OSU students go off-road for competition
Thursday, May 29, 2008
A team from OSU’s College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology is one of 115
competing in Baja SAE Illinois 2008. The May 29-31 contest at Caterpillar’s Edwards
Demonstration facility near Peoria is one of three North American events in the Baja
SAE Series, a part of the Collegiate Design Series presented by SAE International.
The competition requires students to design and build an off-road vehicle to endure
the punishment of rough terrain and, sometimes, even water. With planning and manufacturing
tasks similar to introducing a new product to the consumer market, teams also compete
to have their design accepted for manufacture by a fictitious firm. Students not only
design, build, test, promote and race their vehicles, but also raise funds and are
responsible for all project management documentation.
Previous participation by OSU students in Baja competitions, including a sixth-place
finish out of 60 teams in Baja SAE Florida in 2007, has helped the 16 members of the
2008 OSU Baja Team anticipate the demands of the Illinois contest.
“We have an idea about the dynamic events and endurance events, but we aren’t certain
so, in the beginning, we try to come up with a design that’s going to be good all-around,”
said Jeremy Hayes, OSU Baja Team president and a mechanical engineering senior from
Bartlesville.
“Suspension, overall weight and weight distribution are important issues for traction
and handling performance, and so is ground clearance because we want enough to go
over rocks or anything they’ll put in our way, but not so much that it increases the
rollover risks,” Hayes said. “We have all these key factors that must be integrated
into the final design to make the car suitable for everything – rock crawl, acceleration,
maneuverability, hill climb, endurance.”
All vehicles in the contest must meet the same safety standards and technical specifications,
and are powered by 10-horsepower Intek Model 20 engines. For more than 25 years, Briggs
& Stratton’s donation of engines has allowed SAE to provide teams with engines free
of charge, and maintain a level competition field.
“SAE wants to see which team comes up with the design that best utilizes the amount
of power that we’re given,” Hayes said.
According to Hayes, OSU’s Baja vehicle is capable of high, low-end power because the
engine is married to a constantly variable transmission.
“For the first time in several years, one of the dynamic events is a hill climb so
we looked for a transmission and suspension set-up that will allow us to get up the
hill,” Hayes said. “We have no specifics on how steep it’s going to be, but based
on our testing, we expect our car to climb a slope at about 45 degrees, give or take
a little.”
The students enter the competition confident in the handling performance and toughness
of the vehicle they designed. Demonstrating no fears about either, the team eagerly
handed over the keys to a non-member when OSU President Burns Hargis recently toured
the CEAT Design Manufacturing Lab. In the unique facility, OSU engineering students
complement their educations with the hands-on experience of bringing to life their
own projects and concepts.
“We were a little nervous, but there really wasn’t much for him to get into out there
in the parking lot,” Hayes said. “Besides, we were happy to see President Hargis climb
right in when we were showing him the car, and we were really excited he actually
wanted to drive it.”
Participation in the competition this weekend by Hayes and 11 other OSU Baja Team
members is the culmination of an entire year’s work, according to faculty adviser
Camille DeYong, OSU associate professor of industrial engineering and management.
“They get a little advice from faculty, but the students design it, build it and do
everything themselves,” said DeYong, who accompanied the team to Illinois. “Zeeco
has been exceedingly generous and negated some of the pressure on them, but the students
do all the fundraising themselves, too.”
DeYong added, “And this project is not related to a class so they receive no course
credit. It’s an extracurricular activity they volunteer their time and work very hard
to get done, all for the experience.”
Previously known as the Society of Automotive Engineers, SAE International boasts
97,000 members and is the premier membership society dedicated to advancing mobility
engineering worldwide. SAE is a global technology information and standards-setting
resource for the design, manufacturing, operation and maintenance of automobiles,
aircraft, space vehicles, off-highway equipment, trucks, buses, trains, marine craft,
engines and self-propelled vehicles.
In addition to Baja SAE, the organization’s 2008 Collegiate Design Series includes
aerospace, clean snowmobile and supermileage design challenges and the Formula SAE
Series. A student team will represent OSU’s College of Engineering, Architecture and
Technology in Formula SAE West 2008 in Fontana, Calif., June 25-28.