20076616(JSAE)

2007-32-0116(SAE)

Simplification of the Shift/Clutch Operations for

the Formula SAE Vehicles
(1) (1) (1) (2)
Hiroshi ENOMOTO, Hironari MORITA, Yousuke FUKUNAGA and Naoki UOTA

(1) (2)
Kanazawa university and KADO corporation

Copyright © 2007 Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan, Inc. and Copyright © 2007 SAE International

The simplified shift/clutch operation system, KF-TOS-P, was driven by DC motors (DC12V driven) with
a microprocessor. Two rotary sensors detected the positions of the shift lever and the clutch lever. In
FSAE rules, the simple throttle-by-wire is prohibited and the engine speed was controlled by the drivers.
The custom steering wheel, KF-SW07 as the human machine interface, was designed and manufactured
with CFRP by VaRTM (Vacuum assisted Resin Transfer Modeling) method. The shift operation time of
KF-TOS-P was half of the manual operation and the clutch engagement time of that was 25msec.
KF-SW07 was 22.6% weight and 16.7% cost (calculated by FSAE rules) of the commercial steering
wheel of the race use.

Keywords Electric equipment, Steering Wheel, Shift/Clutch operations, Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic

1. INTRODUCTION trade-off parameters, light weight, easy-maintenance,

Many FSAE cars use super-sport bike engines that
have built-in manual transmissions. The drivers release the
hand from the steering wheel when they control these
transmissions. In FSAE rules, the students should be drivers
and it is difficult to find well-trained students or to train them in
circuits in Japan. Such amateur drivers cannot control well
these hand-release transmission. As the FSAE car is a racing
car, these transmission operating systems should satisfy many
easy-processing, tough-enough, low cost and so on. The related
FSAE rules [1] are “3.5.1.3 Transmission and Drive”, “3.5.4.2
Throttle Actuation”. The “3.5.1.3 Transmission and Drive” rule
say that we can use any transmission and any drive train. The
“3.5.4.2 Throttle Actuation” rule say that we must use only
mechanical throttle actuation system such as a cable and a rod
system.
The steering wheel is used as the human machine
interface for the transmission control. The interface of the

This distance must be

no more than 250mm.
Steering
Front roll hoop wheel

Front roll hoop

no lower than top
of the steering wheel.

Figure 2 The commercial steering wheel

Figure 1 Schematic of the steering wheel and for KF2003 – KF2006.
the shift/crutch handle for KF2006. Weight: 473g

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transmission control has two buttons for the up shift and for the
down shift. The drivers could grasp the steering wheel with
both hands during the races with the interfaces. The steering
wheel shape and the location are defined in FSAE rules as
“3.4.6.1 Circular Shape Required”, “3.3.4.3 Front Hoop”. The
“3.4.6.1 Circular Shape Required” rule say that we must use
steering wheel that have a continuous perimeter that is near
circular or near oval. The steering wheels that have “H”,
“Figure 9”, or cutout shape are not allowed. The “3.3.4.3 Front
Hoop” rule determines the position relations of the steering
wheel and front roll hoop.
Figure 1 shows the schematic of these rules. The
commercial steering wheel in Fig. 2 was used until 2006. The
weight was 470g. It was difficult to process it to mount
switches on.
In this paper, the transmission control to simplify the
operation was described. The system included the custom
steering wheel, KF-SW07.
2. METHOD
2. 1 Transmission operating
A light-weight, small-size and high-quality
transmission should be mounted on the FSAE racing car and
many teams use the super-sports bike built-in transmissions.
However, the drivers should control these transmissions
manually shown in Table 1(a). For such amateur drivers or the
weekend racers defined in FSAE rules, the quick and accurate
operations are not easy because large acceleration occurs in
accelerating, decelerating and cornering.
From these facts, Kanazawa University Formula
R&D used CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission)
transmission to eliminate the hardness for KF2003, the first
FSAE car that participated in the first FSAE Japan competition
held in 2003. Our Kanazawa formula racing team has given the
model code as KFxxxx to the successively developed racing
vehicles. The four digit number xxxx signifies the year in
which the team joined the race with those vehicles. For
example, for the first participated year of 2003, the racing car is
named as KF2003 and in the successive years the cars are named
in the same manner. The CVT, built in the inline 2 cylinders
600cc engine which is commercially used for the scooter, was a
little heavy and large and used dry belt. The dry belt could not
transmit the high torque immediately and the disadvantages were
not small in FSAE circuit events because the circuit had many
tight corners and short straights.
After deepest reflection, KF2004, developed in 2004,
had the inline 4 cylinders 600cc engine for the competitive
motorcycle use. The built-in transmission needed a manual
operation that was usual in FSAE competitions. As the foot
pedal controlled the clutch, KF2004 had three pedals and the
left-hand lever to operate the shift. The shift/clutch operation
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was almost same of the commercial car and was not difficult for
these amateur drivers. However, the three-pedal interface was
not good for the quick and accurate operation. The narrow
spaces between the pedals caused mistakes to step not-intentional
one or two pedals at once.
The KF2005, that won 2005 FSAE Japan
competition, used two-pedal system. The hand levers operated
the shift/clutch in Fig. 3. The pull motion worked as the
up-shift operation and the push motion worked as the down-shift
one. In the push motion, the two levers moved sequentially and
the clutch was released. The two feet were devoted to a single
operation. Though the each operation was simplified in
comparison with KF2004, drivers should have some practice to
operate them smoothly.
2. 2 Semi-automatic transmission operating system
Mechanical systems with links and wires were used
to operate the manual transmissions. These systems should be
allocated in a narrow space and the drivers should release the left
hand from the steering wheel in the operation. It often caused
miss-steering operations. KF-TOS-P, semi-automatic
Transmission Operating System, was developed to simplify the
operating and aimed to help the drivers. Switches mounted
around the KF-SW07 controlled the shift/clutch with DC motors
and the drivers did not release the hands for the operations.
Table 1(b) shows the outline of the KF-TOS-P sequence.
FSAE rules prohibit the throttle-by-wire. However,
the most efficient device to control the engine speed is the
electrical-controlled throttle. Though we can use the
electrical-controlled throttle if the mechanical one is mounted
together, KF-TOS-P gave up it in considering the cost, weight
Front hoop Steering shaft Steering wheel
Up
Down
Shift lever Clutch lever
Shift wire Clutch wire
Figure 3 The cockpit layout of KF2005.
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Table 1 Outline of the shift sequence.

(a) Manual sequence (b) Full-automatic sequence

Up Down Up Down
The accelerator kept pressed The accelerator kept released
The micro computer read tachometer
Reading tachometer
The engine speed is The engine speed is
over the threshold. below the threshold.

Disengage the clutch Disengage the clutch

Release the accelerator by hand Decreasing the engine speed by an actuator

Press the accelerator Increasing the engine speed

Up-shift by hand Down-shift by hand
Down-shift by DC motor
Release the accelerator
Up-shift by DC motor
Press the accelerator Engage the clutch Engage the clutch
by hand by an actuator

and the air-intake efficiency. The throttle operating by drivers
controlled the engine speeds in shift operations.
The engine and transmission for KF2004 and
KF2005 uses a dog clutch. Though the drivers easily operate
the up-shift operation with the dog clutch, the engagement
time-lags and the engagement impacts in the down-shift
operation stressed the drivers. A DC motor with PWM (Pulse
Width Modulation) was used to control the partial clutch
engagement in the down-shift operation.
The manual up shift operation time was measured by
throttle position sensor. The manual up shift operation time is
time of an interval to release the accelerator. KF-TOS-P had
rotary sensors and the operation times of the shift/clutch were
measured with output of the sensor. The data logger (2kHz in
sampling rate) was used.
2. 3 Dimensions of hand
The custom steering wheel, KF-SW07, shape should
satisfy many requirements in section 2.4 and the hand
specifications were measured. Members of 20 men, from 18 to
25 years old, cooperated with us. In many cases, middle, third
and little fingers have an important role to grip. On the other
hand, thumb works well to push switches. The thickness of the
hand should be known to allocate the equipments or the
instruments to be recognized easily. Five parameters were
measured as shown in Fig. 4.
• Length of the hand (Lhand)
• Thickness of the hand (thand)
• Length of thumb (Lthumb)
• Length of little finger (Llittle)
• Length of middle finger (Lmid)

2. 4 Requirement to KF-SW07
The custom steering wheel, KF-SW07, was designed
to satisfy the following requirements. These requirements were
Lmid based on the commercial steering wheel.
Req. 1. Tough enough.
Lhand Req. 2. More than three button switches, that have 10mm in
Llittle diameter and 10mm in thickness, should be mounted.
Req. 3. Fine grip feeling.
Req. 4. The rim or the drivers’ hands will never touch the
drivers’ knee during lock-to-lock operation.
Lthumb Req. 5. Easy manufacturing.
Req. 6. Light weight.
Req. 7. Impressible.
thand Req. 8. Low cost (if possible).
The main parts of KF-SW07 are rim, hub and spoke.
CFRP was used to satisfy Req. 1, 2 and 6. Four prototypes in
Fig. 5 were manufactured with hard paper and were evaluated
Figure 4 Definition of the hand dimensions. with a sensory evaluation.
(Left hand was used.) As the steering wheel is a rotating part, the CFRP

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Case A Case B

Case C Case D

Figure 5 Test pieces of the steering wheel.

(unit: mm, manufactured with hard paper)
Designed by Toshitsugu Hirose and Satoshi Kitayama

forming of KF-SW07 needs a high quality base. The VaRTM rack-and-pinion but not the power assisted system with a
(Vacuum assisted Resin Transfer Modeling) method was used for hydraulic actuator/an electric actuator. The assisted systems
the CFRP forming. The manufacturing cost was more than will allow the drivers the easy one-hand operation of the steering.
thousands dollars with a normal. However, the following two reasons hindered to use the assisted
systems. The first reason is that a power assisted steering
2. 5 The evils of one-hand operation system has heavyweight. The race cars should be lightweight
The steering system of KF2006 adopted a to improve driving performance and such heavyweight parts

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Table 2 Joint angle in a comfortable driving position. Table 3 Time sequence of clutch operation with KF-TOS-P.

Joint Angle [degree] Time [msec]

a1 10 - 30 Start the clutch release
0
a2 85 - 100 (without PWM)
a3 100 - 120 236 Beginning of the clutch release
a4 85 - 95 480 Almost released
a5 80 - 90 500 Finish the clutch release
a6 6 - 50 Keep the clutch release
Start of the clutch engagement
0 1844
(with PWM control)
Beginning of the clutch engagement
1062 2906
(a partial engagement)
1087 2931 Finish of the clutch engagement

Table 4 Dimensions of hand.

Lhand thand Lthumb Llittle Lmid

Average [mm] 183.6 29.1 59.9 61.5 84.2
Stand. Dev. [mm] 11.3 3.3 5.3 5.4 11.1
S.D./Avg. [%] 6.2 11.3 8.8 8.8 13.2
Maximum [mm] 210 35 70 75 110
Minimum [mm] 171 23 52 50 51
Figure 6 Driving position.
adjustable. These layouts and the adjustable systems made the
drivers possible to keep comfortable driving positions without
deg. -35.9 d changing their postures. In the CAD model, the height of the
+35.9 eg.
driver reproduced 5th percentile and 90th percentile of the adult
Japanese males, and the cockpit supports the most of the adult
Japanese males. This design method was quoted by references
[3].
The difference between "one-hand operation" and
"two-hand operation" were evaluated with the following static
steering test. The drivers rotate the steering wheel to the right
and left target rotation angle, 35.9 deg. shown in Fig.7 on the
standing vehicle as fast as possible in the duration. The output
of the steering angle sensor was measured with a data logger
(100Hz in sampling rate). The target rotation angle assumes the
slalom run in the FSAE course.
Figure 7 The target rotation angle
could not be used. The second reason is that a position of the
3. RESULTS
steering system is far from the center of gravity position of the
vehicle and the inertia moment will be increased with the heavy
3. 1 Shift/clutch operation
system. The increased inertia moment will decrease the speed
The manual up shift operation time was 210msec. (7
in turn.
frames) and that of KF-TOS-P was 110msec., about half of the
KF2006 adopts the cockpit in which the most of the
manual operation. The DC motor speed was controlled by the
adult Japanese males can operate in a comfortable driving
current. There was room to increase the current and the
position. The joint angle such as Tab.2 in a comfortable driving
operation time could be adjusted to the driving condition.
position was quoted from the references [2] and was evaluated
The time history of the clutch operation with 0.5 duty
with a sensory evaluation. The subjects were five adult males
ratio PWM was shown in Table 3.
who had driven KF2005 or KF2006 and knew driving
The clutch release time was defined by the DC motor
environment well. As a result of the sensory evaluation, drivers
power. The time for PWM preparation, 1344msec, was caused
could operate comfortably at each joint angle shown in Tab.2 and
by the light microprocessor. A high-speed processor will make
the driving position was as figure 6. The seat, the steering
the time short. The partial clutch engagement was realized after
wheel and the pedals were arranged to satisfy the angles in Tab.2.
1062msec from the start of the clutch engagement.
The angle of the steering wheel shaft and the pedal position were

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Knot of thumb

Longest thumb
100 Averaged thumb
Shortest thumb

80
Thickness [mm]

Center
of the wheel

60

40

Shift switch

20 Figure 9 Shift switch layout.

fine-griped when the little finger touched the half of the
170 180 190 200 210 circumference. As the shortest little finger was 50mm in Table
Length of hand [mm] 4, the circumstance of the KF-SW07 rim should be less than
(a) Thickness vs. length of hand. 100mm and the diameter of it was 25mm (78.5mm in
circumstance) considering the manufacturing.
The length of middle finger was the largest and
100 increased with the length of hand increase. The switches will
be allocated three methods, 1) tact switches on the steering wheel,
2) tact switches behind the steering wheel and 2) paddle switches
around the steering shaft. The method 1 will operated with
80
thumb. The methods 2 and 3 will operated with the forefinger
Length [mm]

60
40
thumb
little
20 middle
170 180 190 200
Length of hand [mm]
(b) Length of fingers vs. that of hand.
Figure 8 Relations between the hand specifications.
3. 2 Dimension of hand
Though Fig. 8(a) shows that the thickness slightly
decreases with the length of hand increase, the dependence is
small enough to be ignored. The outer diameter of the
commercial steering wheel satisfied the Req. 4 and the maximum
outer diameter was the same.
Figure 8(b) shows that the length of little finger was
almost same of that of thumb and the middle finger was the
longest. In order to grip well, the tip of the little finger should
be the opposite side of the palm with the steering wheel rim
between. The subjects measured these dimensions griped the
pipes of various diameters with the little finger and felt
or the middle finger. As the rudder angle of the FSAE car is not
small, the drivers should control the wheel with large torque and
should grip the rim tightly with three fingers, middle, third and
little. As the result, the method 1 was used and the tack
switches for the shift control were pushed with thumbs.
3. 3 Sensory evaluation of grip
The case A in Figure 5 had good grip feel compared
with the commercial one because of the spoke layout. However,
thumb could not be stable and some drivers felt unease for slips.
210 The case B in Figure 5 had the stable point for thumb
and the unease feeling was decreased. However, the stiffness
and the space for switch layout were not enough.
While the case C in Figure 5 a little bulge put the
drivers at ease, the processing of the base was difficult and
costed much.
The case D in Figure 5 had larger space for switches
and decreased the cost of NC machined processing. The bulge
such as rim of the case C will set with post processing. The
bulge put the drivers at ease like the case C.
3. 3 Switch layout
Figure 9 shows the tack switch layout. As most
drivers set the center of hand on the centerline of the wheel, the
thumb knot could be defined. The switches are allocated as the
belly of thumb will touch even if the longest or the shortest had
used it. This layout allows the drivers the two-hand operation.

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3. 4 Effect of the two-hand operation
45
Figure 10 shows the value of the steering angle two-hand
sensor in the Static steering test written in 2.5. Plus (+) is one-hand
anticlockwise and minus (-) is clockwise. The angle resolution
was 0.0288 degrees. The difference between steering angle

Steering angle [degree]

vertex and the target angle was compared. The averaged 40
difference of "two-hand operation" was 2.3297 degrees and that
of "one-hand operation" was 3.1210 degrees. This shows that
"two-hand operation" has more accurate than "one-hand
operation".
35.9
The test duration was 14 seconds and "two-hand 35
operation" could steer 38 times. On the other hand, "one-hand
operation" could steer only 36 times. This shows that
"two-hand operation" is faster than "one-hand operation".
These results show that "two-hand operation" surpass
"one-hand operation" at the accuracy and the speed of the 30
steering. 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Time [sec]
(a) Anticlockwise
4. DISCUSSION

4. 1 KF-TOS-P -30
The shift operation time was short enough because
the up shift operation time by DC motor was shorter than the up
shift operation time by hand. On the other hand, the clutch
Steering angle [degree]

engagement time was too long to mount on KF series. In this

-35
experiment, as the definition of the clutch release was detected
by the end of the rotation, the partial engagement could not be -35.9
controlled. The disengagement time, 250msec, was enough to
develop the future seamless engagement. The adjustment of the
actuator for clutch control is important.
-40

4. 2 KF-SW07
The case D, adopted design, was 22.6% weight and
two-hand
16.7% cost of the commercial one and satisfied the Req. 6 and 8.
one-hand
The thickness of KF-SW07 CFRP of 0.5mm contributed the
-45
weight and cost reduction. Few FSAE team in the world could 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
design and manufacture the whole CFRP steering wheel and the
Time [sec]
Req. 7 was satisfied.
(b) Clockwise
While the steering action was smooth, the switch
action made some stress for some drivers because the thumb Figure 10 Static steering test.
should rise over the hub. Though the thumb works well beside
the forefinger, some stress occurs on the thumb knot if the thumb 5. CONCLUSION
moves far from the forefinger.
To grip tight, it is better that the thumb works with The CFRP steering wheel with switches allocated in
the third and lithe fingers. Therefore, it is desirable that the the center of the wheel to allow the two-hand operation,
switches operate by the forefinger or the middle finger. The KF-SW07, was developed to improve the human-machine
paddle switch or the tack switch allocated behind the steering interface of the electrical shift/clutch operation system,
wheel should be considered. KF-TOS-P. Sensory evaluations were used to evaluate grip of
KF-SW07 and the difference between "one-hand operation" and
"two-hand operation".

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1) KF-SW07 had good grip feel and much space to mount
instruments and switches.
2) KF-TOS-P had an advantage over the manual operation
system on the past KF series in the shift operation time
and the clutch engagement time.
3) In FSAE vehicle, which could not have power steering
system, the two-hand operation surpassed the one-hand
operation at the operation speed by 5.3 % and the
accuracy by 25.4 %.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

As the operation cost includes the base processing in

FSAE cost calculation, KF-SW07 was not expensive in spite of
CFRP forming. However, the real cost is hundreds times of the
cost. KF-SW07 could not come true without the supports of
KADO Corporation and KINOSHITA SEISAKUSYO
technically and financially.
The authors gratefully acknowledge many of our
colleagues who hove contributed to this work especially Mr.
Noboru Hieda, research assistant of Kanazawa University
Mechanical Systems Engineering, and the Kanazawa University
Formula R&D team and Kanazawa University Administration.
We wish to thank YAMAHA MOTOR to have sustained the
presented work through many both parts and technical
suggestions.

REFERENCES

[1] 2007 FORMULA SAE RULES, Society of Automotive

Engineers, Inc., 2006
[2] F. Picard, A. Wisner: “How can the physiologist contribute
to the improvement of automobile seats”, SAE Technical
Papers 610176, 1961
[3] Kanazawa univ. Formula R&D Technical Report 2006,
Kanazawa univ. Formula R&D, 2006

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