MICRO Baja Competition - SAE World Congress - 4/5/06

[Dan G]

Competition Info:
-------------------------------------------------------------
http://students.sae.org/competitions/microtruck/

Micro-Baja Vehicle Design Competition

April 5, 2006
Cobo Center, Detroit
SAE World Congress

The SAE Detroit Section extends an invitation to all SAE collegiate chapters to participate in the 19th Annual Micro-Baja Vehicle Design Competition. This event will be held in conjunction with the SAE 2006 World Congress, April 3-6, at the Cobo Center in Detroit, Michigan.

Competitors will modify a stock vehicle to traverse an all-terrain course. Two competition classes will be available - modified stock and unlimited.

The modified vehicle must excel in two areas of competition: performance and design. Performance is put to the test by a race against the clock on a tortuous all-terrain course that includes steep inclines, water trenches, sandpits and rock fields. The second equally weighted aspect is the design competition. Each entry will be judged by a panel for excellence in planning and execution of design.

A Corporate Challenge will be held following the student competition for practicing engineers. It is a great opportunity for our student engineers to interact with practicing engineers, through a hands-on event, to learn engineering principles, design concepts, problem solving and teamwork.

Schedule:
http://students.sae.org/competitions/microtruck/schedule.htm
April 3-4, 10am-5pm, Open Practice
April 5, Design Judging, Performance Races, Awards

This event is FREE to enter, and has $3700 in prize money awarded!

Complete Rules:
http://students.sae.org/competitions/microtruck/mtb-rules.pdf

Registration forms are due March 17th.
-------------------------------------------------------------

This is an outstanding entry-level event, and is a blast to participate in. This is the kind of project that you can put hundreds of hours and dollars into, or just toss something together at the last minute. The 3rd place truck in the unlimited class last year was purchased on ebay (70% rolling chassis) for $40, not even touched until the morning of competition, and then went on to set the fastest time of the day and win $300 in prize money. Stock class trucks can be purchased at a toy store or Radio Shack for $50, and with a few hours of work be ready for competition. But don't assume that putting hard work into the cars won't be rewarded, as the design portion of the competition weighs heavily in the final results (evidenced by that 3rd overall with the top finishing time). A truely well designed and executed car should be able to do very well in both portions of competition.

This competition is looking to gain a larger national (or international!) following, as the Detroit section is passing it on to the National office this year. The fact that it coincides with World Congress is a nice bonus. Over the past few years, these are the teams that have done well: UMich Dearborn, Detroit-Mercy, Carnegie Mellon, Ohio University, Lehigh, among others. If you are within a day's drive of Detroit, its really worth the trip.

Here are a few shots of the track...
http://evilallianceracing.com/ipw-web/gallery/albums/MicroBaja/101_0157_IMG.sized.jpg http://evilallianceracing.com/ipw-web/gallery/albums/MicroBaja/101_0160_IMG.sized.jpg http://evilallianceracing.com/ipw-web/gallery/albums/SAEMicro05/Competition_004.sized.jpg http://evilallianceracing.com/ipw-web/gallery/albums/SAEMicro05/Competition_011.sized.jpg

And a video of a practice lap:
http://evilallianceracing.com/ipw-web/gallery/albums/Micro/Franky1.wmv

Feel free to post up here with any questions or if you're planning on competiting.

[Dan G]

Competition Info:
-------------------------------------------------------------
http://students.sae.org/competitions/microtruck/
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Micro-Baja Vehicle Design Competition

April 5, 2006
Cobo Center, Detroit
SAE World Congress

The SAE Detroit Section extends an invitation to all SAE collegiate chapters to participate in the 19th Annual Micro-Baja Vehicle Design Competition. This event will be held in conjunction with the SAE 2006 World Congress, April 3-6, at the Cobo Center in Detroit, Michigan.

Competitors will modify a stock vehicle to traverse an all-terrain course. Two competition classes will be available - modified stock and unlimited.

The modified vehicle must excel in two areas of competition: performance and design. Performance is put to the test by a race against the clock on a tortuous all-terrain course that includes steep inclines, water trenches, sandpits and rock fields. The second equally weighted aspect is the design competition. Each entry will be judged by a panel for excellence in planning and execution of design.

A Corporate Challenge will be held following the student competition for practicing engineers. It is a great opportunity for our student engineers to interact with practicing engineers, through a hands-on event, to learn engineering principles, design concepts, problem solving and teamwork. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Schedule:
http://students.sae.org/competitions/microtruck/schedule.htm
April 3-4, 10am-5pm, Open Practice
April 5, Design Judging, Performance Races, Awards

This event is FREE to enter, and has $3700 in prize money awarded!

Complete Rules:
http://students.sae.org/competitions/microtruck/mtb-rules.pdf

Registration forms are due March 17th.
-------------------------------------------------------------

This is an outstanding entry-level event, and is a blast to participate in. This is the kind of project that you can put hundreds of hours and dollars into, or just toss something together at the last minute. The 3rd place truck in the unlimited class last year was purchased on ebay (70% rolling chassis) for $40, not even touched until the morning of competition, and then went on to set the fastest time of the day and win $300 in prize money. Stock class trucks can be purchased at a toy store or Radio Shack for $50, and with a few hours of work be ready for competition. But don't assume that putting hard work into the cars won't be rewarded, as the design portion of the competition weighs heavily in the final results (evidenced by that 3rd overall with the top finishing time). A truely well designed and executed car should be able to do very well in both portions of competition.

This competition is looking to gain a larger national (or international!) following, as the Detroit section is passing it on to the National office this year. The fact that it coincides with World Congress is a nice bonus. Over the past few years, these are the teams that have done well: UMich Dearborn, Detroit-Mercy, Carnegie Mellon, Ohio University, Lehigh, among others. If you are within a day's drive of Detroit, its really worth the trip.

Here are a few shots of the track...
http://evilallianceracing.com/ipw-web/gallery/albums/MicroBaja/101_0157_IMG.sized.jpg http://evilallianceracing.com/ipw-web/gallery/albums/MicroBaja/101_0160_IMG.sized.jpg http://evilallianceracing.com/ipw-web/gallery/albums/SAEMicro05/Competition_004.sized.jpg http://evilallianceracing.com/ipw-web/gallery/albums/SAEMicro05/Competition_011.sized.jpg

And a video of a practice lap:
http://evilallianceracing.com/ipw-web/gallery/albums/Micro/Franky1.wmv

Feel free to post up here with any questions or if you're planning on competiting.

[CMURacing - Prometheus]

though it doesn't look it, its also a video of the course record holder. that car is now also not allowed to compete anymore because one of our alums took over the competition and changed the rules. thanks ray.

no, i'm not bitter at all. it just means we don't get all $3700 in prize money anymore ;-)

[Dan G]

That course record was set back in '99 under the design influence of yours truely. I believe it was 23.x seconds? I think the top times in years since then has been in the 27-28 second range. The record run was sweet to watch, it competely skipped the steps both going up and coming down.

Its about time Frankie got retired, that car was around and competiting since before I was a freshman at CMU. I think it earned something like $1800 in prize money the four years I competed with it, and more before and since then.

Mike, are you guys coming this year? Should still have the cars already in competition form after the last-minute aborted trip last year, right?

[CMURacing - Prometheus]

Dan-

I don't know, I'm not in charge, and formula's behind. again. and the ECE with the crazy "vision" idea (carried over from CMU's champion robot soccer team) graduated. but our formula car will hopefully more than make up for it.

btw, i heard frankenstein ran in the 22s when it was the record run, it was 24ish my freshman year when it almost flew off the course (again). and it might have set a time almost as fast two years ago if Dan's car hadn't taken a divot out of the course wall...

[RiNaZ]

Im just wondering about if any of you guys had joined other SAE competitions?

I joined Aero Design and Mini-Baja and of course, FSAE. I liked Baja more than FSAE, but FSAE gives you more freedom in design.

What about you guys?

[Dan G]

Rinaz,

There was a guy that came around talking about Aero Design this year (he went to ERAU for undergrad) but when we said "sure, build one" he laughed at the idea of a solo effort.

Also, yes both Mike and I are heavily involved in FSAE. I'm not as involved in Baja, although I might be this year.


Anyway, I wanted to bump this thread up since the entry deadline is coming up March 17th. Not too many entries yet, so give it a shot and you might come home with a few hundred in prize money!

[RiNaZ]

Yeah, i dont think any SAE project can be done in a solo effort. I havent looked or involved in Micro Baja, but even something in a smaller scale as Aero Design, it still takes about 40 hours/week of shop/design time.

You should give Baja a try, it's definitely more exciting especially if you're one of the driver provided that the team didnt designed the car for someone smaller. It's definitely a blast going thru the track and the water.

[Matt Herset]

Here is a link to some pic of the Micro Baja comp that we have here in the Northwest (radio controlled, sligthly different). http://community.webshots.com/myphotos?action=viewAllPh...8887&security=SaJWnd (http://community.webshots.com/myphotos?action=viewAllPhotos&albumID=548388887&security=SaJWnd)

Matt H.
Univesity of Idaho FSAE

[jsmooz]

Rinaz - We (UM-Dearborn) do have a baja team. I've been on it since 2001 and it's a ton of fun. We've actually got building that car down to a science. Last year we started designing the car exactly 2 weeks before the competition started. We finished it, did some testing, got it powercoated, and put back together, all before competition. Then we managed to finish 8th overall (Midwest). But, back to the point, baja is much more fun of a competition as far as driving is concerned. The 4 hour endurance is the best. 22 laps doesn't compare to that. The success of your car really depends on the quality of work put in not quantity.

[RiNaZ]

Yes, i know you guys have a baja team, i checked your website all the time http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif. 2 weeks is amazing but then again ... our faculty didnt believe us when we said we were going to build the car with a band/holesaw, MIG, and a grinder (but of course, took us 4 straight months, 7 days a week to finish it).

Right now, we have a women baja team, which is not doing too well. Some parts are taken from last year's car and becoz of time constraint, we suggested the team not to do a rear suspension. That thing is a beast. If you get a chance to be in Alabama next month, im guessing they'll be the biggest one there based on previous competition. I just hope they finish the car before the competition. They have to, they got more money than i ever had for the FSAE team since i started. In fact, our FSAE car this year is built using their tools ... oh did i mention that we have a brand new 100K CNC lathe & mill? http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

[Dan G]

Last reminder to get your registration in ASAP! Team entries are due tomorrow. If you're within ~300 miles and have a couple of days to put into it, go for it!

A one-man team could assemble a car on the weekend, drive up on Monday night, practice Tuesday, race Wednesday, and possibly go home a couple hundred dollars heavier in the wallet Wednesday night. And you'd get to attend the SAE World Congress as a bonus.

[CMURacing - Prometheus]

speaking from experience dan? don't i recall you telling a story of painting your shell the night before it raced at congress in 04?

[Dan G]

Fact: the fastest car in 2005 was assembled THE MORNING OF THE RACE. It was a capable chassis, but did not receive any steering modifications or suspension improvements until only a few hours before the competition.

This isn't for lack of effort/design/performance on cars that have more time spent. But it is possible to get outstanding results from minimal effort.