McLaren started as a Formula 1 team before expanding into consumer cars and specialty electronics and composites in the early 2000’s. Now they also do consulting for a range of projects in healthcare, transportation, and sport.
I was in the Modelling and Decision Sciences group, which handles a variety of projects that focus on handling large amounts of data and producing useful insights. My project was focused on their road car simulator - a platform that allows virtual vehicle models to be tested in multiple scenarios within an immersive environment that would be cost and time prohibitive with a physical vehicle.
Vehicle simulators rely on actuators to replicate the motion of real-life systems. In a car simulator, that consists of a set of motors that produce motion in each degree of freedom. My project has focused on the control system of McLaren’s road car simulator and automating a tool to identify the motor command to output before recommending a solution to move the relationship closer to ideal.
The theory I learned in 2.14 directly applied to what I was doing technically while the project management that I learned while on the FSAE team helped me make sure I identified when I was falling behind as well as pushed me to keep track of everything I did to make sure nothing was forgotten.