Testing
During the process of the project, the team will conduct various testing to ensure that the requirements are met for the RC Baja Competition. Each aspect of the vehicle will be put through testing that the team creates during the winter quarter. The Turning radius will be tested to ensure the proper angle of the tires can withstand a certain force. The drop test will be conducted to make sure the vehicle can withstand the impact force of the weight of the vehicle without failure. The ride height will be factored into the testing parameters because the shocks must withstand not only the weight of the vehicle, but the load that will be brought upon it during the competition. As the team tests different parts of the vehicle, it ensures that each part will perform in the best way possible, the way the team designed it. Even after testing, the team will be able to make changes to the device to amplify the performance of each part.
Figure 4-1 shows the initial setup for the 2-foot drop test that was a requirement in the proposal. This test was important because the team needed to know how much the shock springs would compress by being dropped by 2 feet. the requirement stated that by being dropped 2 feet, the shock springs would only compress 30%. As a result of this test, it was deemed successful that the average compression was 28.6% compression.
Figure 4-1: Drop Test Setup
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Figure 4-2 shows test two was conducted to determine the yaw angle. The requirement states that the yaw angle shall be 5 degrees or greater. After conducting the test, it was found that 18 degrees was the average yaw. The front left did not have a consistent angle since the rod connecting to the servo was much longer than the left rod.
Figure 4-2: Turning Radius Test
Figure 4-3 shows a photo of the Tactic transmitter since there was no actual photos shot for this test. This test was to show that the effective range of the transmitter would be over 50 feet. By using a golf range finder, the team was able to shoot the device at 10-foot increments until it stopped responding. Even though the competition that was held did not ask for a range over 50 feet, the team still thought it was necessary for this test to be conducted.
Figure 4-3: Transmitter Effective Distance
In this short video the operator lines up the device and has the steering at full lock left and carefully accelerates in a full circle. Once the device has touched the other side of the line, a student then measures the distance to record the turning radius. As you can see the front left tire has well over 5 degrees more of yaw than the right side.