CS/EE/ME 75, 2015-16 - Project Organization
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This page describes the organization of the Formula SAE Electric, as reflected through CS/EE/ME 75. This page is in draft form, pending discussion with the IPT.
Project Mission Statement
The mission of the Caltech Formula SAE Electric team is to:
- Gain hands-on engineering experience by designing and building energy efficient race vehicles
- Apply engineering concepts and better understand the mechanical, electrical and controls aspects of EV technology
- Develop innovative engineering solutions
- Assess costs and benefits to different power systems for vehicles
- Compete in and win SAE Formula Electric competition
- Engage the community
Engineering Team Principles
- Safety is our main priority. If you don't know how to do something, find someone who does to help/teach you.
- Communication is key to our success.
- Nothing is impossible
Engineering Team Structure
Design DivisionsIntegrated Product Team (IPT)Project Lead Engineer: RA
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Division and system descriptions
The work in the project is broken up into a number of systems, each the responsibility of a one of the three design divisions. The descriptions below, broken up by division, give a brief summary of the functions required of each subsystem.
Integrated Product Team
The integrated product team (IPT) consists of representative from each of the engineering divisions as well as the support division. The IPT is responsible for overall design coordination, including maintaining system-level cost, energy and thermal budgets. Conflicts between subsystems will be discussed and resolved through the IPT, in coordination with the relevant subsystems and/or divisions.
Mechanical
The mechanical division is responsible for the vehicle frame, suspension and drivetrain, including the driver interface (pedals, steering wheel). The division is broken into four systems:
Structural Frame The structural frame team will be responsible for the design an prototyping of the car chassis upon which all other components are mounted, suspension that meets rules criteria while maximizing performance and the motor mounts. Experience with CAD software would be beneficial; the team will need to work closely with other components teams to ensure all components fit into the frame and that weight is distributed suitably.
Body Shell This team will be involved in the development of the body panels that will provide aerodynamic streamlining of the vehicle and waterproofing for the rain test. It will also include investigating the potential benefits of including aerofoils in the design, as well as design of the controller and battery boxes that will be mounted onto the frame and the firewall that shields the driver from catastrophic failure.
Drivetrain The motor and controllers designed by the energetics team will be interfaced with the wheels via a direct drive linkage that will be designed by the Drivetrain team. They will also be responsible for selection of the wheels and tires used in the vehicle, as well as for the design of the braking and cooling systems.
Driver interface This team will be responsible for developing the controls that will allow the driver to interface with the vehicle, including the pedal system, steering column and readout displays for information such as speed and battery levels. The drivers seat and how it mounts to the frame will also be their responsibility.
Energetics
The energetics division is responsible for all electrical and control systems within and outside the vehicle. This includes all hardware, firmware, and software that runs on the vehicle or is used for remote monitoring, as well as all power systems. The division is broken into four systems:
Power The power system team handles everything related to storage and distribution of power, such as batteries and power circuitry. Familiarity with electrical and power systems is necessary for everybody in the team, and some programming will be useful when working on the system's controllers.
Hardware The hardware team is responsible for designing and implementing all embedded hardware systems, such as the core and module boards. Familiarity with electrical circuits and embedded hardware is important within the team, and an understanding of firmware is beneficial.
Firmware The firmware team designs and writes the firmware running on the core and module boards, and any other hardware devices; this includes RTOS extensions, drivers, etc. Team members should be familiar with low-level software constructs and design, and understand how to interface with hardware.
Software The software team is responsible for higher-level software running on the core and module boards, and the ground control station; this includes embedded applications, controls systems, monitoring systems, communication libraries, etc. Team members should be familiar with higher-level software constructs and design.
Operations
The operations division is responsible for the vehicle frame, suspension and drivetrain, including the driver interface (pedals, steering wheel). The division is broken into four systems:
Systems modeling
Safety procedures
Test procedures
Computing systems The computing systems team is responsible for maintaining project computing resources, including mailing lists, wikis and shared project documents.
Support
The support division is responsible for the vehicle frame, suspension and drivetrain, including the driver interface (pedals, steering wheel). The division is broken into four systems:
Fund raising
Communications
Facilities/equipment
Outreach/events
