Our Project

Project Mission

The SAE Baja club faces a challenge in regards to steering the vehicle. To maintain a steering torque that the driver can reasonably apply to rotate the steering wheel, a very large gear reduction is required in the steering rack, which would take up a lot of space.  SAE Baja events are also typically held in the summer, where temperatures are warm. The driver is required to wear a full fire suit, helmet, and gloves, which makes it uncomfortably hot, and difficult to drive. 

To solve this problem, a drive-by-wire system shall be implemented into the car to completely eliminate the need for the driver to apply the required steering torque to the wheel. A motor will receive an input signal from the steering wheel and turn the gear and pinion system accordingly, with much more torque than a driver could comfortably apply during a Baja event. Adding power steering to the Baja car shall also reduce the fatigue on the driver and improve results, especially during the endurance event, where taking a break to switch drivers costs valuable time that could be spent on the track.