2. INTRODUCTION:
POSIEDON RACING, the BAJA wing of SAEINDIA Collegiate Club of ITER,
primarily focuses on participating and representing Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan
University in the BAJA SAE Collegiate Design Series being organized by SAE
(Society of Automotive Engineers).
Since its formation in the academic year 2013-14, POSIEDON RACING has
participated twice in BAJA SAEINDIA Collegiate Design Series. The team got
many things to learn through this competition. Right from designing, analysis and
building an ATV to managing the team, BAJA SAEINDIA has helped the team
members not only refresh their technical knowledge, but also to develop a kind of
professionalism within them.
Till date, the team has successfully built two ATVs- the T300R (For BAJA
SAEINDIA 2014) and the T300F (For BAJA SAEINDIA 2015).
This report illustrates the performance of the team in BAJA SAEINDIA 2015.
3. ABOUT BAJA SAEINDIA:
The BAJA SAE Series is an event for the undergraduate engineering
students, organized globally by the Society of Automotive Engineers,
USA. The event originated in the name of Mini - BAJA, in the year
1976 at University of Carolina. Since then, the event has spanned across
six countries – USA, Mexico, South Africa, Korea, Brazil and India. The
BAJA SAE tasks the students to design, fabricate and validate a single
seater four - wheeled off road vehicle to take part in series of events
spread over a course of 3 days that test the vehicle for the sound
engineering practices that have gone into it, the agility of the vehicle in
terms of gradability, speed, acceleration and maneuverability
characteristics and finally its ability to endure that back breaking
durability test.
Several factors contribute to making a winning buggy. First and
foremost the buggy has to meet the strict specification of the rule book.
The philosophy hasn’t changed since the event’s birth back in 1976 – the
teams still need to build a simple all-terrain vehicle for recreation
purpose that is aesthetically and ergonomically sound while still being a
fun and durable machine in the real world conditions. The evaluation
process for the BAJA SAEINDIA is a twofold process and students have
to clear the Virtual Baja preliminary round before they start
manufacturing their buggy’s for the main events.
The teams are judged on six main parameters in the Virtual BAJA event
which are – their knowledge of the rule book, the design of the vehicle,
the project plan, the design methodology and the design evaluation
plain. A total of 400 points are available for each team’s design and the
top 120 teams were selected this year to complete in the main event.
The evaluation process in the main event is a different ball game
altogether and the students finally got to showcase their finished buggy’s
to the judges. In the static tests the buggy’s are evaluation on various
factors such as cost, aesthetics and the quality of the fabrication.
4. There are also many dynamic tests such as acceleration, braking,
maneuverability over all terrain and a hill climb test. But none of these
tests are more grueling than the endurance race where the drivers and
buggy’s are pushed to their limits till a winner emerges.
The hill climb (above) and the obstacle course (below) are just some of
the dynamic tests that the buggy’s have to endure to make it to the finish
line.
5. BAJA SAEINDIA 2015:
BAJA SAEINDIA 2015 was held from 19th
Feb. 2015 till 22nd
Feb.2015 at the
NATRAX Facility, Pithampur, Indore, Madhya Pradesh. More than 300 teams had
participated in Virtual BAJA SAEINDIA, the prelims of BAJA SAEINDIA out of
which 110 teams could qualify for the BAJA event. POSIEDON RACING was one
of the 110 teams that could successfully clear the prelims and were all set to build
their dream vehicle.
Under the support of our faculty advisors- Prof. Manoj Kumar Sarangi and Prof.
Saroj Kumar Sarangi from the Mechanical Engineering Department, and the
driving force of our Team Captain Anurag Tripathy, the team could successfully
build the T300F within a period of 2 months.
The vehicle was launched on 12th
Feb.2015 in the presence of all the dignitaries of
our university. After a few testing on the vehicle, the team finally set out to
participate in the biggest ATV event in India – The BAJA SAEINDIA 2015.
Pic.1: The T300F during its launch
6. Pic. 2: Team POSIEDON RACING with the vehicle and the esteemed dignitaries of our institute.
Pic.3: Team POSIEDON RACING with Prof. Manoj Kumar Sarangi and Prof. Saroj Kumar Sarangi, the
faculty advisors of SAEINDIA Collegiate Club of ITER.
7. At the Event:
POSIEDON RACING had a great experience at BAJA SAEINDIA 2015. From
qualifying the Virtuals where the team had to compete with over 300 teams, till
successfully completing the 4 hour endurance race by competing with over 110
teams without any break down, the team has undoubtedly built one of the most
durable ATVs in BAJA SAEINDIA 2015- "The T300F".
T300F has truly met our expectations by successfully completing all the tests in
one go and being one amongst the top 20 teams to successfully complete the
endurance race where vehicles have to taste the most difficult terrains of all time.
Only 25 cars could survive till the end of the race and we are proud to say that
T300F was one of them. All thanks to our driver Anikasha Rath, who could
tactfully pass through the endurance track and make it to the end of the race.
T300F would always remain one of its kind. POSIEDON RACING is truly proud
to build such a beautiful beast......
Pic.4: T300F being taken for technical Inspection
8. Pic.5: T300F being queued for technical inspection
Pic.6:T300F undergoing Fig. of 8 test
