As baja is trying to rig their car to run for the first time and using industrial shielded electrical wire as a throttle cable:

FSAE Lead Engineer: "Its throttle by wire!"

quote:

Originally posted by AxelRipper:
As baja is trying to rig their car to run for the first time and using industrial shielded electrical wire as a throttle cable:

FSAE Lead Engineer: "Its throttle by wire!"

i started laughing, then i realised our dyno uses a piece of shielded wire for a throttle cable

quote:

Originally posted by AxelRipper:
As baja is trying to rig their car to run for the first time and using industrial shielded electrical wire as a throttle cable:

FSAE Lead Engineer: "Its throttle by wire!"

This forum needs an "I like" button!

Guy1: A quarter inch is bigger than an eight inch!
Guy2: Well.... yes.
-overhead at MIS

This one has become a favorite on our team for describing why something won't work. "Just look at it"

'We need to tolerance some bolt heads'
'Respect the Metabo!'
'Our Torsen is now a spool'

Me: 'no, you're turning that the wrong way, you're going to strip the thread in the block'
Newbie: turns ratchet 180 degrees and tightens some more...

Said at 3am: 'lock the gate, let's do a shakedown...'

While dyno-ing: 'shit, less vanes, less vanes!'

Lambda competition written on the dyno wall:
0.9 @ 225kPa
0.94 @ 239kPa
0.92 @ 245kPa
1.01 @ 262kPa

In the computer lab talking to some senior design students who weren't sure how to make some sheet metal brackets.

Me: ...Then you could just go cut that sheet metal with a plasma cutter

Senior: Whats a plasma cutter?

Me: *face palm*

Is it bad that my phone suggests the word "monocoque" before "monday" or "mom"?

with regards to mounting the spool on the back of the chassis for the new car,

"it'll look sick as aids guys, just like the car has sweet dags hanging off the back."

quote:

Originally posted by Nick Renold:
Design Judge: So you are presenting the chassis and suspension?

Me: Yes

Other Design Judge: Who designed the drivetrain?

Me: I did

Other Design Judge: Did anyone else work on the car?

So this hits home right now. So far I've done the suspension, steering, braking, and now I'm working on the spindles, hubs, and uprights.

I thought I was the only one who had a similar story to this ^^

quote:

Originally posted by Joe17:
I thought I was the only one who had a similar story to this ^^

Nope, been there done that...

quote:

Originally posted by wagemd:

quote:

Originally posted by Joe17:
I thought I was the only one who had a similar story to this ^^

Nope, been there done that...

Too bad the judges are COMPLETELY unimpressed by this. It just pisses them off because they have to wait in line to talk to people (or get fed up and leave and never come back to talk), then complain about how small your team is. There is no "well this is pretty impressive considering your team size."

Not from the shop, but from a recent campus event where we had the car on display...

Me: it does 0-60 in about 3.5 seconds
Sorority girl: Wow that's faster than my Lexus.

quote:

Originally posted by ZAMR:

quote:

Originally posted by wagemd:

quote:

Originally posted by Joe17:
I thought I was the only one who had a similar story to this ^^

Nope, been there done that...

Too bad the judges are COMPLETELY unimpressed by this. It just pisses them off because they have to wait in line to talk to people (or get fed up and leave and never come back to talk), then complain about how small your team is. There is no "well this is pretty impressive considering your team size."

This is probably not the only reason, why the judges do not like it. It shows a lot of personal effort and addiction, but it also may show that the team was not able to organize or recruit team members or that the core team was not able to properly delegate tasks to new team members to keep them in the team. Therefore it may be judged as a big down side in team organization.
Furthermore it means of course that less information can be transfered to the judges during the design event, because there is only one source for 3 judges for example. This can only end in less points being assigned.

I have also once been in a similar situation telling the judges that I did everything on my own in the electronics section which lend to appreciation, but not more points, because the documentation was not well prepared and not all features were implemented, because I was just one person and time ran away. This is usually the case, if one does "everything".

Regards,

Tobias

This message has been edited. Last edited by: TMichaels,

quote:

Originally posted by TMichaels:

quote:

Originally posted by ZAMR:

quote:

Originally posted by wagemd:

quote:

Originally posted by Joe17:
I thought I was the only one who had a similar story to this ^^

Nope, been there done that...

Too bad the judges are COMPLETELY unimpressed by this. It just pisses them off because they have to wait in line to talk to people (or get fed up and leave and never come back to talk), then complain about how small your team is. There is no "well this is pretty impressive considering your team size."

This is probably not the only reason, why the judges do not like it. It shows a lot of personal effort and addiction, but it also may show that the team was not able to organize or recruit team members or that the core team was not able to properly delegate tasks to new team members to keep them in the team. Therefore it may be judged as a big down side in team organization.
Furthermore it means of course that less information can be transfered to the judges during the design event, because there is only one source for 3 judges for example. This can only end in less points being assigned.

I have also once been in a similar situation telling the judges that I did everything on my own in the electronics section which lend to appreciation, but not more points, because the documentation was not well prepared and not all features were implemented, because I was just one person and time ran away. This is usually the case, if one does "everything".

Regards,

Tobias

I would agree with this except that it requires the judges to make a lot of assumptions without asking you about it (happens very frequently in the design event). Sometimes this is because they know better than you and can see an obvious flaw in your car, which is fine. But when it comes to something like team size, instead of asking you about it (How large is your engineering school? How many members did you recruit this year?) they make an assumption and assume they know best.

We actually did fantastic in recruitment this year and found us a top notch team that will climb the ranks again in a few years. The problem is when you're trying to get to design finals, letting a freshman talk is a risky thing to do. For one, they didn't design the systems so why should we act like they did? Freshmen also like to answer questions they don't really know the answer to.

Unfortunately judges at FSAE are either the smug ones who like to show off or the kind, helpful ones who genuinely care about the students and making sure they learn. You can tell the difference because the smug ones don't ask you the questions that help you build a better race car next year. They make assumptions and judge you silently.

My opinions are not associated with my old team or my university.

Upon discovering this awesome link:

The same crazy math that brought you Wankel rotaries and allows you to drill square holes, even on a lathe

Me: We need to incorporate Reauleaux triangles into the design of the hubs and wheels to allow a hyper-innovative square wheel that follows a circular path.

Kyle: The design judges would know it's terrible, but would have no choice but to give us innovation points.

Me: Great, if nothing else you would be guaranteed at least 3 points at competition!

Team Member #1; So what happened to the engine? Why did it blow up?

Team Member #2: Because racecar.

Team Member #1: What does that even mean?

Team Member #2: Exactly.

"the best way to cut down the weight of the car is to put the driver on a diet"

Not from the shop, but we get this all the time it feels like.

"What is FSAE? Is that a frat?"

It certainly starts to feel like that after a while.