Jul 8 2015
Houston Mechatronics Inc (HMI) and Andretti Technologies have teamed to develop an advanced electric powertrain to propel Andretti's Formula E race car, which will debut in Season 2 of the Formula E Championship. The motor and supporting power and control electronics successfully completed the initial FIA inspection at Donington Raceway in England this week.
Formula E is the world's first fully electric racing series and aims to represent a "vision for the future of the motor industry", serving as a framework for R&D around the electric vehicle, accelerating general interest in these cars, and promoting clean energy and sustainability.
Houston Mechatronics and Andretti Technologies Team to Develop an Advanced Powertrain for Formula E Racing
For season two, Formula E will operate as an 'open championship', allowing teams and manufacturers the opportunity to showcase their own electrical energy innovations, with the ultimate aim of "filtering those improvements in powertrains and battery technology into the everyday electric vehicle market". Working to the technical specifications set out by the FIA, Houston Mechatronics used an innovative evolutionary computing design technique derived from NASA supported technology to develop the new electric motor currently undergoing testing at Andretti Motorsports and HMI's Texas facility. According to Nicolaus Radford, co-founder and CTO of HMI, "We are passionate about bringing our expertise to bear on relevant societal challenges. We see our partnership with Andretti Technologies within Formula E racing as an exciting opportunity to directly contribute to the advancement of electric vehicles for the future."
Houston Mechatronics Inc. (HMI) is an advanced technology company with proprietary technologies and industry leading expertise in mechatronics, automation, and robotics. Engineers and executives from NASA and industry with multi-disciplinary engineering competencies and project management experience formed HMI in 2014. HMI staff were key engineers and leaders of some of NASA's more advanced and innovative technology programs of the last two decades including Robonaut 2, Valkyrie, the Lunar Electric Rover, the Modular Electric Vehicle, and the Morpheus lunar lander prototype. HMI is leveraging our NASA heritage to provide leading edge solutions in automation and robotics for customers in the Oil and Gas, Electric Vehicle, and Advanced Manufacturing sectors.