The hardware team at Midnight Sun is responsible for all of the electrical systems that drive and control our vehicle. This includes the design, manufacturing and assembly of our Power train, Battery Management System, Solar management and Driver controls PCBs and interconnects.
Importantand much more summarized under Theory of Operation - MSXV Hardware
Upcoming Sessions/Meetings
Upcoming 101 |
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HW Onboarding 101 - Tuesday September 10th @6:00pm - 9:00pm | |
Weekly Meetings | Standup |
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Term Goals
MVP Electrical Mock-up
Unit testing completed for each Board and Electrical Mock-up Completion
Final Board Design
Final revisions of all Designs pushed out for Manufacturing
Onboarding
Onboarding new members and overcoming the hardware learning curve
Term Projects
Electrical Mock-up
Electrical Mockup Assembly + Validation
Board Cycles
Altium Design and manufacturing of the last revisions for all the boards
Onboarding
Hardware Tutorial and weekly knowledge shares + new member tasks
Member Responsibilities
On-site:
Assembling and validating PCBs that were sent out (there are a loooot…so have fun).
Assembling and validating the electrical mockup.
Off-site:
Creating/modifying schematics and PCB layouts when new design tasks come up.
Performing analysis on the current electrical systems.
Adding to the electrical mockup diagram (mockup is probably not the right word since this is the super comprehensive diagram that ends all diagrams).
Onboarding
Our current plan is to get new members familiar with the electrical systems and get them ready for on-site work in the bay.
There’s already plenty of content on our electrical systems on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpXh_w8mLQdn6FUd2g2Zt7g.
There are also worksheets and powerpoint presentations for better understanding the car: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13uOH0kVVVJOUKoCX0v-2r-Ecw_jVyUPI?usp=sharing
We are currently in the process of creating some new content for bay work.
Software & Programs Used
Software/Program Name
What it’s used for
Altium Designer
PCB Design Tool
LTSpice
Simulation Tool
Altium 365
PCB Design file server
Confluence
All Documentation
Jira
Task Ticketing Tool
Your Winter 2021 Hardware Leads & Project Managers
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Aashmika Mali - Technical Lead
About Me
Hi! My name is Aashmika and I have been working on the Hardware team for Midnight Sun since September of 2018! I have been one of the Hardware leads for about a year now, and help make sure that the design and manufacturing of all our electrical systems is thought out and done in time for racing MS14 in the summer of 2021.
On midsun I have helped design a bunch of the boards (like DC-DC and Solar Sense) and ensure that our systems level architecture is suitable for the design of MS14. I have also conducted a bunch of the knowledge shares during the S20 term so you may hear my voice a lot LOL. This term I will be leading the development of the electrical mockup that will be used to conduct integration testing on our powertrain, battery management and driver controls systems.
I’ve co-oped at Magna and Apple for hardware positions. Feel free to reach out to me for looking over resumes and/or any questions about prepping for hardware interviews! I look forward to meeting all of you (virtually) and it should be a fun term.
Talk to Me About
Any questions about systems and board level design, operation, validation, assembly/manufacturing
Any questions about tasks you’re working on
Any Altium or A365 related questions
Any questions about the hardware team’s job
Anything about EE/Hardware coops
(This is from before university but I haven’t changed much)
Micah Black - Technical Lead
About Me
I’ve been on Midnight Sun since my 1A term in Sept. 2018. I am now in my 2B term of Mechatronics Engineering and have completed 3 coops at Aerial Vehicle Safety Solutions, Pegasus Aeronautics, and Tesla. On the hardware team I’m mostly responsible for the integration of all the boards and wires into the car, electrical architecture, hardware validation, and making sure good documentation exists for the car.
On Midnight Sun, I’m also the Battery Technical Lead, and will be manufacturing MSXIV’s 11kWh battery box this term.
Fun facts
I’ve never actually designed a board for Midnight Sun
I broke one of MSXII’s brake rotors during dynamics testing
Talk to Me About
Batteries - cell chemistry, module construction, testing, anything
Electrical testing and using test equipment - how to prove your design works
Writing good documentation / design decisions / testing plans
Deciphering datasheets
Arranging your own coops (or anything about coop / resume critiques)
Spreadsheets - special formulas / macros / custom functions / VBA (I happen to be pretty good at them and seem to get annoyed when they are not done properly - but I’d love to help you do them better!)
Most other engineering / manufacturing related topics
Kristen Shiozaki - Project Manager Kristen Emiko Shiozaki (Deactivated)
About Me
Nice to meet you! I’m in my 2B school term in SYDE, with a background in UI/UX Design and QA. I joined back in Fall 2018 on the Business and Interiors teams. I’m currently the Operations Manager for Midnight sun and am helping lead the Interiors, Hardware and Business teams.
Talk to Me About
Just about anything non-technical for hardware (I’m in the same boat and learning like you guys - just joined Hardware in August 
). You can ask me about the other subteams I’m a part of and I’m also in the job search realm for UI / UX Design. Also down to chat about sports and my weird music tastes (Cpop, Kpop, Jpop, Instrumental, Classical… yikes)
: Weekly on Tuesdays at 6:00pm |
Fall 2024 Term Projects
On-boarding | Hardware systems overview, new-member electrical design challenge, and PCB design challenge/workshop |
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PCB Layout Design | Altium PCB schematic capture/layout for any of our unfinished boards |
Validation + Assembly | Get hands on in building one of our boards, and then validate that it works |
Vehicle Harness | Refining vehicle cable harnessing, includes crimping/investigation of ways to improve water-proofing. |
Design Research | Investigating components/research ideas for board improvements and architectural-level optimizations. |
To take on any of the above tasks, attend stand-ups and we’ll get you started :D
Your Fall 2024 Leads
Forest - Electrical Project Manager Forest Zhou
Hey I’m Forest, a 3B EE student who’s been on the team since my 1A term. Definitely let me know how I can help you get the most out of joining the team!
Talk to Me About
Anything hardware (coop included)
School
Life
Cycling
Aden - Electrical Lead Aden Chu
Hiya, I’m Aden! I’m a 2B EE student who joined after the 1B term. I’ve always loved electronics/anything STEM related since I was very young. I love talking and sharing things with people, so I’m always around to guide. Midsun has been a great community to meet people and learn new things, so I hope you enjoy it as well!
Talk to Me About
Anything STEM related, including school(quite literally, anything lol)
Life away from home
Music & Instruments
Video Games, Computers, Video editing
Evan- Electrical Lead Evan McCarthy
Hi, I’m Evan! I’m in 2A CE, and I’ve been on the team since I started 1A. I’ve learned almost everything I know about electronics through Midnight Sun, and I hope we can help you to improve your skills and build a great car!
Talk to Me About
Cooking
BMS systems
Anything!
Skills to Thrive on the Subteam
Eagerness to learn
Willingness to learn/being persistent Perseverance → hardware is a learning curve but overcoming it is rewarding
Time management - working on a design team and school is always a balancing act
Interest in electrical systems and manufacturing
things such as PCBA capture/system integration
Helpful links
Jira board(Project Tracking): https://uwmidsun.atlassian.net/jira/software/projects/MHMSXVHW/boards/14
A365 server:
https://university-of-waterloo-solar-car-team.365.altium.com/26
Project Summary/Related Link: Theory of Operation - MSXV Hardware