SPEEDSTER PARKS IN LEIBER LOUNGE
EMMINGEN-LIPTINGEN | ‘Furniture’ can be amazingly mobile: The best example of this is the racing car that has been on display at LEIBER's home base as of late. There's a good reason why it doesn't have a steering wheel.
No, the missing steering wheel is not an anti-theft device. The little runabout is an electric vehicle whose batteries are removed - so a thief would not get far with the ‘FAUmax Omikron’, as the speedster is called, anyway. Instead, the vehicle can drive autonomously if required, meaning it does not necessarily need a driver and steering wheel, and has thus been involved in the ‘Driverless’ discipline of Formula Student (FS) in recent years, for example. Every year, international university teams compete in the FS in a friendly innovation competition.
Racing car project helps students put knowledge into practice
The now decommissioned ‘FAUmax Omikron’ belongs to the racing team High-Voltage Motorsports e.V. (HVM), which is also a university group of the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg. The LEIBER Group has been supporting the HVM team as one of its sponsors since 2016, thereby supporting students from various faculties in their scientific development on an applied basis. As part of the team, which is involved in the continuous development of the racing cars for the FS, the participants can put the theory they have learnt at the university into practice: in the context of conception, design, engineering, software development, but also business management through to production planning. In short, the racing car project is an opportunity to mature skills and practise teamwork.
Win-win for the university and external partners
Companies such as the LEIBER Group benefit from such sponsorships in that contacts can be made with valuable young talent, often leading to connections for working life after graduation. The university teams, in turn, benefit from the transfer of expertise from the participating companies, as well as from the financial or material donations. How could it be otherwise, LEIBER's commitment focuses on forged and machined aluminium: LEIBER has been supplying the lightweight wheel hubs for the racing cars for years. On the ‘FAUmax Omikron’ on display, these are anodised in matt black.
Franconian racing car ‘temporarily parked’ in South Baden
Many thanks to Paul Burkholz, Janik Blank and Stefan Kraus for transporting the car from Erlangen to Emmingen-Liptingen. Accompanied by Lead Engineer York Prust, the three visitors then went on a tour of the factory. The journey of almost 700 kilometres there and back was rewarded with an extensive insight into LEIBER production.
The ‘FAUmax Omikron’ is only ‘temporarily parked’. It is expected to be on loan from LEIBER until October.
LEIBER Group also supports other student projects. This year, donations in kind from the company can also be found in the vehicle of the ‘DART Racing’ team from TU Darmstadt. LEIBER is keeping its fingers crossed for all Formula Student participants!
Handover of the disused ‘FAUmax Omikron’ (from left): Paul Burkholz, Janik Blank and Stefan Kraus deliver the racing car to the foyer of the LEIBER round building. They are supported by Lead Engineer York Prust, who supports the project for LEIBER together with his colleagues from the Innovation department.
LEIBER supplies the aluminium wheel hubs for the High-Voltage Motorsports e.V. racing car. In the picture below it is in the removed, non-anodised state. Both are lightweight construction in a particularly stylish form.
‘Catch me if you can!’ - The rear spoiler of the racing car, which is mainly made of carbon fibre, is adorned with a clear message to all pursuers. No wonder, because the vehicle, which is electrically powered via the rear axle, delivers just under 96 hp (70 kW) with a total weight of only 175 kg.
View into the cockpit: The ‘FAUmax Omikron’ can be operated without a driver, which it has already proven in the ‘Driverless’ discipline of Formula Students (FS). In the FS, the car was used in other disciplines with a driver - and steering wheel. At an FS competition in Spain, the team from the University of Erlangen received the ‘Best Technology Innovation Award’.