We're Back

The team got back from break and started classes this past week. We've sat down and broken out everyone's individual responsibilities and we're rapidly coming to appreciate how much fun we have ahead of us.

All of the main components have arrived, so we began the process of figuring out how everything works. Mike started playing with the GPS and the Radio Modem to see what kind of signals we'll need to pass between these parts and our processor. Kevin has started playing around with the processor board and was disappointed to learn that in required a little more assembly than we initially thought.

I'm working on getting our motors from EAD to work with our motor controllers, and once this is done we'll be testing the motor controllers with signals from the processor.

Gus is currently designing a power housekeeping board that will take the 48 V from our batteries and step in down to 12V, 5V, and 3V as required by our various sensors and other electronics. After we design the schematic, we're planning to lay out the circuit and send out for a custom printed circuit board.

Scott and I are working to finalize the design of the chassis components and get the drawings sent off to Pete in the Thayer school machine shop, who will be helping us with the CNC machining.

Drew is working on contacting companies to get out chassis anodized. We've found that most companies don't have the capability to anodize parts this big, so we are continuing to look for alternatives. Drew is also looking for competent Aluminum welders so we can set up our fixturing and assemble the chassis.

We'll be updating this at least twice a week so check back regularly for updates.