Hornet Racing Baja S.A.E. Drive Train (2016)

Baja SAE is a collegiate student design competition, in which students design, manufacture, and compete with their vehicle in off-road terrain conditions. All competing vehicles are limited to a 10 hp. Briggs & Stratton engine, in which performance modifications to the engine are strongly prohibited. This design was to be used on our competition vehicle for the Baja SAE 2016 competition. Unfortunately, the vehicle was unable to be constructed in time for competition. For this design for the vehicle drive train, adjustability was placed into the engine and chain drive mounts, instead of the use of a rolling chain adjuster; any rolling device would be a source of rolling resistance. Since any modifications to the engine is strongly prohibited, this leaves a strong burden of vehicle success on the drive train. Therefore, since a chain drive mechanism can weigh considerably less than a small gear box, the chain drive would become the ideal choice for this vehicle. Also, the final differential will be used from a Polaris Outlaw 525 IRS ATV. Although the club (Baja SAE) lacks the access to an engine dyno, the reduction ratio will have to consist of 10:1 gear train reduction. From research from other Baja SAE programs, this reduction ratio is consistent with other teams, and their recommendations from their own research. Resources: 1) Smith, Carroll. "Engineer to Win". MBI Publishing, 1987 2) Smith, Carroll. "Tune to Win". Aero Publishers, 1978 3) Milliken, William F., and Douglas L. Milliken. "Race Car Vehicle Dynamics". Society of Automotive Engineers, 1995. 4) Budynas, Richard G., and J Keith Nisbett. "Shigley's Mechanical Engineering Design". 9th ed. McGraw Hill. 2008. 5) Dowling, Norman E. "Mechanical Behavior of Materials". 4th ed. Pearson, 2013.