Competition Description

Welcome to the first-ever Engineering Competition at Local Motors.

This is a CAD based engineering competition for everyone with experience in CAD software (SolidWorks, CATIA, etc.).

This Roof Mounted Light Bar Competition is only the first engineering challenge, and it is an important one for both aesthetic and function. The winning design will be built and brought to life, featured prominently on the limited Rally Fighter Race Edition. The Local Motors community will vote to choose the winner. If you are the winner, your name will be featured on the light bar as a badge of honor, you will win $500, and a Solidworks seat provided by R&D Technologies.

For this competition, the required Rally Fighter chassis data is available for download and can be found in the Ignition Kit. Chassis data is necessary for two reasons. One, it gives you Rally Fighter dimensions to work with; this is a competition to design an accessory to fit the Rally Fighter, keep this in mind. Two, it is the first step in our effort to make the chassis data fully open to the public. By doing this we are giving everyone the chance to develop and build parts for the Rally Fighter. We are striving for a completely open chassis and open-sourced parts and accessories developed by the community.

By inviting you, the community, to participate in the development of the Rally Fighter and accessories, we are aiming to ensure the end products are desirable. You wouldn't design a Light Bar you don't like, and the community certainly will not vote for one they don't want. What you want matters, so we hope you will participate.

We also hope this will reinvigorate your passion for engineering design. Sangho Kim is the designer of the Rally Fighter, and had great help from the community. His name will forever live with the Rally Fighter name. Mihai Panaitescu is the designer of the Rally Fighter interior; you will find his name inside. Raphael Laurent designed the Side-Vent, and he has made his mark as well. Now, it is your turn.

Do you have what it takes to design the Rally Fighter's Roof Mounted Light Bar? Read on!

This much-needed accessory for competitive and recreational Baja and off-road racing has specific requirements. During the day, this Light Bar will have to fold down or collapse for protection while the Rally Fighter is slammed around corners and over jumps; the Light Bar needs to endure pelting from sand and gravel, all while protecting the glass of the light bulbs.

For night racing, this Light Bar will have to easily fold out while maintaining its strength and dealing with the same stresses of daytime driving; all the while throwing light far and wide down the trail.

We will deal with fitting your individually designed Roof Mounted Light Bar through the roof of the Rally Fighter so you can focus on the details of your own design.

As always, it is up to you as a community to choose the winner. The LM Engineering Team will help guide the voting process with feedback in regard to buildability, functionality and price.

Voting on the Light Bar proposals will be based on compliance with the Engineering Requirements as well as: strength, aesthetics, ease of manufacturing, and overall effectiveness for the purpose of the limited Rally Fighter Race Edition.

While working on your design we suggest, but do not require, you to use the "Checkup" critique feature. Once you submit your design for checkup the community can make comments, suggestions, and visual alterations using Aviary in a new post. What you learn from this Checkup process is up to you; but don't be afraid of sharing your proposal as it is being developed; over 75% of Local Motors' competition winners have taken advantage of community feedback by using Checkup. Remember, these members will ultimately be choosing the winner, so their feedback could be critical. The feedback and ideas you take out of the checkups are yours to keep, and do not effect your ownership of the design or the prize you can win.

Also, by posting a checkup you may use Aviary yourself to work on your modification of the package (i.e dimensioned drawing provided in the Ignition Kit) in four views (Front, Rear, Top, and One Side), and ultimately submit this as a deliverable.

Remember to submit all of the deliverables before the final submission deadline of July 20, 2009 (23:59, est, -4 UTC).

Don't forget to EMAIL your igs and SolidWorks files to: aleopold@local-motors.com. If you have questions regarding this competition, please ask it publicly in the Engineering Competition forum thread.

To get started, by download the files in the ignition kit in the "Competition Guidelines" section above!

This LM engineering competition is the first of many. Builders and engineers now have a space to be creative, to compete, and to contribute to Rally Fighter development.