LJm BAJA

Introduction

Engineering Report Download

Welcome to team LJMs R/C Baja website!

The team consists of Paul Lervick and Cam Jamison. We are building an R/C car to compete in the ASME R/C BAJA competition in the Spring of 2022. Paul is in charge of managing, designing, and manufacturing the Chassis, and Suspension components while Cam is in charge of the drivetrain and steering. This website is focused on Paul Lervicks contributions.

Figure 1.1: Chassis and Suspension Components Designed by Paul Lervick

The chassis must provide a stable frame for the vehicle and allow for attachment of all components. Figure 1-2 displays the various components that the chassis must support attachment to.

Figure 1.2: Chassis Attachments

The suspension must maximize the friction between the tires and road surface during acceleration, cruising, and braking while providing steering stability with optimal handling. Figure 1-3 displays how that is accomplished.

Figure 1.3: Suspension Function

Results

The LJM RC car project was succesful in that it met or was within tolerance of the requirements set for it. Also, it was able to compete well in the ASME RC Baja competition acheiveing second place overall out of 7 other cars!

For the first test, the drop test, the RC car suspension coil was being measured when it was dropped from 3 feet on to the ground. It was found that the coil only compressed by 28% while the requirement was to have it be under 50% compressed from free length.

In the second test, the chassis deflection, to meet the requirement , the chassis mustn’t deflect more than 0.05 inches when a 10-pound load was applied to the center. It was found that it took 42.5 pounds of force to reach a deflection of 0.04 inches. So, yes it met the requirement, but why did it exceed it by so much? This is because the 1/8th inch aluminum chassis that was chosen was readily available and easy to manufacture.

Finally, for the third test , the control arms couldn't deflect more 0.03 inches when a 10 lb load was applied at the end of the arm. It was found that when a 10 lb load was applied the deflection of the control arm was .026 inches as seen below in Figures 8 and 9. So, the control arm did meet the requirement set for it.

More details these tests can be found in the testing section