Keysight
251 Case Studies
Case Study: Michigan Electric Racing achieves 2nd-place overall at Formula SAE North Electric 2019 with Keysight test solutions
A Keysight Case Study
Wolverines Don’t Usually Run This Fast
Michigan Electric Racing, a University of Michigan student team that transitioned from hybrid to full electric in 2019, needed to redesign and improve its electrical drive system for Formula SAE competition. They partnered with Keysight and used Keysight test solutions—including the N7900 advanced power supply, BenchVue and 14585A control software, the 34465A Truevolt DMM, and the RP7933A regenerative power system—to characterize 18650 cells, validate battery-pack safety, and optimize motor controller performance.
At Keysight’s Automotive Customer Center, Keysight engineers provided instrumentation and test automation that let the team log voltage, current and temperature under real-world profiles (dissipating >30 A per cell and testing fusing at 100+ A), develop an advanced state-of-charge algorithm, and define battery cooling and safety limits. With Keysight’s equipment and data-driven tuning, Michigan Electric Racing safely pushed pack performance and finished second overall in the 2019 Formula SAE North Electric competition.
Open case study document...