University of Illinois at Chicago Baja Racing Team

October 1, 2007

To the Panel of Chicago Section SAE Judges, On behalf of The Society of Auto oti!e Engineers at the "ni!ersity of #llinois at Chicago, $e $ould li%e to Than% the Chicago Section of SAE for your &rior su&&ort in our SAE 'a(a Co &etitions) *our onetary contributions ha!e hel&ed us learn and a&&ly real $orld engineering &ractices taught in our courses, as $ell as gro$ into a tightly %nit society) These e+&eriences and gro$th ha!e hel&ed us co e together to fatho a design for a !ehicle that $e feel $ill be e+tre ely co &etiti!e) #n order to &ro&erly infor you about our current design, it is crucial in understanding the bac%ground of ho$ the design surfaced) Our 'a(a tea is currently co &osed of si+ core e bers that are all eagerly antici&ating this year,s build) The nu ber ay see s all but this is due to the graduation of three significant e bers $hich included our old &resident) These three e bers guided SAE o!er the &ast fe$ years and no$ the re ainders are left to run the core section of SAE) The i &ortance of this fact is to sho$ that $e ha!e learned and gro$n as a single unit) "nli%e &re!ious SAE tea s that ha!e e+isted here at the "ni!ersity of #llinois at Chicago, the ne$ core is not follo$ing the &ath of ignoring the trials and tribulations of &ast co &etitions) E!en though $e ust find ne$ leadershi& $ithin oursel!es, this $ill not gi!e $ay to disregarding the %no$ledge that $as instilled u&on us) Our goal is to e+&and on the %no$ledge and research gained fro earlier tea e bers) This $ill &a!e the $ay for creating a car that is e+tre ely co &etiti!e and does not fall !icti to the shortco ings of earlier odels) This lea!es us no$ to e+&lain our current 'a(a,s design $hich is no$ four years in the a%ing) This !ehicles design is being based on addressing all the &roble s that e+isted on its &redecessor) The ains of $hich $ere e+cessi!e $eight and i &ro&er trans ission of &o$er) These ste ed fro the a&&lication of the inno!ati!e designs such as four-$heel steering and a dual C.T setu&) /hile su&erior in theory, they &osed &roble s that could not be easily o!erco e) #n adding a second set of Co et C.T clutches, the goal $as to create a gear range far larger to that of a single C.T setu&) This $ould allo$ for greater lo$-end tor0ue as $ell as s&ectacular high-s&eed &erfor ance) They did not &erfor as &redicted because the otor si &ly did not ha!e enough &o$er to fully engage both sets of clutches) Tuning $as atte &ted by changing s&ring and $eight ratios in the clutches) To calibrate and tune t$o sets of clutches &ro!ed to be e+tre ely eticulous and ore un&redictable than antici&ated) /hile li iting our &erfor ance through a lac% of &o$er trans ission, the dual C.T syste also added an e+tra ten inches to the o!erall length of the !ehicle) Also, due to the e+tra su&&orts and (ac%shafts needed to run both sets of C.T,s, they added a significant a ount of $eight) The four $heel steering $as integrated to hel& account for the added length of the !ehicle) Although it $or%ed $ell, it also contributed to the $eight issue) Our current

design si &lifies these syste s to create a car that $ill be light$eight, easily aneu!erable, and ha!e greater &o$er trans ission) The ain goal is to cut the $eight of our current car in half and go fro 100 &ounds to an o&ti istic 200 &ounds) /e ho&e to acco &lish this by shortening the fra e and si &lifying all subsyste s of the !ehicle) All of this $ill be ta%en into consideration $hile still designing it to acco odate e!en our largest e bers) 'y shortening the fra e, $e are eli inating uch of the e+cess aterial needed to e &loy the dual C.T syste and the four-$heel steering setu&) They are being re&laced $ith a anual gearbo+ syste and a t$o-$heel steering syste ) The anual gearbo+ $ill allo$ for greater control of &o$er trans ission as $ell as i ensely reduce the s&ace re0uired) /ith the !ehicle shortened, the four $heel steering is unnecessary) A front $ishbone setu& $ill allo$ for a great range of o!e ent of the front $heels $hich $ill co &ensate for the counter steer of the rear $heels that &re!iously e+isted) The steel $heels, tires, and s&indles are being e+changed for alu inu ones in the effort to sa!e $eight) The final design $ill atte &t the integration of the sus&ension and dri!e train into the core e bers of the roll cage) The &rior car re0uired a lot of e+tra bracing to su&&ort each subsyste $hich added unnecessary stress &oints and hea!y aterial) 'y designing the sus&ension to transfer stresses directly into the %ey e bers of the roll cage, $e ho&e to eli inate the e+tra bracing and $eight that $as &re!iously re0uired) #n an effort to a&&ly the stout engineering &ractices learned at this "ni!ersity, this dedicated tea is hard at $or% designing and testing our ideas for i &le entation) /e hold $ee%ly eetings for hours on 3onday afternoons, all in an effort to see our co bined !ision succeed) Aside fro our scheduled $or% and eeting ti es, our lab is al$ays filled $ith con!ersation on 'a(a) 4e$ SAE e bers &ractice their $elding and fabrication s%ills $ee%ly) /e are also on the recruit ent &ath, infor ing other students about the goals and benefits of SAE 3ini-'a(a) /e ha!e already recruited a nu ber of ne$ e bers, and our general eetings thus far ha!e &ro!en a good recruiting tool) /e are in the &rocess of turning SAE into a $ell-%no$n and &ro inent organi5ation) 6uring such gro$th and inno!ation, a onetary donation could not co e at a better ti e for our society) Stee& in our 3ini-'a(a design, $e need funding to &urchase crucial &arts, such as a gearbo+, to test and i &le ent effecti!ely) Also, $ith the current influ+ of ne$ e bers, it is necessary to re&lace outdated or bro%en tools so $e can efficiently succeed in this year,s co &etition) 3ost i &ortantly, it $ould i ensely aid us in u&holding the learning &ractices e!ident in SAE 'a(a &artici&ation as $ell as hel& create a society here at the "ni!ersity of #llinois Chicago $hich is &ro inent in creating $ell-educated and $ell-!ersed engineers)

Than% you !ery uch for considering our &ro&osal for your su&&ort) Our tea $or%s diligently to try and &roduce a &roduct that $ill a%e the "ni!ersity of #llinois at Chicago and SAE &roud7 /e ho&e to %ee& that tradition going $ell into the future) Than% you for your ti e and consideration) Sincerely, 3anolis Si ea%is Core 3e ber The "ni!ersity of #llinois at Chicago Society of Auto oti!e Engineers

'illing #nfor ation is as follo$s8 Please a%e chec%s &ayable to8

"#C SAE 3ailing address8 Society of Auto oti!e Engineers 6e&art ent of 3echanical Engineering 93:C 2;1< "ni!ersity of #llinois at Chicago =>2 /) Taylor Street, 202? Engineering @esearch Aacility Chicago, #B 10107 Pri ary Contacts8 Ja es @ussin 9President< C (russi2Duic)edu 3ar% 3oreno 9Tea Ca&tain< C oren2Duic)edu