Monash Motorsport and using Foxglove to develop autonomous concepts.
Formula Student, the world’s largest engineering competition, has been a cornerstone for innovation and skill development for the student-run team Monash Motorsport over the past 25 years. Competing at the highest level, the team has embraced the challenges and opportunities the competition offers, pushing the boundaries of engineering excellence and innovation.
The team started with a combustion engine design, but as technology and innovation advanced, so did their concepts. In 2018, they debuted their first electric vehicle (EV) race car at the Australasia competition. Around the same time, they embarked on developing Australia’s very first autonomous racing concept, marking a significant milestone in their journey of engineering excellence.
Following two successful Driverless demonstrations at the Australasia competition in 2022 and 2023, Monash Motorsport set their sights on a new challenge: their first European campaign in six years. This time, they aimed to compete not only in the EV category but also to showcase their fully integrated autonomous system on a global stage, participating in the two largest Driverless competitions worldwide.
Monash Motorsport’s autonomous car may not have been the fastest, competing against some of the most impressive Formula Student teams in Europe. However, the team was immensely proud to see their car complete every event at FS Germany and achieve impressive 6th and 7th place finishes in the Driverless categories in Hungary and Germany, respectively. Foxglove played a crucial role throughout their European campaign, offering the ideal software for live telemetry during both testing sessions and competitions, ensuring the team could fine-tune and optimize their performance.
In 2023, Monash Motorsport undertook a transformative shift from operating two separate vehicles—one driven and one autonomous—to a single, integrated race car. This milestone included designing an advanced electrical loom capable of powering both driven and autonomous functionalities, alongside a vehicle controller that seamlessly manages torque and speed for both systems.
Critical to the car’s driverless capabilities was the integration of lidar technology to “see” the track by detecting cone locations. Combined with multiple sensors, this data enabled the team to generate a detailed map of the track. Using this map, the car calculated the optimal path, simulating the necessary steering angles and velocity requests to navigate the course autonomously. A safety-critical monitoring system supported these features, continuously checking the car’s heartbeats to ensure all systems and pressures were functioning as expected. These innovations marked a significant step forward in the team’s ability to compete at the highest levels of both driverless and driven categories.
In preparation for Monash Motorsport’s 2024 European Campaign, the team conducted rigorous testing sessions of their driverless vehicle two to three times per week. During these sessions, it was essential to monitor the car’s progress around the track and analyze critical telemetry data. Foxglove software became an indispensable tool, offering unparalleled data monitoring capabilities for their Formula Student autonomous race car.
At every session, the team’s autonomous engineers utilized Foxglove’s WebSocket to connect to a live, ready-to-use workspace. This setup allowed real-time observation of the car’s data streams and visualized the seamless interaction between algorithms such as perception, SLAM, and pathfinding. The software also supported specific metrics and booleans directly tied to the car’s motion. Foxglove’s flexibility enabled engineers to remotely track live data, identify discrepancies between expected and actual outcomes, and quickly address issues. This real-time insight significantly improved turnaround times for tuning and debugging, ensuring optimal performance during testing.
"A standout feature of Foxglove software is its support for multiple simultaneous users, offering the flexibility of both shared and distinct layouts across devices," said the Monash team. This capability eliminates the need for software engineers to huddle around a single monitor, fostering greater freedom and efficiency during each testing session.
During competitions, Foxglove’s WebSocket proves indispensable for the car’s participation in driverless events. The tools provided by Foxglove enable team members to fully understand what the race car is perceiving and how it is behaving in real time. This insight is not only critical for optimizing performance but also ensures compliance with stringent safety regulations, making Foxglove an essential asset for Monash Motorsport’s driverless program.
Analysis, debugging, and tuning play a crucial role in the development of driverless race cars. During testing sessions, the team meticulously records all data generated by the race car as ROS bag files. Post-session, Foxglove becomes an invaluable tool for data analysis. It allows the team to replay ROS bags as if they were observing live data, providing options to adjust playback speed and examine data streams that may not have been visualized during the session. This capability ensures thorough evaluation, helps identify areas for improvement, and supports efficient tuning and debugging, driving the car’s performance to new heights.
Foxglove enables advanced 3D data visualization, showcasing critical elements such as Monash Motorsport’s lidar point cloud and car position, while simultaneously overlaying information about path planning and motion control in a unified view. These tools significantly enhance the debugging process by making it more intuitive and efficient, allowing engineers to identify issues faster. Additionally, Foxglove simplifies post-analysis, streamlining the evaluation of testing data and enabling teams to make informed improvements with greater ease.
After showcasing their Driverless capabilities at the 2024 FSAE-Australasia competition in Melbourne this December, Monash Motorsport will advance their Autonomous race car concept. In the coming year, they will focus on designing and building their next integrated Driven and Driverless vehicle, M25, with plans to return to Europe’s largest Formula Student competitions in 2026.
Monash Motorsport extends heartfelt thanks to Foxglove for their invaluable support throughout this year and looks forward to continuing their collaboration in developing their next-generation Autonomous race car. Stay tuned for updates as the team strives to reach the pinnacle of the Formula Student Driverless competition.
