A manufacturing-driven RC car build focused on producing a full wheel system at scale and optimizing traction and robustness for obstacle-course performance. We placed 1st out of 6 teams with a 42s course time and produced 160 wheels.
This project emphasized building a wheel system that could be manufactured repeatably and integrated cleanly with drivetrain, suspension, and steering constraints. We iterated the wheel and tire design for performance on the obstacle course while optimizing the production process for throughput and reliability.
We developed a full production workflow: waterjet blanks → lathe jig and fixturing → CAM finishing. The lathe strategy was revised to reduce cycle time significantly while maintaining surface quality.