Big Picture Overview for New Members!
Midnight Sun’s Battery Box Team is in charge of giving the car power to move (as well as helping with electrical integration). Our main battery pack is essential for two functions:
Store excess energy collected from solar cells
Provide supplemental power for our vehicle on days with limited sunlight, or when we want to go fast, or when we drive up a hill (or all three at once)
We assemble hundreds of lithium-ion battery cells into a battery pack that provides the necessary voltage and current for our motors to power MS(XV)!
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Member Responsibilities
Depending on whether you’re onsite (in the bay) or offsite (remote), you will gain exposure to different elements.
These are the main tasks to be completed from Fall 2023 - onwards. Battery Box Deadlines - MSXV
For onsite members, you’ll gain exposure to:
Battery module engineering and manufacturing including but not limited to:
Spot welding
3D printing
Manufacturing techniques
Adhesives
Bolted connections
High voltage safety
Battery testing strategies
Attending weekly team check-ins and working sessions over the web on discord / in-person @ the bay (Sedra Student Design Center in E7!)
For offsite members, you’ll gain exposure to:
Design and analysis of battery pack components including but not limited to:
Research and design for battery testing and manufacturing
3D printed mounts
High-current electrical connections
Data processing for battery tests (using python)
Thermal simulation for module optimization (SimScale/Ansys)
SOLIDWORKS design for battery pack components
Exposure to the supplier-interfacing process
Attending weekly team check-ins over the web on discord
Required Skills
You are:
A student passionate about design (interest in cars and batteries is a bonus)
A hard worker, with the ability to complete tasks with minimal supervision (but we’re always here to help)
A quick problem solver who isn't afraid to think outside the box
Willing to learn new skills and improve your existing skills
Strong time management skills for daily tasks and able to work on multiple projects simultaneously
Good to Have / What You’ll Learn
We don't expect members to have anything other than the above skills, however, the following are nice to have:
Basic understanding of Design for Manufacture (DFM) and Design for Assembly methodologies (DFA) (combined, they’re commonly referred to as DFMA)
Someone with exposure to a CAD package (SOLIDWORKS preferred)
Knowledge of solid mechanics (stress analysis, failure methods)
Exposure to rapid prototyping (3D printing)
Basic battery building knowledge (e.g. series and parallel, cell module and pack levels)
Exposure to technical drawing creation
Communication for Getting Started
 | Battery Box Co-lead: Owen Li When: Anytime remote! |
 | Battery Box Project Manager: Jenna K Note: Please direct all onboarding related questions to other members! When: Good most weekdays/weekends and anytime on Slack Email: jy2kong@uwaterloo.ca |
 | Battery Box Co-lead: Donna Kim Note: In charge of most of the onboarding activities. If confused who to ask onboarding related things about, ask Donna. When: Onsite some weekends, available most weekday afternoons and always available on Slack Email: d28kim@uwaterloo.ca |
 | Battery Box Junior Lead In-Training: Nicole Choe When: Anytime remote, preferably through Slack. Onsite weekdays after 6pm, and on weekends! Email: nfchoe@uwaterloo.ca |
 | Battery Box Junior Lead In-Training: Shem Kim When: Anytime remote on Slack or email. Might not respond before 4:30PM on weekdays. Email: s56kim@uwaterloo.ca |
Where to Go From This Page
First, join our Discord and Slack if you haven’t already! Feel free to reach out to Donna if you’re not sure how to join.
Once you’re in, check out the Intro Project (Onboarding - MSXV)!
Estimated Time Commitment for Onboarding
Task | Estimated Time Needed (super rough estimate, actual time taken will vary by person and will most likely be shorter!) |
|---|---|
Attending First General, Mech 101, and first Battery Box check-in | 3.5 hours total |
Working through Intro Project | 4 hours per week for 3 weeks (12 hours total) |
Current Projects
These are the main tasks to be completed from Fall 2023 - onwards. Battery Box Deadlines - MSXV
More details can be found in each task’s Trello card (we’ll introduce the Trello system during our first check-in!!) and by contacting each task’s project lead:
Project | Description | More Information |
|---|---|---|
Auxiliary Battery | Smaller battery pack separate from the main batteries. Serves several purposes:
Relevant tasks: | Project Lead: Darton Li For more information: |
Battery Module Manufacturing | Our main battery pack is made up of 9 modules connected in series, with each module being made up of Li-ion 21700 cells in a 4S8P configuration. Relevant tasks:
| Project Lead: Donna Kim For more information: |
BMS (Battery Management System) | Battery packs are dangerous to use without an electrical system that checks its health/state (temperature, current, voltage, charge balance). The BMS actively keeps track of the state of the modules and actively protects the cells while also informing the driver of the state of the pack. Relevant tasks:
| Project Lead: Jenna Kim For more information:
|
Enclosure | The enclosure is the box that holds the main battery pack and also the BMS boards. Relevant tasks:
| Project Lead: Nicole Choe (Contact Shem Kim if Nicole is unavailable) For more information: |
As you can see, Battery Box is a cool mix of Mechanical, Software, and Electrical engineering, meaning it’s perfect for people of any background + if you’re interested in branching out to other engineering fields, or if you’re just interested in trying everything!
Further Information
If you want further information about our battery system, feel free to watch these zoom recordings by our previous Battery Box Lead and Advisor Micah Black: https://uwmidsun.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/MECH/pages/1270743483/Zoom+Meeting+Recordings
MSXV Battery Box Table of Contents