In 2015, the UCI baja team competed for the first time in 10 years, and the team placed 74th overall. The vehicle’s wheelbase was 20 inches longer than the cars it was competing against and couldn’t complete the maneuverability course because of this. The car lacked the structural integrity, the suspension system failed and the car was unable to complete the 4 hour endurance race. The drivetrain system in the vehicle was geared incorrectly and therefore the car was unable to power over the hillclimb and compete competitively in all dynamic events. This vehicle exposed students to the baja competition and four members returned to continue to develop the vehicle for the 2016 competition.
The 2016 team used the failures documented and the previous year’s vehicle to make changes to the design in order to produce a more competitive vehicle. The wheelbase was shortened 18 inches to achieve a tighter turning radius. Correct loading assumptions and FEA analysis resulted in a robust design that was able to complete the 4 hour endurance race. The drivetrain system was overhauled and built around a gearbox to ensure its reliability. These changes and more all lead to 24th place finish for the team.

The Bandit team’s main goal is refinement.

The previous year’s 2016 vehicle was evaluated based on its placing at the competition events and data collected during testing. The key characteristics necessary to place among the top 20 teams were identified and resulted in the following design criteria for the 2017 vehicle, BANDIT.

Requirements:
– Reduce weight (Target: 430lbs → 375lbs)
– Reduce wheel base (Target: 66” → 60”)
– Change suspension characteristics
(Reduce bump steer and ackerman steering)
– Increase top speed (Target: 28mph → 32mph)

This year the BAJA team is building a vehicle that will be 55 lbs lighter and 4 mph faster than the previous model. The car’s steering and front suspension geometry is redesigned to reduce bump steer to less than 5 degrees over the entire 12 inches of suspension travel. The wheelbase has been shortened 6″overall resulting in a shorter turning radius. All these things and more make this car a fierce competitor for the 2017 BAJA SAE West competition.

Business: The competition involves forming a business plan to present to a fictitious manufacturer. The prototype vehicle the engineering students create is evaluated by a panel of judges on booth the cost of the prototype and the plan to produce the vehicle at a rate of 4000 units per year.

Competitive: As part of the 100 teams competing for first place in the BAJA SAE west competition UCI builds relationships with nearby schools. Currently the UCI BAJA SAE team works with Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Long Beach, CSUN, SDSU, and UNLV.

Economic: The BAJA SAE team works to use every penny received from fundraising, donations, and class fees wisely. The team is currently 26 members strong and growing. This means 26 students are given the opportunity to apply the equations learned in lecture to a real life project. Our current proposed budget requires $12,000 which means that each student’s cost to be part of the project is $461.5. This is 3.1% of the students tuition costs for their senior year.

Academic Impact: The project requires a team of engineers to work together across all subsystems to form a competitive vehicle. It challenges all members to apply their knowledge learned in engineering courses to the decisions they make while constructing the vehicle. Additionally, the members are challenged to fabricate the vehicle. This means the ideas have to be brought to reality. The engineers learn the limiting factors of the real world while they build the vehicle from the ground up.