CWU RC Baja
Steering and Suspension
Fall Presentation
Winter Presentation
Engineering Report
Alternate design 1
Figure 1. First Design of front suspension and steering. Utilizes Single axle suspension and electric servo.
Alternate design 2
Figure 2. Second design of front and rear suspension, utilizes solid rear axle with trailing arms; as well as independent front suspension with an electronic servo.
Initial Idea
Figure 3. View of finished and assembled vehicle.
Intro:
The purpose of this website is to share the design, analysis, manufacturing, budget, schedule, and results of the engineering project. The objective of this project was to create a remote-controlled car that was capable of performing well in a variety of circumstances. Three competitions that were tested at the end were straight line racing, slalom racing, and a Baja course race. The scope for this half of the project was suspension and steering, another engineer was in charge of drivetrain and chassis. The suspension and steering consisted of three smaller complex systems; These systems were the front independent suspension, rear solid axle suspension, and the front steering system.
An engineers job is to apply knowledge of math, physics, and materials to solve problems. This project is nothing short of an engineering problem. The engineers in charge of this project not only designed the complex systems that made the car work properly, but they also did an analysis for each component. The engineer in charge of suspension and steering ensured that the bulkhead pin holes wouldn’t break under shear or that the tie rods wouldn’t buckle or bend when the car suspension absorbs various terrain these two specific analyses were done using statics and mechanics of materials. Many more analyses were done that involved dynamics, statics, mechanics of materials, kinematics, and fatigue analysis.