VI-grade, a simulation and driving simulator company, has announced a sponsorship programme for Formula Student teams from all over the world. The sponsorship will support engineering students in their quest to build a more sophisticated race car and to optimise its performance, thus enhancing the teams’ overall R&D processes. Teams eligible for the sponsorship program will receive free access to VI-grade’s real-time simulation software and driving simulator environment.
The Sponsoring Program consists of two different packages, based on the team’s capabilities. The Basic Package grants students free access to VI-Motorsport, VI-grade’s motorsport simulation software which helps racing teams find the best set-up for their car and to explore more design variations in less time. The Advanced Package is designed for Formula Student teams who already have a Desktop Simulator setup, and includes free access to VI-DriveSim, VI-grade’s driving simulator software platform.
The packages will enable teams to put their VI-Motorsport vehicle models in a Driver-in-the-Loop environment, allowing them to test new designs and component variations with their drivers without having to build physical prototypes. Students may apply for up to five Basic Package licences, and one Advanced Package licence per team. The teams will also have access to a selection of reference material and video tutorials to guide them through the preliminary steps in the VI-Motorsport and VI-DriveSim software environment.
Guido Bairati, managing director at VI-grade stated, “Today’s students are tomorrow’s engineers, and we’re excited to support them on their journey and introduce them to our cutting-edge software products, used by leading OEMs, suppliers and motorsport teams. This is a great opportunity for students to boost their teams’ R&D processes and improve their performance in Formula Student / FSAE races, while gaining in-depth knowledge of our state-of-the-art simulation tools that they can leverage in their future careers in the automotive and motorsport industry.”
A current user, Khalil Mahjoub, team leader at Kaiserslautern Racing Team (KaRaT e.v) said of the systems, “What VI-grade did for us the last two seasons was just phenomenal. The software is extremely user-friendly, which means everyone in our department can easily learn how to use it. In addition to that, it has the potential to go into specifics to answer various questions and help us to achieve our goals. We are also using VI-grade software to help us simulate the vehicle behaviour of our autonomous racecar. We are still exploring the capabilities of this software and really want to thank VI-grade for the huge support.”
VI-grade representatives will attend the main Formula Student Germany event, to be held on 15-21 August in Hockenheim, and will be available to provide additional information and to answer students’ questions about the sponsorship programme.
In order apply for a VI-grade software sponsoring, interested teams should fill out the registration form here: https://www.vi-grade.com/en/about/sponsorship_program/
