Union College Baja SAE Club
807 Union Street, Schenectady, NY 12308
baja@union.edu
Instagram: @unionbaja
Website: https://muse.union.edu/union-baja-sae-club
Winter Term Newsletter
Welcome
The Baja SAE Club builds a single-seat off-road racecar to compete in a collegiate-level competition annually. The club has subsections for members' interests: Cabin, Suspension, Hubs and Brakes, Drivetrain, and Data Acquisition. The combined efforts of our subsections make it possible to build a car for competition.
OktoBaja!
In the Fall trimester, the team OktoBajafest, a mini-Baja competition hosted by Clarkson University. Seventeen cars competed, with three cars allowed per Baja team. The event took place over three days at Clarkson Seven Springs, an 85-acre property in Colton, NY. The property featured both a pit area and a competition area. The competition area includes a maneuverability course, a hill climb, and a 2-mile endurance track: a four-hour race through a partially cleared-out hillside woodland. In the endurance race, our team placed 6th out of 17 cars, set a new Union 4-wheel drive record with 49 laps, and achieved 9th place overall.
Arizona and Next Year
This year our competition takes place in Marana, Arizona from May 4th to 6th. For the upcoming competition, the drivetrain subsection is implementing a new clutch that can switch between 4WD and 2WD. This would allow our four-wheel drive vehicle to disengage the clutch to the front wheel and deliver the power to the rear wheels only. Last year during the competition most teams were four-wheel drive compliant for inspection and tests but were able to switch to two-wheel drive for higher drivetrain efficiency in competitive events.
Next year, we are fitting the car with shaft-drive rather than the chain-drive system implemented two years ago. The solid driveshaft will be more efficient than chain drive. Two gearboxes will be installed in the car to have a greater reduction ratio. The rear section of the car will be redesigned based on the developments from our 2020-2021 model, Mamba, the club's last rear-wheel-drive car.
Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT)
During OktoBaja, we noticed that the vehicle’s performance uphill was not up to our expectations, indicating an overly large gear ratio for that purpose. Different combinations of CVT spring rates and weights were evaluated to reach the most optimal CVT gear ratio and engagement point. The CVT ratio was recorded throughout the expected engine RPM range to optimize the drivetrain's performance. Using the optimal setup, top speeds and acceleration were evaluated. The fastest 100 ft was completed in 4.24 seconds at a top speed of approximately 16 mph.
At the end of the fall term, we built and tested a mock jump to tune our suspension. The shock absorbers are filled with compressed nitrogen to optimize damping efficiency and prevent oil 'dieseling' upon landing. To tune this suspension, we filled the shocks with nitrogen and adjusted the spring preload to our suspension for the best performance and feel on the track. The CV axle broke when the car landed with the steering fully locked. The ends of the outboard joint separated, and the cap of the inboard joint blew out, detaching from the car.
of On-Campus Test Track
To support Union College Baja SAE:
Donation Online:
The QR code in the top right of the Newsletter will take you to the donation page for Union College. For a designation, please put “Baja”. UAlumni - Ways to Give
Donation by Check:
To donate to Baja directly please mail a check to "807 Union Street Schenectady, NY 12308". The check should be addressed to "Union College" with "Baja" in the memo. Upon receiving the check Union College will note your first and last name to use as a tax deduction for donating to an educational system. Thank you
Thank you for reading,
Francesco Soccoli Union College Baja SAE Co-President