Case Study: University of Michigan MRacing achieves lighter, faster gearbox design with Hexagon Romax

Romax gearbox design software drives University of Michigan student Racing Team to success

The University of Michigan's MRacing student team faced significant challenges in designing a high-performance, ultra-lightweight gearbox for their Formula SAE race car under tight time and budget constraints. Their previous use of Excel spreadsheets limited their ability to effectively analyze complex design trade-offs and optimize the gearbox for weight, stiffness, and durability. To overcome this, they partnered with vendor Hexagon and began using its Romax gearbox design software through an academic program.

By implementing Hexagon's Romax software, the team could perform sophisticated drive cycle analysis and simulate different manufacturing tolerances to optimize their designs. The solution from Hexagon enabled them to design a gearbox that was both smaller and lighter, with the entire drive unit weighing under 4 kg. This allowed for a much faster iteration process, moving from 1-2 design iterations to 12, which significantly improved the final product's performance and helped the team remain competitive.

University of Michigan

Nolan Hornby

Geartrain Lead