FS Czech Competition Blog
Short summary
A week packed with highs, lows, and a lot of learning!
We started strong, making steady progress through mechanical and battery scrutineering on day one. Spirits were high when we passed both, but electrical scrutineering proved to be a longer battle. We cleared low voltage without trouble, but high voltage took more work. Just when things were looking up, DV scrutineering hit us with a major setback: the EBS buttons were outside the allowed surface envelope. Fixing it on-site would have meant redoing mechanical scrutineering and risking our manual driving eligibility, so after some tough discussions, we made the call to withdraw from the driverless category — a painful decision for the whole team.
From there, we focused all our energy on manual events. We passed the manual brake test (and a slightly stubborn noise test), hit the track for testing, and got the car ready for the dynamics. Engineering Design and Business Plan presentations went well — even earning applause from the jury — before we moved on to acceleration and skidpad. Lander and Lucan each took the wheel, posting strong times and giving us valuable data for setup tweaks.
Autocross brought both drama and redemption: Tiësto set a solid baseline, Natanael had a spin on his first run but came back with a blistering second run that lifted the team’s spirits. Then came the big one — endurance. With the car prepped and nerves high, we completed the event cleanly, passed post-scrutineering, and locked in a valid run.
The cherry on top came at the award ceremony, where we took second place in the Techsoft Simulation Award. We closed out the competition the best way we know how: with a party, tired but proud of what we achieved.
Scruti Status
Mech Scruti
PASSED
Battery Scruti
PASSED
Elec Scruti
DV SCRUTI NOT PASSED
Rain Test
PASSED
Tilt Test
PASSED
Brake Test
Manual
PASSED
EBS (Driverless)
WILL NOT BE DONE
Thursday 31/07
16:32 – Truck arrives
16:35 – Start loading the truck
18:23 – Truck loaded and leaves to Czech!
Summary
Nothing too crazy, just loading the truck 🙂
Sunday 03/08
7:00 – Meet and leave for FS Czech!
12:23 – Lunch break
18:34 – Arrive, setup the tents and pits
19:02 – ESO & ASR registration
20:25 – Dinner
21:42 – Team briefing and chill
Summary
Long day of driving. We setup everything and get ready for the competition
Monday 04/08
07:00 – Wake up and breakfast
08:01 – Get to the pits and start working
09:24 – Driver registration
10:32 – Battery Scruti started
10:39 – Mech Scruti started
11:59 – Back from Mech Scruti. 2 minor fixes that need to be done
12:02 – Lunch
14:41 – Going back to Mech Scruti
14:48 – Back from Battery Scruti. Did not pass everything yet, we’re applying for a new scruti slot
15:24 – Passed Mech Scruti!
16:39 – Passed Battery Scruti!
18:10 – Dinner
18:32 – Going to Elec Scruti
20:04 – Back from Elec Scruti. Couldn’t finish low voltage, some fixes needed
21:52 – Team Briefing and chill
Summary
The team spent the day progressing through multiple scrutineering stages. Mechanical checks were passed in the afternoon, followed by success in battery checks. Electrical scrutineering started late in the day but wasn’t fully completed, with some fixes still pending. The day ended with a team briefing and downtime.
Tuesday 05/08
07:00 – Wake up and breakfast
08:01 – Get to the pits and start working
08:05 – ASR Briefing
08:30 – Elec Scruti
11:06 – Low Voltage Scruti passed!
11:26 – Back to Elec Scruti
12:01 – Lunch
12:50 – Passed Elec Scruti!
13:20 – Business Plan Presentation
13:50 – Back from Business Plan Presentation
16:44 – Going to DV Scruti
17:40 – Back from DV Scruti, EBS buttons are out of surface envelope. We can’t fix it here without having to do mech scruti again which gives a risk of not driving manual as well so the team voted to not drive driverless on this competition 🙁
18:00 – Dinner
19:39 – Tilt Test done
20:39 – Rain Test done
21:00 – Team Opening Ceremony
22:20 – Debrief & Flunky ball team selection
Summary
The day kicked off with electrical scrutineering, where we cleared both low and high voltage checks — a great boost to the team’s spirits. Our business plan presentation also went great! Then the mood shifted in the afternoon during DV scrutineering when we discovered the EBS buttons were out of the surface envelope. Fixing it would’ve meant redoing mechanical scrutineering and risking our manual driving eligibility, so after some tough discussion, we made the call to skip the driverless category this competition — a hard pill to swallow. We wrapped up the day with tilt and rain tests, joined the opening ceremony, and ended on a lighter note with some fun team activities.
Wednesday 06/08
07:00 – Wake up and breakfast
08:01 – Get to the pits and start working
08:05 – ASR & Driver briefing
09:00 – Cost & Manufacturing
11:30 – Going for manual brake test
11:55 – Manual brake test passed
11:58 – Noise test
12:00 – Lunch
12:02 – Buzzer only reached 65db (need 80db), going back to the pits to fix it
14:06 – Noise test passed!
14:43 – Going for a testdrive on test track
16:00 – Prepare ED
18:43 – Dinner
21:00 – Debrief
21:30 – Official Flunky ball tournament
Summary
We started the day with briefings and then headed straight into the Cost & Manufacturing event. By late morning, we aced the manual brake test, but the noise test threw us a curveball — our buzzer only hit 65 dB instead of the required 80 dB. After some quick pit work and a bit of team ingenuity, we passed the re-test in the afternoon. With that sorted, we hit the test track for a shakedown run and then prepped for the endurance event. The day closed with dinner, our debrief, and the highly anticipated official Flunky Ball tournament.
Thursday 07/08
07:00 – Wake up and breakfast
08:01 – Get to the pits and start working
08:05 – Driver & ASR briefing
09:00 – Engineering Design Presentation
10:10 – ED went well, now preparing the car for events this afternoon
12: 15 – Lunch
12:20 – Small testrun
14:07 – Acceleration first run Lander: 3.87 but too much power
14:26 – Acceleration second run Lander: 3.85 and valid!
15:35 – Skidpad 2 runs of Lander: best time of 5.31
16:07 – Skidpad 2 runs of Lucan: best time of 5.25
17:40 – Acceleration 2 runs of Lucan but no improvement
18:00 – Dinner
18:30 – ED Feedback
18:45 – Prepare car for tomorrow
21:01 – Debrief and chill
Summary
After the morning briefings, we kicked things off with our Engineering Design presentation, which went smoothly and left us feeling confident. The afternoon was all about track action — a quick test run, then onto acceleration where Lander clocked a 3.87 on the first run (too much power) and a valid 3.85 on the second. On skidpad, Lander’s best was 5.31, while Lucan shaved it down to 5.25. Lucan also took two acceleration runs later but couldn’t beat the earlier times. We wrapped the day with dinner, feedback from our ED session, and prepping the car for tomorrow before winding down with a relaxed debrief.
Friday 08/08
07:00 – Wake up and breakfast
08:01 – Get to the pits and do last fixes on the car
08:05 – Driver briefing
09:54 – Going to the test track to test setup for autocross
12:00 – Lunch
14:10 – AutoX first run Tiësto: 1:16:98
14:33 – AutoX second run Tiësto: 1:17:08 (Missed one corner)
16:02 – Going in queue for second driver run
17:11 – AutoX first run Natanael: 1:18.38 (Pronto Natanael: s🅱️innala)
17:20 – AutoX second run Natanael: 1:12.23
18:03 – Dinner
19:30 – Team photo
21:10 – Debrief & chill
Summary
We spent the morning making final tweaks to the car before heading to the test track to dial in the setup for autocross. In the afternoon, Tiësto kicked things off with a 1:16.98 on his first run and a slightly slower second after missing a corner. Natanael’s debut run included an unexpected spin, but he came back strong with a blazing 1:12.23. After dinner, we gathered for the team photo, then closed the day with a relaxed debrief and some well-earned chill time.
Saturday 09/08
07:00 – Wake up and breakfast
08:01 – Get to the pits and do last fixes on the car
08:05 – Driver briefing
08:45 – Prep car for endurance
12:11 – Lunch
14:33 – Start endurance
15:08 – Going to post-scruti
16:04 – Post-scruti is good, run is valid!
16:30 – Cleanup pits and start packing
19:32 – Dinner
20:04 – Debrief
21:45 – Award ceremony
22:55 – Get second place on “Techsoft Simulation Award”!
23:30 – Partyyy
Summary
The final day began with some last fixes and prep for the big event — endurance. After lunch, we hit the track at 14:33 and crossed the finish line with a valid run after a smooth post-scrutineering check. With the racing wrapped up, we cleaned the pits, packed up, and headed to the award ceremony, where we snagged second place in the Techsoft Simulation Award! Naturally, the night ended the way any competition should — with a well-earned party.
Sunday 10/08
07:00 – Wake up and breakfast
07:30 – Pack tents and load last stuff into the truck
09:33 – Leave campsite
12:12 – Lunch
21:31 – Arrive back at the office, unload Falcon and round up the competition
Summary
Cleaning up in the morning to then drive the whole day. Rounding up the competition and looking forward to the next one in 1 week!
