Andrew Wright [W23 Mech Co-op] - Startup Guide
- Megan Spee
- Andrew Wright
Welcome to WARG!
We’re happy to have you on board as our new Mechanical Engineering Co-op! To aid your first few days here at WARG, we have created a startup guide that you can refer to to see what your projects will be, key contacts, and some steps you’ll have to take.
Background on Current Projects
WARG is currently working towards the 2023 AEAC student competition and developing a hybrid fixed-wing VTOL (Vertical Take-off landing) plane. The airframe layout is commonly called a “Quad Plane”.
The competition revolves around passenger transport solutions for barbie dolls - more information about the competition can be found in the CONOPS (concept of operations) link in #info on our discord.
Our key project threads revolve around developing ICARUS and the surrounding infrastructure to make it a reality.
Project ICARUS airframe
This is the actual airframe we are taking to competition and is pictured above.
Integrated Monitoring and Command Station (IMACS)
IMACS is our ground station solution for making it seamless to talk to our aircraft and deploy it anywhere for use.
Zeropilot 3 (ZP3)
Zeropilot is our next-generation custom autopilot controller that WARG develops. We plan, manufacture, and develop our own autopilot from the ground up.
Administrative Details
Key Contacts
Manager: @Megan Spee , megan.spee@uwaterloo.ca, Discord Atlas#0263
This is your go-to for anything administrative concerning your internship.
Mentor, Mech Co-lead: @Conall Kingshott , ckingsho@uwaterloo.ca, Discord Conallking#0325
Team Leads: (Executive) @Dhruv Upadhyay @Jinghao Lei, (Technical) @Sahil Kale
The team directors are those who run the WARG organization as a whole. They are in charge of the overall operation of the team and can be reached at any time over discord should the need arise.
Communication
Joining Discord
The team uses discord to communicate!
#introductions a few days ahead of your start date#infoSupervisor Meetings
Times and methods will be arranged depending on personal preference. Discord direct-messaging is often used, as it is the same platform the team uses for meetings.
For week 1, proposed plan: meetings on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday in the evenings, any 60-30 minute chunk between the hours of 6-10pm.
Your Tasks
Onboarding
Mechanical Bootcamp
New recruits to the Mechanical Team are required to complete a bootcamp (or bootcamp equivalence) for review. Often, this is a small project that can be added to one’s portfolio, as well as give new members practice and exposure to SolidWorks.
This will be your first task at WARG - essentially, we’d like you to provide a benchmark of your own experience, and become familiar with SolidWorks assemblies.
The link to the bootcamp is below. This should provide you with the resources to get started - as always, feel free to ask questions!
Mechanical Bootcamp - Archived S23
This task should be completed in the first couple of days at WARG. Ideally, the task is started the day of January 9th, and we can touch base about it in the evening.
Timeline: 1 day of work, subject to change depending on SolidWorks experience.
Due: January 13, 2023
To work in the student machine shops and the SDC (Sedra Student Design Centre), these training modules need to be completed. You may have finished some of these already as part of your degree.
You can access these courses by going to Learn, selecting “Self Registration,” and enrolling in these courses.
IMACS
WARG is bringing 2 antenna towers to competition. These, as well as the ground-station setup, will be your primary focus this term!
IMACS stands for Integrated Monitoring and Command Station. It involves every sub-team. A document that outlines IMACS is linked below to provide background. A lot of the content so far is telemetry and user interface requirements, but don’t be put off by how little the mechanical side is defined - this can actually be up to you, to find the best way to integrate all of the elements!
Integrated Monitoring and Command Station Requirements (IMACS)
** Please note the timelines for this task, as well as the details, are yet to be fully-defined. **
Broad guidelines for mechanical:
2 antenna towers
1 of them has a tracking antenna. This means it is equipped with a servo to rotate the antenna post.
This project is affiliated with the sub-teams: Sysint, EFS, Electrical. Talking to and working with each of these teams will be necessary.
Hardware boxes
We need a compact and easily-transportable solution for all the hardware at the ground station.
This is an example of a ground station: it’s Dronolab’s ground station setup in last year's competition. It includes 1 antenna tower and a 2-monitor 2-laptop control station.
ICARUS
WARG’s airframe for competition in May has been in progress since October 2022.
The version of it in the bay is our competition-standard iteration. It has carbon fibre (commonly abbreviated as CF) for the frame, and XPS foam for the wings and tail.
We also have a prototype version in the bay, titled Cornflakes.
Your involvement in this project may consist of:
3D printing parts, e.g. motor mounts out of carbon fibre reinforced PETG
Doing carbon fibre layups
Designing small, aerodynamic caps/covers for cables, ESCs (electronic speed controllers), and other parts that need to be hidden on the airframe
Any tasks associated with ICARUS will depend on what needs to be done each week.
This is a Low-Priority task that can be done if you have extra time.
Our previous thrust testing rig is poorly put together - we’re looking to design and build a better one. The objective of a thrust testing rig is to measure the thrust a motor can produce in combination with different propellers (commonly abbreviated to props) and batteries.
The photo below is an example from Google images of what a thrust testing rig should look like.
This is a Low-Priority task that can be done if you have extra time.
Resources:
A high-level timeline of your internship is articulated below. There is focus on 2 projects: ICARUS and IMACS.
Note that this is not a timeline for the entire team’s work, and it is not a finalized timeline for the winter term, either. This is to give you a big-picture look at your term and approximately how long each project should last.
Confirmation
Full Name | Andrew Wright |
Date | January 10th, 2023 |
Appendix
Links
What do all the acronyms mean? Check it out here:
Admin links
W23 Mech Co-op timeline, spreadsheet format