SAE wins competition and prepares for Formula race

Racing along a wooden track with inclines, rock pits, water trenches, and jumps is no easy task. CMU's Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) showed that it was up to the challenge when it took first place in the SAE Micro Baja competition last month. The annual competition was held in Detroit, Michigan, from November 18 to 20.

In the Micro Baja competition, teams compete with modified vehicles similar to remote-controlled cars. The cars are raced on a one foot-wide wooden track, and are scored based on a combination of finishing times and design and presentation qualities.

The CMU team entered five cars and scored first, second, and third place in the modified stock class and first and second place in the unlimited class. The modified stock class allows use of only off-the-shelf remote controlled cars purchased from stores such as Radio Shack. The unlimited class allows almost any modifications, and encourages using a RC hobby kit as a base. In the modified stock class, CMU was competing with Central Michigan University. In the unlimited class, the team ran against Central Michigan, North Carolina State University, St. Clair College, and University of Detroit-Mercy.

CMU's winning car in the unlimited category is named Frankenstein, and features an active steering system that helps the car to turn. However, Peter Castelli, a junior in mechanical engineering and CMU SAE chairperson, said that complicated features are usually not necessary. "The simplest idea usually works the best," he said. For example, Castelli said that intelligent throttle control, which can adjust the power of the car when going up inclines or over jumps, is not really useful. He said the CMU team concentrates on developing consistent and reliable power delivery.

Dan Gielas, a senior in mechanical engineering and CMU SAE's vice president of Micro Baja, attributes their success last month to the team's experience in the competition. They have been competing for over ten years, and have been able to learn from their mistakes to improve each year.

The CMU SAE organization is about 50 years old, and currently has 62 student members, with 15 to 20 actively involved.

SAE also participates in the Formula race car competition. The team competed in the race last year, and is working on a new car for the 2003 competition. The Formula race cars use engines up to 610 cubic centimeters (cc) and can reach speeds up to 120 miles per hour. According to Castelli, the Formula race is the toughest competition, requiring the most money and involvement. The competition involves over 100 schools, including universities from Japan, Canada, and England.

SAE team members spend a lot of time on the cars, but feel the experience is valuable hands-on learning that they would not be able to get in the classroom. Castelli and Gielas said that in their classes they learn a lot of equations, but real world applications such as the cars do not always follow a set formula, and require more of an intuitive understanding of the requirements. The SAE projects have also helped students develop connections with automotive companies. Auto companies often use the Formula competition as a recruitment grounds.

"Although our grades suffer doing this, the industry also realizes the benefits of this," said Castelli. "We have a lot of people that are now high up in the auto industry."

"If you build a really cool car, you're going to get offered some really cool jobs," said Gielas.

The CMU team receives its funding primarily from corporate sponsorship. Ford Motor Company, Caterpillar, General Motors, and other companies sponsor SAE Formula cars. CMU SAE solicits sponsors each year and generally receives a grant of $10,000 to $15,000. Funding varies greatly between the SAE Formula teams from different universities. Cornell University, which has a larger and more established team, has a budget of $100,000 to $110,000.

According to Gielas, the Micro Baja competition is a good starting point for becoming involved with SAE because it is the easiest and requires the least time commitment.