This page contains the schedule for the course, linked to the Solar Decathlon project schedule and deliverables.  Each term is a separate section, listed here in reverse chronological order.
Fall 2010
Activities in Fall 2010 are focused on the design development phase of the competition.  At the end of this phase, we should have a buildable design for the entire house.  Design documents are due to DOE on 23 November 2010.
Project GOTChA chart
This quad chart gives a snapshot of the planned activities for the term, at a high level.  This information is presented here in the form of a GOTChA chart.
| GoalsBuild an integrated team (SCI-Arc + Caltech) that can win the 2011 Solar DecathlonComplete the design development phase of the Solar Decathlon competition and submit design documents on timeEvaluate and explore options for providing some technology sizzle in our design
 | Technical ChallengesBring 20-30 new Caltech students from diverse backgrounds and skill levels up to speed quicklyIntegration of SCI-Arc and Caltech activities (people, goals, schedule, deliverables)Some existing baseline designs are not very complete; need more work and re-validationSome subsystems have no baseline design
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| ObjectivesAssign students to subsystems and teams, with linkages between teams with overlapping functionality or interfacesFor subsystems with existing baseline designs:
Revalidate the baseline design computations and verify that baseline can achieve maximum points for relevant competition(s)Communicate and agree on specifications and choices with IPT and SCI-Arc teamsPerform model-based analysis of system performance in a form that can be used for trade-off studiesDocument the baseline design in a manner that is compatible with design development phase deliverableEvaluate technology options that can be incorporated into our design and perform cost analysis for each
For subsystems without existing baseline designs:
Analyze options design with performance, cost, electrical load, thermal load estimatesEstablish a baseline design that can achieve maximum points for relevant competition(s), in agreement with IPT and SCI-Arc teamsDocument the baseline design in a manner that is compatible with design development phase deliverable
Develop and maintain system-level cost and energy budgets and use these to verify ability to maximize points on engineering-driven competitions
Provide a design capable of full capability (max points) with net-zero energy consumption for 95th percentile dayProvide a design capable of 90% max points on worst case day (over last 20 years)
 | ApproachStick to summer 2010 system architecture decisions; avoid re-inventing the wheelHold off on alterations to the baseline until we have a fully analyzed, documented and costed baselineSchedule planning event with Caltech + SCI-Arc to help people meet each other and align goals, milestones and scheduleMake use of the project wiki as a mechanism to document and enhance team communicationIdentify individual students who will be responsible for insuring good cross-project integration between appropriate groupsDevelop analytical or computational models demonstrating that specifications can be metMilestones
13 Oct: each subsystem team knows what SD rules apply to their subsystem + understand existing baseline design27 Oct: revalidated/preliminary baseline design computations for each subsystem (depending on initial state); shared decision making between SCI-Arc and Caltech10 Nov: rigorously analyzed and documented baseline designs complete for all subsystems23 Nov: design development documentation complete and delivered to DOE10 Dec: final reports for each student due, with complete subsystem documentation available on project wiki
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Course schedule
| Week | Date | Topic | Reading/Activities | Homework | 
| 1 | 27 Sep (M) | Organizational meeting Reed: Solar Decathlon overview [15 min]Fei: Baseline overview [15 min]Richard: CS/EE/ME 75 organization [20 min]Q&A [5 min]
 | Submit signup and scheduling sheet by Wed @ noon to box outside 109 SteeleRead SD rules and baseline design descriptions (see HW #1)Team assignments (required for HW #1) will be available by Thursday (30 Sep)
 | HW #1 SD competition rulesSubsystem baseline descriptionWiki user page creation
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| 2 | 4 Oct (M) | Project schedule Overall SD schedule [Reed]SCI-Arc/Caltech master schedule for fall [Reed]GOTChA charts [Richard]Milestone "party" (9 Oct?)
 | Team meetings start.  Joint scheduling event with Sci-Arc on 9 Oct (?)
 | HW #2: Team schedules, subsystem GOTChAs | 
| 3 | 11 Oct (M)* | System specifications Baseline specifications [Fei]Documentation format [Reed]
 |  | HW #3: Project specifications | 
| 4 | 18 Oct (M) | System modeling |  | HW #4: Baseline model and analysis | 
| 5 | 25 Oct (M)* | Design review process | Design reviews (midterms) |  | 
| 6 | 1 Nov (M) | Team presentation |  |  | 
| 7 | 8 Nov (M)* | Team presentation |  |  | 
| 8 | 15 Nov (M)* | Team presentation |  | Design review | 
| 9 | 22 Nov (M) | Project review | Building information model, design drawings and project manual due |  | 
| 10 | 29 Nov (M) | Lessons learned and plans for second term |  | Project documentation due (end of finals) |