2024-10-12 Leads Meeting

Owned by Carmelli
Last updated: Oct 12, 2024 by Carmelli Dao
4 min read

  1. General

    1. ASC regulations for 2025 released

      1. https://www.americansolarchallenge.org/ASC/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/FSGP2025-Regs-RevA.pdf

    2. Next leads meeting cancelled due to midterms

    3. Reminder: members can view ops purchasing form, but only leads can make purchases

  2. Electrical

    1. General HW Update : Tasks assigned at working sessions, give a general update for each category

      1. BMS : Working on Improved AFEs to increase discharge rate, can configure discharge time to be more flexible, work with Firmware on this

      2. Precharge validated and works, Jun (co-op) is helping with redesigning current Carrier Board

      3. Planning a time to do Solar Testing after Midterms/Potentially vehicle testing sometime in November before potential snow kicks in

    2. PCS Testing will be happening tonight

    3. Coordinating HV Supply use with other teams?

    4. Will be starting to work on PVDR/VDR on Elec for a early submission, co-op to assist with this

    5. Elec Mech Integration Interiors : Board layouts(Center Console is being reworked)

    6. General FW Update: Helping new members with their tasks + MS16 repo setup

      1. Reworked pedal to improve responsiveness (Heard you had to push ~30-40% bfr you get any output, should be better now)

      2. Watchdog/backup register drivers. More bootloader infrastructure

      3. Hardware-in-the-loop discussions. Likely going to architect one this term (After midterms)

        1. Will work with HW on this. It should be very scalable considering our car uses the same STM on every board

      4. RTOS and HAL drivers are added to new repo

  3. Mechanical

    1. **PVDR due Nov 15, VDR due Jan 31

    2. Conversations through Private Messages

      1. First year design sprints can remain private, team progress keep public (aka keep them in mechanical, helps w transparency)

    3. Meetings on discord

    4. Review of Mech based funding requests

    5. Space Claim 4 after midterms, open to discussions on discord through public channels

    6. Bild Etiquette

    7. Exteriors:

      • Car length: < Reg Maximum (5.8m)

      • Ideally between 5.6-5.7m

      • Check exact length of trailer - Evan checking after meeting

      • Finalizing plans for dynamic wheel covers

      • Finalizing width of bottom profile (1200mm)

      • Going with slightly curved side profiles

      • Research task for solar array area, canopy sizing

      • New safety equipment + chemicals to be purchased

      • Dean’s funding for R&D for exteriors

    8. Chassis/Internals

      • PCB enclosure design sprints for new members are underway

      • MS15.5 Waterproofing - research to be done

      • Rollcage development is still underway

      • Possible wheel position rule may impact wheelbase length and position (see wheelbase extension thread @ mechanical) → chassis position

        • prioritize solar panel area

        • will be more dynamics integration questions that arise - will happen between now till space claim 4 (ex. possible track extension for turning radius)

        • please get approximate mass and CG location for your system before space claim 4 - will be helpful with chassis design decisions

      • Front wheel has to be 60% of car’s length from front plane (could be a possible regulation, won’t know until 2026 regs are released)

    9. Battery

      • MS15.5:

        • Finished making adjustments and reprinting inlet, need to reprint outlets (accidentally thrown out)

        • Enclosure removal tool (4 members) - meeting on 10/30/2024 from 8:30-9:15pm to go over design and approve the MS15.5 removal tool for manufacturing

      • MS16:

        • Researching cells - Excel sheet updates in-progress. Cell testing will start next term

        • MS16 Enclosure ideation - gave rough overall scope of design requirements for MS16 enclosure, (2 total), ideating early-waterproofing concepts

        • Thermal sims - ideating test procedure comparing the relationship between the number of cells in parallel in relation to temperature. Considered manufacturing modules with different parallel counts and recording temperature produced in a closed-enclosure. Meeting with @Shem Kim and @Vaibhav Bommalapalayam after midterms to discuss further

        • Module root cause analysis - corrosion occurrences on over-discharged cells - will email profs for help with root cause analysis

      • ** FYI new 3d-printing channel under mechanical for all things 3D printing related

      • $5000 for future cells (MS16)

    10. Dynamics

      • Rear hub design Sprint

        • 3 groups

        • FEA November

      • Suspension Nodal & Research Update

        • FSU - occupancy cell dimensions are now set, nodal has begun and should have a basic nodal drawing for Tuesday. Research will continue over reading week and midterms; four-bar linkage and bell crank design are what we are researching most.

        • Shock has been specked. The spring that is picked will depend on force calcs further down the road.

        • FSU MVP Nodal ready before midterms (probably)

        • RSU preliminary updates in MS16

      • Steering Nodal

        • Working on nodal

        • Calcs for optimizing nodal, matlab script for this week

        • Documentation starting

      • Brakes

        • MS15.5 OTS part spec update: ideally ordered in November

        • Changing tilt of brake pedal, limit switch reconfiguration,

  4. Operations

    1. Post for CAGIS is finished - planning on starting with monthly/biweekly updates on instagram (if there’s anything you want featured lmk)

    2. WEEF and ENGSOC internal funding outlines are all good to go, just need to fill it with our sub team updates, and some of the funding requests (all funding requests have to be made by next Saturday in the morning AT THE LATEST)

      1. Submit proposals by next Thursday/Friday

      2. Dean’s Funding thread to be made in discord

    3. At least 2 instagram posts for jlcpcb for their sponsorship + at least 1 PR/project/technical article

    4. Aden - A confluence page on things like NDA policy/confidentiality would be good I think : would like some thoughts on this