Welding Simulator for Off-Road Racing Team

Auburn Off Road is a student-led organization that designs and constructs an off-road vehicle each year in pursuit of a perfect balance of speed, strength, and endurance. We then compete against our peers from other universities. And, like all Auburn students, we want to be the best!

We design, build, fund, and race our car ourselves, with some help from corporate partners and generous donors like you.

On Tiger Giving Day, we are raising funds to purchase an augmented reality (AR) welding trainer that will allow safe, economical welding training for engineering design-build teams.

Auburn Off Road will pilot the use of this equipment and develop training protocol in conjunction the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering Safety Manager and Auburn Risk Management and Safety. Training programs will be implemented as a resource to student teams across the college and may lead to implementation in the new Maker Space in the Brown-Kopel Student Success Center, making it available to all engineering students.

Auburn Off Road, and other design-build teams within the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, like War Eagle Motorsports (AERO, ELEC, MECH) the ASCE (CIVIL) steel bridge team, and the 1/4 Scale Tractor (BSEN) team, require some level of welding skill to manufacture safe, quality parts for competitions and learning outcomes. An augmented reality welding trainer simulates real welding experience and provides safe, economical training for students to learn welding on industry standard equipment.

Currently, welding is self-taught by each team. Augmented reality training would allow students to train without using the traditional metals and gases in a safe classroom environment while giving recorded and detailed feedback to the students for improvement. The Miller Welding AugmentedArc system allow students to learn three basic types of welding: MIG, TIG, and shielded metal arc welding (stick welding).

We are a small group of students who come from a variety of places, backgrounds, and majors. Together, we work, learn, and travel in pursuit of our goal to win. Those who stick with the team become part of a family. We learn to work as a team not only for today, but also for future careers.

Please help us build machines to go racing. War Eagle!

If you are an Auburn Engineering graduate, your gifts will count toward the SEC Engineering Challenge. From now until June 30, 2019, your gift of $100 or more will count toward Auburn’s standing in the SEC Engineering Challenge. The school with the highest percentage of alumni responding will win the SEC Engineering Challenge.