SAE Mini-Baja Midwest Competition 2007

 

                                       Tri-State University Senior Design

 

Team Members

Grant Gastineau

Chris Rife

Jad Mashni

Will Grubbs

Michael Foster

SAE Baja is an international design competition hosted every year by the International Society of Automotive Engineers.  Each team entered in the competition will design and build a prototype of a rugged, single seat off-road vehicle that is intended to be sold to the non-professional, weekend off-road enthusiast.  Our design group has chosen to enter into the United States/Midwest competition, which will be held at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York.  The Midwest competition is similar to all other competitions throughout the world, in that there are two main criteria being judged about each vehicle.  The first major competition is the static competition in which each team presents a detailed report about their car and all the reasoning behind the engineering and costs involved.  The idea behind the static events is that each team is presenting their prototype to a prospective customer, who will choose a top design.   The second part is the dynamic or race competition.  This competition is divided into four (4) categories: acceleration, traction, maneuverability, and endurance.  The scoring of each event varies from year to year.

Final Frame Design and Geometry

Completed Upper and Lower Sub Frames

At this point in the semester, we have finished designing both our front and rear suspension.  Our rear suspension is of a trailing arm design with an overall travel of 6.5 inches, while our front suspension has the same amount of travel, utilizing inclined parallel A-arms.  We will be using coil over shocks in the front and rear with spring rates around 150 pounds per inch. 

Rear Swing Arm in Pro-E

Completed Front A-Arms

Completed Rear Swing Arm

Upper Front A-Arm in Pro-E