Baja 3-Speed Transmission

Abstract

The goal of this project is to develop a transmission for an off-road vehicle being built by the Michigan Baja Racing Team. Michigan Baja Racing races at 3 competitions annually, with the goal of winning the most cumulative points across all 3 points compared to other competing teams. During the 2023 & 2024 season, over 20% of points lost were due to lack of torque out of the transmission, and due to a transmission design improvement in 2024, the loss of points due to halted forward progress dropped from 25% in 2023 to 3% in 2024. Michigan Baja Racing has come to our team with the request to redesign the current transmission in order to decrease the amount of points lost during their competition season. Our ME450 team will compare the benefits of the current design to that of alternative designs and ultimately create a prototype of a recommended design. The final prototype will ideally include accurate gear sizing, integration plans with the existing CVT, 4WD system, rear axle, braking system, and chassis, and a reliable method for shifting between various gears. The scope of this report encompasses the context of the design problem, a high level overview of the design process employed to solve this problem, stakeholder analysis, the research and derivation of requirements and specifications, benchmarking analysis, design generation, design selection, and a timeline illustrating project milestones, tasks, and status.