Degree Name

Department

Mechanical Engineering

College

Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology

Defense Date

2019-03-06

Publication Date

2019-03-15

First Faculty Advisor

Yuri Hovanski

First Faculty Reader

Mark Colton

Honors Coordinator

Brian Jensen

Keywords

Steering, Ackermann, Parallel, Baja, SAE

Abstract

This thesis is to study the different types of steering geometry for the BYU Baja vehicle. The main steering geometries of study are Ackermann and parallel steering geometries. Ackermann steering geometry is ideal for low speed turns. During low speed turns Ackermann steering performs better than parallel steering due to a smaller radius of turn. Parallel steering ideally is better for high speed turns, because with parallel steering the slip angle is smaller than that of Ackermann geometry. A recommendation is made to the BYU Baja team to use Ackermann steering, but still do some more analysis of parallel steering during high speed turning with the possibility of creating a hybrid steering option.