat's description of the procedure is correct.

Flipping the template to clear the steering column was anticipated from the word "go". If you look carefully at the drawing of the template in Figure 9 of the Rules, you will see that we put "UP" at the top right AND bottom left of the drawing to cover it.

[PMC22]

Thanks for replies, things are a lot clearer to me now. If only someone would make Percy's legs just a little bit shorter we would be sorted!

Phil

[Adam Farabaugh]

What gets me is that his 36" legs aren't allowed to bend.

[Michael Royce]

Adam,
The 915 mm (36 ins) DOES take into account a bent leg! The 36 ins dimension is just the straight line between Percy's "H" Point (hip point) and the bottom of his "foot"/the pedals. If you look at the anthropometric data, Percy's standing hip height, i.e. the distance from his hip point to the floor, is 1000 mms (39.4 ins). The 915 mm dimension was not just pulled out of the air! It was established after several surveys with Percy. A picture on how this is measured is shown in our book "Learn & Compete", and as Figure 6 in the 2013 Formula Hybrid Rules.

We chose to specify a straight line between the "H" Point and the pedals because:
a). It is easy to measure at Scrutineering, and
b). It is easy for you to put into your designs from the word "go".

FYI, 915 mm is the absolute minimum. Fernando Gonzales, of FSAE Brazil, has told me that 1015 mm (40 ins) is far more comfortable for someone of Percy's leg length. I would tend to agree with him.

[Adam Farabaugh]

Thanks for the clarification Michael!

While we're at it, is the 36" rule relatively new? I was looking at our old chassis models for inspiration and couldn't get Percy to fit in, for example, our 2010 chassis which passed scrutineering just fine.

[Michael Royce]

Adam,
The idea of specifying a minimum distance between Percy's "H" Point and the pedals was first listed a Possible Future Rule Change in Article 18 of the 2010 FSAE Rules. This was repeated as a Possible Future Change in the 2011 and 2012 Rules with the dimension firmed up as 915 mm (36 ins). It was finally implemented for FSAE for 2013, although it was in effect for Formula Hybrid and Formula Student UK since 2012.

[MCoach]

It just makes packing (packaging?) a driver in there like this a little more difficult:

http://www.kartsport.org.nz/Images/News/12SprintNatsKZ2winnerDaniel.gif