Baja NOW Weekly Update: November 5, 2017
It was a busy day in the Baja Laboratory. Members began to finish organizing the shop as well as prepare vehicles and travel equipment for our upcoming races.
Ryan Long milling a component for the Steering Subsystem
The team began by setting up our camping equipment in the area outside of our lab. We use this equipment at select races, like Midnight Mayhem in Kentucky. Periodically, we inspect them for signs of wear and to assess general condition. When the setup team realized two of our tents had sustained damage from previous use, they set to work. Members Mitch Evens, Ben Atzen, Eric Jones and Alex Dalziel, as well as others, were able to identify potential issues with each tent, then repair items, like the tent structure, back to a usable state.
Ben Atzen (left) and Spencer Van-Dorn finish repairs one of the tents
“The tents weren’t really in bad shape, but they just needed a little bit of cleaning up. There were a couple cracks we needed to tighten up”
Meanwhile, in the shop, other members prepared a corner of the shop for a unique surprise. Earlier in the day, students from Iowa Baja’s up-and-coming sister team, Iowa ASME, went to collect their upcoming Solar Car Chassis.
Iowa Baja helping ASME unload their new chassis
Iowa ASME's Solar Car
ASME will begin to use a portion of the shop to design and build around their chassis for their upcoming 2018 American Solar Challenge, which is similar to the SAE series raced by Iowa Baja. Vice President of Iowa ASME seemed optimistic about the future of their team.
Iowa Baja President Kayla Denson & Iowa ASME VIce President Emma Parry
“This is a good start for our team because it gives us a good base on the Mechanical side so we don’t have to start from scratch. It also gives us a good basis for the coming years as it allows us to learn from this frame and cover while we have it now.”
Finally, the team sat down in the Baja Conference Room to propose designs to the rest of the team. The purpose of this meeting was to analyze designs which would potentially be fabricated for testing. Iowa Baja divided the design into 9 Subsystem Teams comprised of 4-6 members each to design a particular component for the upcoming National’s vehicle. Some Subsystem Teams include Steering, Suspension, Body Panels and Clutches. When a Subsystem Team would propose their designs to the group, the design would debate and critiqued as a team, to ensure every member could offer suggestions to improve the overall design.
(From Left) Rob Pohren, Eric Jones, Mitch Evens and Parker Hanks discussing designs
“Group discussion allows designs to progress to the next stage, giving other members the chance to become familiar with other components of the new car.
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We are always looking for donations to our team. We accept material, machine time as well as monetary donations. For more information, check out the "Sponsors" page of our website.
President Kayla Denson and Ben Atzen discuss repairs to a vehicle part.