Formula Student relies on ept connectors
ept GmbH supplies Formula Student racing team with Zero connectors
The Racetech Racing Team at TU Bergakademie Freiberg is a student club that develops and builds a new electric race car every year as part of Formula Student—the world’s largest student engineering competition. The goal of the project is to compete against other teams from around the world in international competitions and to demonstrate the vehicle’s technical capabilities.
The challenge:
Maximum reliability under extreme conditions
A key component of the all-electric race car is the high-voltage battery. With a voltage of up to 600 V, it supplies power to the vehicle’s most critical components.
Where high voltages are involved, safety is the top priority. This is ensured, among other things, by the Battery Management System (BMS), which monitors all cell voltages as well as cell temperatures.
Key facts:
Where high voltages are involved, safety is the top priority. This is ensured, among other things, by the Battery Management System (BMS), which monitors all cell voltages as well as cell temperatures.
Key facts:
- Due to space constraints, the reading of voltage and temperature has been offloaded to a BMS slave
- All cells are connected for temperature measurement on the cell connection board (ZVP)
- Data is analyzed several times per second.
A single incorrect measurement—caused by an unstable connection—would immediately trigger the safety system (the so-called shutdown circuit). The vehicle would be disconnected from the battery’s power supply, and the race would end prematurely.
Therefore, the interface must be compact, robust, and fault-tolerant.
Since the installation space on the board is extremely limited, data evaluation does not take place directly on the cell connection boards (ZVP) but on the BMS slave located above them. The critical connection between the cell connection board and the slave is established using two ept Zero8 PCB connectors in each instance.
Therefore, the interface must be compact, robust, and fault-tolerant.
Since the installation space on the board is extremely limited, data evaluation does not take place directly on the cell connection boards (ZVP) but on the BMS slave located above them. The critical connection between the cell connection board and the slave is established using two ept Zero8 PCB connectors in each instance.
Why Zero8?
The demands on the racetrack are immense: intense vibrations, high centrifugal forces in corners, and thermal stress put components to the test. Zero8 connectors offer significant advantages in this regard:
- Tolerance compensation: Thanks to its innovative design, the connector allows for an offset of ±0.4 mm in the X and Y directions when mated. This is an invaluable mechanical advantage when mounting multiple circuit boards on top of one another.
- Reliable Contacting: Despite continuous stresses, such as vibrations and shocks, the innovative Scale-X contact technology ensures uninterrupted signal transmission. Loose contacts that could lead to a system shutdown are thus effectively prevented.
- Space-saving: The compact 0.8 mm pitch allows us to build the BMS slaves as small as possible, which primarily saves space on the PCB.
Together to Pole Position
Thanks to our support, the Racetech Racing Team was able to significantly improve the battery’s reliability. The Zero8 connectors have proven to be “hidden champions” in the system, ensuring that signal transmission remains error-free and fail-safe even under heavy loads.
Learn more about the Zero8
Learn more about the Zero8
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