Hopkins Baja

This past weekend some members of the team took our 19XT and 15X vehicles for some testing and data collection using the wheel force transducer, which interfaces with our custom DAQ.

Huge thanks to Michigan Scientific for lending us the WFT and to AOAA Trails for being great hosts and allowing us to use their facilities. The ability to test and gather data at driving events like these is very useful to understand the loads our vehicle experiences, and how our design can be optimized around that.

For our final competition for the 2022 season, we took the 18XT to Green Valley, Arizona for a Top 10 Overall finish! 🎉🎉🎉 This officially concludes our 2022 season and what a year it’s been. To celebrate our 8th overall finish, we’ll be sharing 8 highlights from our season over the next 8 days so stay tuned!

Last but not least on our senior spotlight is Yaw! Yaw was responsible for designing the axles last year. He also designed some stunning firewall/body panel graphics for many years.

Congratulations Yaw! Our success this year wouldn’t have been possible without you. We are going to miss you next year and can’t wait to see what you accomplish in the future!

Next is Alex Klein. Another freshmen recruit, Alex lead the controls sub-team during the switch to 4WD, before serving as the testing lead this past year. Alex has completely revolutionized our testing process, to where the entire sub-team was founded in his honor. Alex will be pursuing his master’s degree at Johns Hopkins in the Fall. Thank you for everything and we’ll have to stop by Colorado for a burger review sometime!

Congratulations Alex! Our success this past year wouldn’t have been possible without you. We are going to miss you next year and can’t wait to see what you accomplish in the future!

First on our senior spotlight is Eleanor! She joined the team as a Freshman. After leading the drivetrain sub team for two consecutive years, she was our Captain for the 2022 season. During this time, she designed the transfer case for two years in a row! She has been a truly excellent leader on the team and her positivity and composure has inspired so many of us to follow in her footsteps to become leaders like her.

Congratulations Eleanor! Our success this past year wouldn’t have been possible without you. We are going to miss you next year and can’t wait to see what you accomplish in the future!

Our 2021-2022 season so far!

The 18XT built upon the team’s previous 4WD vehicles to decrease weight while increasing performance, durability, and maneuverability! It features a new and improved overrunning front differential, an electronic shifter, and a tuned suspension for a smoother ride. In addition, in the 2021-22 season, the team completed more testing and validation than ever before, proof testing on-car components to their expected load before competition use, while pushing others beyond their limits to analyze their failure modes. At our Tennessee and Rochester competitions, it was clear that our hard work paid off!

Finishing 19th overall in Tennessee and 24th overall in Rochester, some highlights of our season include:

• 1st in Design (Tennessee)
• 2nd in Design (Rochester)
• 20th place in sled pull (Tennessee)
• 21 Endurance Laps (Rochester)
• Successful completion of suspension and traction courses
• Received +100 bonus points overall use of 4WD system

Two unforgettable competitions for us. Two competitions under the belt for the 18XT but still more to come as we look forward to our third competition in Arizona this Fall!

Finally, thank you to all our amazing sponsors that have supported us and made our success possible!

First week of manufacturing the 18XT! Hit the ground running with gears and lots of suspension components to test out all of the new tooling we ordered! Thanks to the Johns Hopkins University - Department of Mechanical Engineering for all of your support!