Table of Contents
Instructions
Welcome to the Waterloo Aerial Robotics Group! The below instructions will walk you through the process of bootcamper onboarding!
Be sure you’ve read the basic information on our website’s join page ( https://www.uwarg.com/join ) as it explains what a bootcamp is and some introductory information regarding the team.
To verify that you are a UW student, please type:
/verifyor$verifyin the #verification channel.For more information, including manual verification, please see https://uwarg-docs.atlassian.net/l/cp/fvFg74UH . Being verified will let you see the rest of the channels.
Please do not use the #discord-server-feedback channel for verification bot commands!
If you are not a current UW student please see the below section regarding eligibility for participation in the team.
Please note if you do not see the #verification channel you are likely already verified. Please check your discord roles to confirm this, the role is “Verified” or “Verified Manual”.
Change your Discord server nickname to [Firstname Lastname].
Preferably uppercase the first letter and lower case the rest of your name as you would with any proper noun!
Decide which WARG subteam you’d like to join initially (aka do the bootcamp for)!
See below for our subteam descriptions.
In #role-signup, pickup some discord roles
Please note the order in which you add roles is important due to some roles having pre-requisites
Add the “new bootcamper” role
This may have been done automatically, but the bot we have doing this is unreliable
Add the subteam role(s) for the subteam you want to start on the bootcamp for
Add the subteam bootcamper role(s) for the subteam you want to start on the bootcamp for
Send a message in #introductions!
There's a pinned message you can follow as a template.
Send a message in the subteam’s bootcamp channel so that the subteam leads know that you are going to start the bootcamp.
Some subteams have more specific messages they’d like you to send as well, please follow the instructions below.
Go over to https://uwarg-docs.atlassian.net/l/cp/XXyg3PdY to get started on a subteam bootcamp!
In discord scroll down to find the bootcamp channel in the subteam categories.
Check out the links in #information and feel free to attend meetings. The meeting schedule is available on the Google Calendar and in the Events section of the Discord server. You are absolutely welcome to attend subteam meetings and/or work sessions even before you’ve completed your bootcamp.
After completing the bootcamp, follow these instructions to get up to speed: https://uwarg-docs.atlassian.net/l/cp/N8Kd6UPC
Subteam leads will provide further direction specific to the subteam. and please direction questions their way!
Here's to putting something great in the sky! 🍻
Subteam Descriptions
Sometimes newer members aren’t sure which subteam they should try out! Feel free to read the descriptions below and ask in discord if you have further questions.
Mechanical
The Mechanical subteam works on the design, construction, and testing of remotely piloted aircraft. Team members gain exposure to the design process and make justifiable mechanical design decisions based on project limitations and requirements.
Operations
Operations help with sponsorship outreach, marketing campaigns and produce graphic designs. Team members can gain both administrative and managerial experience as the designated support division for our technical subteams, ensure the remainder of the team have access to sufficient resources to meet their project deliverables and succeed.
Electrical
The Electrical subteam designs custom aircraft and flight circuitry, including flight controllers, motor controllers, voltage regulators, and more. Learn the ins and outs of schematic and PCB design, manufacturing, and hardware testing/validation.
Embedded Flight Software
Embedded Flight Software (EFS) develops custom flight software supporting sensor interfacing, controls, and autonomy. This includes writing state machines for path management and telemetry, writing sensor drivers, and implementing control algorithms such as PID loops.
Autonomy
Autonomy writes software for our UAV to deal in its environment on its own and work for extended periods of time without the pilot's intervention. The Autonomy team trains YOLO models to run real-time object detection on the ground, write software for optimizing path routes for the UAV to follow, and develop our custom Ground Station software that interacts with our aircraft in the air.
Resources
Check out some resources in Discord:
📖 For common information see #information.
❓ For any general questions please use #bootcamp-general.
❓ For subteam specific questions please see the specific subteam bootcamp channel.
Feel free to ping subteam leads and directors with questions as you onboard and give plenty of feedback to the process. We’re always looking to improve!
Multiple Bootcamps & Team Membership
To be a full member of WARG we require prospective members to complete a bootcamp for a single subteam. To become a member of a different subteam we request that you embark on that subteam’s bootcamp as well though of course you are already a member. Once you complete a singular bootcamp you count as a full member of the team! You are of course allowed to complete multiple bootcamps if you want to (they are good fun!) and you can do multiple bootcamps simultaneously.
Who is eligible to join WARG?
As far as official WARG members and bootcampers you must either be a current UW student or someone with an accepted (signed) UW offer. This is a requirement for our team due to funding being supplied by the university. Advisors are not subject to these requirements.
Skipping a bootcamp
In extremely rare instances WARG will grant permission for a bootcamper to skip completion of a subteam bootcamp. If you feel that you have completed a project requiring higher skill level than the bootcamp and would like to be exempt from the bootcamp, you can contact a subteam lead to explain and show them the project you have done. It will be up to the subteam lead’s discretion whether you qualify to be exempt from the bootcamp. If the subteam lead feels that you should still complete the bootcamp, it is because they think you can learn and gain skills from its completion. They may also ask you to complete a portion of the bootcamp instead of the entire bootcamp.
Note that the bootcamp is intended to be a valuable and/or fun design & CAD exercise for students of all skill levels! It can make a great addition to a portfolio and can potentially be a project to speak about in future interviews. For these reasons, it is recommended that students complete the bootcamp in all, however, if you still would like to be exempt, that’s okay too.
Further Readings
Bootcamp Introduction: https://uwarg-docs.atlassian.net/l/cp/XXyg3PdY
Discord New User Flow: New User Join Experience