Donate to help the Anteater Baja Racing Team manufacture their 2021 Baja SAE competition vehicle!
Our team is aiming to raise $5,000 to fund the materials, parts, and tools required to build our 2021 vehicle, Vandal II. The vehicle will feature UCI's first-ever 4WD system and will compete at the 2021 intercollegiate Baja SAE competition. Your contribution will help bring this design to life and lead the team to victory!
Vandal MK II Final CAD Images
Vandal II is a single seat, off-road race car inspired by Baja and SCORE racing. A team of around 25 engineering students participate in design, manufacturing and testing while developing relevant engineering skills necessary to excel in highly-technical, fast-paced and competitive environments. The team collectively spends over 10,000 hours each year developing the car and its integrated subsystems.
The hands-on training, communication and management skills, and full-cycle design process involved in Baja SAE prepares engineering students for success in numerous industries including automotive, aerospace, electrical, software and more. The SAE intercollegiate design series is recognized by industry experts as an extremely valuable experience that sets students apart early in their career for their demonstrated hard work and commitment.
The team is made up of five subteams: Chassis/Body/Ergonomics, Front Suspension and Steering, Rear Suspension, Brakes, and Powertrain.
Chassis/Body and Ergonomics: The chassis is the physical structure of the car, serving as the skeleton to support all other subsystems and components. The chassis sub-team's objective is to design, manufacture, and verify a lightweight yet robust chassis with proper triangulation that protects the driver at all times.
Front Suspension and Steering: This subteam is responsible for the application of vibrations, force analysis, and more to design an effective front suspension setup to keep the vehicle in contact with the ground and provide total control over vehicle trajectory. In Baja SAE, this plays a crucial role of ensuring that the vehicle is both maneuverable and capable of withstanding rough and dynamic terrain.
Rear Suspension: Similar to front suspension, this subteam is responsible for designing a robust system capable of withstanding the harsh environment of off-road competition and recreational driving. The vehicle needs to traverse over large rocks, downed logs, mud holes, steep inclines, jumps, and off-camber turns. Rear suspension also works with powertrain on design of the axles, track width and wheel travel.
Brakes: The brakes system is critical to vehicle safety and is responsible for meeting three key design requirements: ensure the vehicle is able to lock all four tires from a speed of 30 mph; effectively distribute braking force between the front and rear; design and manufacture necessary mounting hardware to attach the brake system to the vehicle.
Powertrain: Members of this team are responsible for selecting the appropriate gear reduction for high acceleration and torque performance with the mandated Briggs & Stratton Engine. Powertrain is also responsible for the selection of axles that can handle the system's torque output and the linkage system used to engage the vehicle's 4WD system (drive shaft/chain and differentials).
Anteater BAJA Racing at the 2019 BAJA SAE Endurance Race
About BAJA SAE Annual International Competition
Baja SAE is a SAE Collegiate Design Series event that will feature student teams representing 100 universities across the world. Baja SAE competitions are overseen by a dedicated group of industry professionals and involve technical and safety inspections to ensure rules compliance for each system, presentations for teams to discuss their designs with industry professionals, and dynamic events in which students race their cars for direct comparison in several performance categories: Acceleration, Maneuverability, Hill Climb, Suspension, and Endurance. Each presentation and event scores points for the overall competition.
Anteater Racing’s best overall finish in a Baja SAE competition was 20th place at Baja SAE California.
Thank you for your support! Your contribution get us one step closer to the finish line.
We greatly appreciate every fan - we could not do this without your support!
This contribution goes a long way to help us build and test our car. Thank you so much!
You stand out as one of our most passionate supporters! We cannot thank you enough!
Your gift makes a huge difference in helping us to build a successful car!