Georgia Tech Off-Road

About us

Georgia Tech Off-Road is a student-led team founded in 1998 that participates in annual Baja SAE competitions. The team currently has 60+ undergraduate members with students majoring mostly in some form of engineering. Students on the team are provided with an opportunity to work on a large scale and time-constrained engineering project. They learn to not only design and analyze vehicle components, but also to develop communication and teamwork skills in ensuring proper integration between designs.

The North America Baja SAE competitions take place at three event locations each year and have upwards of 100 teams at each event. Student teams are tasked with designing and fabricating a high-performing single-seat off-terrain vehicle to sell to the enthusiast market. Teams compete in a set of static and dynamic events that span evaluations from vehicle designs to business models. Professionals from industry are involved with the competition and serve as judges to assess the student teams.

Join Our Team!

If you're a GT student looking to join our team, it's a simple process! It doesn't matter what major or year you are. Just fill out this Interest Form and come during any of our shop times. We'll gladly show you around!

Shop Times

Sundays 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Tuesdays 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Thursdays 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Location

The Student Competition Center

575 14th Street, Atlanta, GA 30318

You can take the green route to get here - just get off at the bus yard. Since shop times go a little late, you can also take the stingerette back to campus after the green route stops running.

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BAJA SAE Williamsport Rankings 2024 (Out of 107 teams)

Overall 7/107

Design Presentation 7/107

Manuverability 12/107

Endurance 13/107

Business Presentation 15/107

Acceleration 20/107

Suspension 32/107

Hill Climb 33/107

Subsystems

Subsystems are smaller groupings of the team for design and building.

Drivetrain

The drivetrain subsystem responsible for transmitting power to the wheels. This is accomplished with the standard, unmodified Briggs & Stratton 10HP engine paired with a custom gearbox and electronically controlled variable transmission.

Suspension

The suspension subsystem connects the frame of the vehicle to the wheels and allows the vehicle to traverse rocks, logs, and mud-pits with ease. The vehicle has four wheel independent suspension, implementing double a-arm design in the front and a three link (trailing arm) design in the rear.

Chassis

A custom tubular frame is designed and fabricated each year. The chassis subsystem works to ensure that the strength and geometry of the frame satisfies the requirements set by Baja SAE competition rules.

Driver Controls

The driver controls subsystem is responsible for the design of all driver to vehicle interfaces, including steering, braking, and throttle control. Lightweight design and ergonomic considerations allow the driver to have quick, comfortable, and effective control of the vehicle.

Data Acquisition

The data acquisition subsystem services the data gathering, and processing needs of the team to test and validate the car and its design. This subsystem is at the forefront of the team’s research and development efforts and is instrumental to the yearly improvements made to the vehicle.

Vehicle Dynamics

The vehicle dynamics subsystem develop full dynamic models and performs simulations of our vehicle in the ADAMS Car software, giving us crucial data and analysis to guide our design and to validate in our testing.

Manufacturing

The manufacturing subsystem is chiefly responsible for the annual fabrication of our custom components (95% of the vehicle). The manufacturing subsystem implements many processes to deliver quality parts on a tight schedule, including welding, composites work, manual milling and turning, CNC milling and turning, and wire EDM.

Composites

The composites subsystem is responsible for designing, fabricating, and forming composite materials to be placed on the car for competition.

Business

The business subsystem manages the team’s budget and resources. In addition, the business subsystem is responsible for new member recruitment and interfaces with company sponsors/partners.

Marketing

The Marketing subsystem creates and performs strategies for recruting new members, gaining sponsors, and increasing awareness of GTOR on campus and beyond.