Virtual BAJA SAE 2015....Experience of a Lifetime

 Sidhartha Pattnaik

Vice-Captain, CET-B Blue Jay Racing Team

B.Tech Student, Department of Mechanical Engineering, CET, Bhubaneswar

Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) organises an annual engineering design and fabrication competition called BAJA where undergraduate engineering students design, innovate and fabricate an All Terrain Vehicle. The Baja SAE competition originated at the University of South Carolina in 1976, under the direction of Dr. John F. Stevens. Since that time, the Baja SAE Series has grown to become a premier engineering design series for university teams.

BAJA SAE INDIA is sponsored by Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., SAEINDIA and hosted by NATRiP. Every prestigious engineering college in India participates in this competition. Yet due to some reasons, my college, College of Engineering and Technology, Bhubaneswar had never participated in BAJA in the past. I and my branch mates Sohan   Sarangi, Sanket Sourav Bal, Avinash Mohanty and Rekhankit Sasmal along with some seniors notably Late Viswa Ranjan Pati, Bidit Mohanty, Anurag Kar and Nitin Agarwal decided to change this once and for all. With encouragement and constant support from our faculty advisors Dr. S.K. Pradhan sir and Dr. S. S. Sahoo sir, we decided to make the impossible, a reality. The epic journey started with registration of members. We got a mammoth support from the students, with 90 registered members in SAE, our college was one of the largest chapters of SAE in the region.

The work for Virtual Baja 2015 and Baja 2016 started in January 2015. Regular WorkSessions, intense discussions etc created a frame work for the future project. Work was on its full flow when we were struck by the untimely death of our beloved senior Viswa Ranjan Pati. Making his dream our goal, we dedicated the entire project to him and continued our endeavour.

The entire summer of May- June 2015 we sweated for 10 hours a day. Designs, analysis, re-design, re-analysis formed part of our racing blood. As marketing and procurement team scanned every automotive supplier and manufacturer for technical specifications the design team slogged over the computers perfecting the Chassis and Suspension. While the analysis team analysed each and every aspect of the vehicle, the management team was busy coordinating every activity.

            The notification for the first round of BAJA, the Virtual Baja came on 10^th June 2015. There were numerous changes in rules, the total number of slides was cut down to 12 from 21 and a written test was introduced for all teams. We had to double our work efficiency to accommodate the new rules. We named ourselves CET-B BLUE JAY RACING TEAM, after the state bird of Odisha. Perfecting our designs and eliminating every flaw, every glitch we submitted our presentation to BAJA SAE INDIA on 5^th July 2015.

The Virtuals Baja was to be held at Chitkara University, Chandigarh, hundreds of kilometres from Bhubaneswar. But as they say “You have to travel countless miles for a dream”, I, Sohan, Sanket, Avinash and Rekhankit (fondly called Rinku) set out for Virtual Baja 2015 on 8^th July 2015. We were allotted 10:00 AM slot on 10^th July for the virtual presentation before the judges. We took Rajdhani Express to Delhi on 8^th and reached Delhi on 9^th July. Travelling from Delhi in Janshatabdi Express we reached Chandigarh on 9^th evening. Our faculty advisor, Dr. S. S. Sahoo sir accompanied us in our endeavour. His tips, tricks and support gave us encouragement throughout our journey.  

Chitkara University was 30 Km from Chandigarh. With a lot of hassle with the local autowallas reached the university at 9:30 PM. We were given a decent accommodation at the University. The night before the presentation was a long one. We were dead tired after travelling for 36 hours, yet we practiced for the presentation all through the night. We slept around 3 in the morning and were up by 6:00 AM. We were quite nervous in the morning. Shouldering the aspirations and expectations of an entire college, is not an easy burden. The presence of Sudhansu sir helped us a lot. He constantly motivated us.

            We were allotted panel 3, room no. 3 in Edison block of the institute (yes their blocks are named as Edison, Einstien, Newton, DeMorgan....). Teams were going in and coming out, some were happy and many came out with sad faces. There were more than 500 teams from all over India and only 100 will make it to the next round. We said to ourselves “Whatever happens... we do our best!!”. Sir was there with us till our turn came. “CET Blue Jay Racing Team!!” the volunteers called out. This was it! This was the moment for which we had been working for the last six months. The volunteer led us to panel 3. There were three judges, one was from Cummins and the others were from some automotive company (we guessed from his questions!!). We had 15 Minutes to complete our presentation and 10 minutes for question-answer session. Sohan, our captain started with the first slide introducing each one of us and going in to the overall performance slide. Sanket, the technical lead presented the design and steering slides, Rekankit handled the ANSYS slide, Avinash presented the Suspension and transmission slides while Costing, weight analysis, Project Planning and DFMEA was my part. Sohan concluded with the validation slide. We had done our presentations even better than our practice sessions. Every one aced their slides and we finished our presentation before “15 Minutes” placard was up. With every slide we could see the appreciation in Judges’ eyes, although we were ready for a grilling Q/A session. As expected, the judges started with the least important of slides “Validation and testing” Slide, Sohan having done his Maruti internship project on “validation and testing” answered every question. Next they came on to suspension, Avinash aced the round (Hats off to him...for handling our weakest link so effectively). Sanket and Rekankit gave minute details of rollcage and rulebook guidelines. With more than 4 minutes to go, the judges came to the DFMEA slide. Being a Six Sigma Green Belt Professional and already having a research paper on DFMEA, I answered all questions to their expectations. The Judges were thoroughly impressed. They Said “Gud Job Guys!! Never expected so many specifics from a first-timer new team.”  That was it. We had aced out presentations.

            Outside, Sudhansu sir was still there. He was so happy to hear us succeed. The written round was at 4:00 PM. We had revised the rulebook thoroughly as well as other formulas of mechanical and automobile engineering. There were 50 questions we answered most of them correctly. After our exams we received our Virtual Participation certificates and went to ISBT Chandigarh Bus Station. We took a bus from Chandigarh to Delhi. The train from Delhi reached Bhubaneswar on 12^th July. The results are expected in 20 days and we hope to make it to the next round.

            This trip taught us a lot of things. Interacting with 500 odd teams all over India was an enriching experience. Every team had their own innovative designs and specifications. Apart from effective teamwork, time management and other things, one thing which we all got was a Brotherhood. A trip where friends turned to brothers connected to each other with a passion for racing, automobiles and innovation. 

TEAM BLUE JAY RACING

1. Sohan Sarangi,  Captain

2. Sidhartha Pattnaik,  Vice-captain

3. Sanket Sourav Bal,  Technical Lead

4. Avinash Mohanty,  Marketing and Procurement Head & Driver

5. Rekankit Sasmal,  Analysis Head

6. Raunak maharana,  Design asst. Lead

7. Shubham Pati,  Overall coordination, design and suspension

8. Debasis Bera,  Design, Suspension and marketing

9. Swatantra Swaviman,  Suspension Designer

10.Somia Tripathy,  Chassis Designer

11. Pallavi saha,  Transmission Expert

12. Dibyasha Mohanty,  Documentation

13. Goutam behera,  Design and analysis 

14. Satrujit,  Designer

15. Mohit,  Braking

16. Shatam Patri,  Marketing and Procurement

17. Himesh Chachra,  Braking

18. Sumeet pati,  Analysis

19. Gourav chaterjee,  Marketing

20. Chaya K. das,  marketing

21. Kamal,  marketing

22. Suman Chand, Design, Performance

23. Manish karm Engine and Transmission

24. Sandeep Senapati, steering expert

25. Ram Manas, Validation

DESIGN FAILURE MODES AND EFFECTS ANALYSIS (DFMEA)

DFMEA is an effective tool for failure Analysis and prevention. It can be effectively applied to a process in Design stage, process stage or manufacturing stage very easily and effectively.

Have a look at my paper on DFMEA applied to design and fabrication of an All-Terrain Vehicle in International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology (IJRET)
Design Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (DFMEA) of an All-Terrain Vehicle

Six Sigma Methodology of Quality Assurance

Sidhartha Pattnaik,

(Certified Six Sigma Green Belt Professional)

Department of Mechanical Engineering

College of Engineering and Technology, Bhubaneswar

Introduction

In any industry, be it manufacturing or service, maintaining the quality of the product is highly essential. Quality control not only helps in ensuring cost effectiveness and higher productivity, it also helps to acquire higher profits and customer satisfaction.

“Six Sigma” Methodology is one such quality assurance technique. We can say Six Sigma is a methodology as well as a philosophy that improves the quality by analyzing data with statistics to find root cause of quality problems, improve the process and implement control. It is a technique of measurements which results in lower defects which converts into lower cost and competitive advantage.

Sigma (σ) is a mathematical symbol representing one standard deviation from average or mean. Six sigma refers to to +/- 3 σ from mean value. With six sigma there are only 3.4 defects in a million parts, technically called 3.4 DPMO (defects per million opportunities). A six sigma level process operates at 99.9997% quality level.

To think about in simple terms, let’s take an example, suppose we are manufacturing soda bottles in our company and our annual output is 1,000,000. If we are maintaining Six Sigma Quality level in our methods of production, there will be only 3.4 (approx. 4) defective bottles in the entire 10 lakh bottles. Isn’t it amazing?? Now let’s take the above examples and apply is to the traditional 3 σ quality level. In three sigma level there are 66,807 DPMO maintained at 93.3% quality level. Although 99.3% quality appears as a reasonable production output, but when we apply that to our soda bottle plant producing 1,00,000 bottles, there are 66,807 defects!!  To get hold of the seriousness quality in production and services, think about 1 million critical drugs in 3 sigma level, 66,807 defective drugs; 1 million child care medical services, 66,807 defective service! Quality is very critical to every aspect of service and production.

Now let’s take a close look at Six Sigma Methodology. How it started and where is it today.

Six Sigma and Organisation

Six Sigma effectively combines all previous quality management techniques like TQM( Total Quality management) and Lean Manufacturing. There are many pioneers whose contributions lead to development of the Six Sigma philosophy. But the credit for coining the term “Six Sigma” goes to Motorola Engineer Bill Smith along with Mikel Harry in 1980s. Six Sigma, till today is a registered trademark of Motorola.

Six Sigma can be viewed as a philosophy, a technique or a goal. Philosophy- Customer-focused breakthrough improvement in process; Technique- Comprehensive set of statistical tools and methodology; Goal- Reduce variation, minimize defects, shorten cycle time, improve yield, enhance customer satisfaction and boost bottom line.

Mathematically, six sigma represents six standard deviations from Mean.

USL- Upper Specification Limit, any deviation beyond this is a defect.

LSL- Lower specification limit, any deviation beyond this is a defect.

Target- this is the theoretical ideal value

The following table shows the yield and number of defects in various sigma level.

SIGMA LEVEL	DPMO	YIELD
One Sigma	690,000	30.9%
Two Sigma	308,000	62.9%
Three sigma	66,800	93.3%
Four Sigma	6,210	99.4%
Five Sigma	320	99.98%
Six Sigma	3.4	99.9997%

Six Sigma DMAIC Methodology

The six sigma methodology is conceptually based on a five phase project. Each phase has a specific purpose, tools and techniques which help in achieving the phase objectives and at the end, six sigma goals as a whole. The five phases of Six Sigma Methodology are Define Phase, Measure Phase, Analyze Phase, Improve Phase and Control Phase, in short DMAIC.

Define phase’s goal is to establish the project foundations, goals to achieve, current state of challenges etc. Which are articulated in a quantifiable manner. Valuation, Project Planning, Time Line etc are also part of this phase. The various tools used in this phase are Project Charter, Time line, Pareto Charts, SIPOC chart, Process Maps, CPM/PERT charts, Process capability indices etc.

Measure phase includes obtaining measurable baseline information about process, products etc. This also includes defining and identifying specific processes under investigation.  The tools used in this phase are Failure Mode and Effects Analysis(FMEA), Control Charts, Basic Statistics and Probability, Probability Distribution, Nominal Distribution, Graphical Analysis, Data Collection plan, ANOVA etc.

Analyse phase involved detailed statistical analysis of the project. Hypothesis Testing, regression analysis and other statistical tools are extensively used.

Improve phase is aimed only on making the improvement like improving the designing, testing and implementation of the solution from previous phases. Design of Experiment (DOE), Implementation Plan, Change Plan etc tools are used in this project.

Control phase establishes automated and managed mechanisms to maintain and sustain improvements in the process. Poka-Yoke, Statistical Process control etc are important tools here.

Six Sigma Professionals

Six Sigma methods are today widely used all around the globe across all industries. Hence highly skilled six sigma professionals are required. According to skills, experience and responsibilities Six sigma professionals are organised into Six Sigma white belt, Six Sigma Yellow Belt, Six Sigma Green Belt, Six Sigma Black Belt, Six Sigma Master black Belt and Six Sigma Champion.

Six Sigma White Belt (CSSWB), has basic entry level knowledge of Six Sigma from awareness perspective. He/She can participate in local problem solving teams that supports overall projects but not a part of Six Sigma Teams.

Six Sigma Yellow Belt (CSSYB), is an entry level Six Sigma professional who has general level knowledge of Six Sigma and its methods. Participates as a Six Sigma project team member and reviews project improvement techniques etc.

Six Sigma Green Belt (CSSGB), have in depth knowledge of Six Sigma Methods, processes etc; Leads six sigma Projects and Teams; Trains Yellow belt and White belt. Project management, Team Management and Task Management are all Green belt’s responsibility. A green belt also supports a Black Belt in collecting and analysing quality problems.

Six Sigma Black Belt (CSSBB) , leads Six Sigma project, trains and coaches project team. She/he understands six sigma methods and tools in details including supporting systems and tools. A black belt understands all aspects of DMAIC in exact details and has six sigma experiences over 3 years.

 Six Sigma Master Black Belt (MBB), trains and coaches black belts and green belts. A MBB functions more a Six sigma Program Level by developing key metrics and strategic directions. A MBB acts as an organisation’s six sigma technologist and internal consultant. A MBB has Six Sigma Experience over 10 years.

Six Sigma Champion is the highest level of six sigma professional organisation. A Six sigma champion translates company’s goals and vision to create an organisational deployment plan, identifies project, allocates resources and removes road blocks.

Six Sigma training and Certifications can be obtained from American society of Quality(ASQ), Aveta Business institute and many more organisations internationally. In India, Indian Statistical institute(ISI), KPMG, Benchmark Six sigma, Govt. Of India’s ICSL Vskills etc. provide six sigma certification and training. Various companies have their internal Six Sigma certification program tailored to their needs.

Other Quality Assurance techniques

Six Sigma is the highest level of quality assurance which incorporates previous techniques. But there are many quality techniques which are used along with six sigma. Kaizen, TQM, Just in Time Technique(JIT), Lean manufacturing etc.

Kaizen refers to any continuous improvement( large or small) in an organisation. JIT caters to need of customers when it occurs.

Lean manufacturing focuses on lean philosophy which is about waste elimination in all forms at workplace. 5S workplace organisation, Kanban, Muri and Muda are all Lean Techniques.

Conclusion

In today’s highly competitive economy, quality assurance is of utmost importance. Be is customer satisfaction, increasing profits, eliminating waste etc , Six Sigma plays a vital role in all these aspects. Companies today work to achieve six sigma level of quality competence at all levels.

Author

Sidhartha Pattnaik , is a final year B.Tech student of Mechanical Engineering at  College Of Engineering and Technology, (Biju Patnaik University of Technogy), Bhubaneswar. He is also a Certified Six Sigma Green Belt (CSSGB) Professional with ICSL Vskills Licence No. 7278. He can be reached at sidharthapattnaik28@gmail.com

ELECTRONIC STABILISATION OF AN AUTOMOBILE

Sidhartha Pattnaik

B.Tech(Mechanical Engineering)

College Of Engineering and Technology, Bhubaneswar
sidharthapattnaik28@gmail.com

Where airbags are not even compulsory in India, Europe has made Electronic Stability Control (ESC) of Vehicles mandatory.

Now what is Electronic Stability Control? Let’s take a close look at it.

Electronic Stability Control is a computerised system used in automobiles that detects loss of traction (skidding) in a vehicle and improves stability.

Basically, ESC improves stability of a vehicle when there is a loss of steering. It automatically detects this. ESC works in complement with Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) and Traction Control System (TCS). In layman’s term ESC uses high-tech sensors, car’s central computer and mechanical action/devices to implement better control and stability of the vehicle.

Electronic Stability Control (ESC) is also known as Electronic Stability Program (ESP) or Dynamic Stability Control (DSC). Different auto-makers have different names for it. Ford calls it Advance Trac , GM has a name StabiliTrac , Porsche calls it Porsche Stability Management.

The ESC was first developed by Bosch in the year 1995. Mercedes Benz S-Class and BMW 7-series were the first to introduce it as a safety feature.

Electronic Stability Control Explained

So what does ESC do?

ESC uses a number of intelligent sensors that detect any loss of control and automatically apply brake on intended wheel, putting the car back on track. Additionally it reduces engine power temporarily to bring the vehicle back on track.

ESC is of assistance to the driver in:

·         correcting impending over steering or under steering;

·         stabilising the car during sudden evasive manoeuvres;

·         enhancing handling on gravel patches, such as road shoulders; and

·         Improving traction on slippery or icy roads.

During normal driving, ESC works in the background and continuously monitors steering and vehicle direction. It compares the driver's intended direction (determined through the measured steering wheel angle) to the vehicle's actual direction (determined through measured lateral acceleration, vehicle rotation (yaw), and individual road wheel speeds).

ECS intervenes when there is a probable loss of steering i.e the vehicle is not going in its intended path. This is technically called correcting over steering and under steering.

Under steer happens when the front wheels don't have enough traction and the car continues moving forward rather than turning. Over Steer is just the opposite, the car turns farther than the driver intended causing the rear wheels to slide and the car to spin. This can be properly understood by the following diagram.

 ESC estimates the direction of the skid, and then applies the brakes to individual wheels asymmetrically in order to create torque about the vehicle's vertical axis, opposing the skid and bringing the vehicle back in line with the driver's commanded direction. Additionally, the system may reduce engine power or operate the transmission to slow the vehicle down.

Components of ESC:

Electronic Stability Control (ESC) system incorporates other vehicle safety features like ABS, Traction Control System and Yaw control system.

A vehicle having ABS, Traction control etc. need not have electronic stability system but an ESC compulsorily has these systems. Now let’s see how these systems help in vehicle safety.

ABS refers to Anti-Lock braking system. Before the 1990s, drivers were taught to pump the brake pedal to keep the brakes from locking up and causing a slide. With the invention of anti-lock brakes, driving safely became much easier. ABS electronically pumped the brakes faster than the driver could, which kept them from locking and causing under steer or over steer. ESC uses this system to correct the problem almost before it can start by activating the ABS for as many wheels as needed, from one individual wheel to all four. The nature of ABS keeps the over- or under steer from getting worse while slowing the car to a controllable speed.

Traction control senses wheel slip (the drive wheels breaking loose and spinning) and reduces engine power or applies the brakes to stop it. Traction control can prevent some types of skids, but it does not provide the same level of protection as ESC. ESC programs have a traction control function, so while ESC can do the same job as traction control, traction control cannot do the same job as ESC.  If the traction control system is detecting wheel slippage, the electronic stability control sensor will pick up on the direction of the slide. If there's a difference between the angle of the steering wheel and the direction the car is sliding, the ESC will work with the traction control system to engage the ABS at the proper wheel (or wheels) and control the throttle to reduce the speed of the vehicle, too.

Now coming to Yaw Control, yawing is a gyroscopic effect on both ships as well as cars. Yawing means spinning or movement of the body about vertical axis or Z-axis. The ESC detects if the vehicle is spinning too far and springs into action and stabilises it.

The above image shows two cases one with ESC and other without.

There are various sensors used in ESC. The most important ones are-

1. Steering Wheel angle sensor- It measures the direction of rotation of the car i.e the direction in which the driver intends to aim the car. If it’s different than the direction that the car is actually travelling, ESC system activates.

2. Wheel Speed sensor- It measures the speed of the wheels. This sensor is attached to each wheel.

3. Yaw Rate sensor or Rotational speed sensor- This sensor determines how much the car is turning. It measures the actual state of the vehicle.

ESC uses a hydraulic modulator, so that all the brakes receive correct brake pressure.

The controlling centre of Electronic Stability Control System is the Electronic Control unit (ECU). Various control units are embedded in it.