Off-World Robotics
Rover
From the OWR CTO
The last month has been an incredibly busy one for the rover team, as members finalised development and testing for the European Rover Challenge (ERC).
Bohan Deng, Off-World Robotics CTO
Rover Electrical
With the ERC deadline rapidly approaching, the electrical team has been working on modularising wiring to compliment the new module boxes. The improved wiring management has eased the diagnosis of complications, most notably in the drive and power modules while improving the aesthetic of the rover as well. Meanwhile, spare components were stocked and prepared for the trip to Poland.
In the coming month, the rest of the electrical team will be taking inventory and preparing their suggestions for post ERC review. With ambitious proposals already in the mix, the team will be looking into revamping induction training to the electrical team to meet future plans.
Jason Love, Rover Elec Chapter Lead
Rover Mechanical
Throughout last month, we have tested the rover intensively. Several components broke, and we found out a number of flaws of our designs; with that being said, the team has worked hard to fix and improve the rover. With all mechanical components upgraded, manufactured and repaired, the rover is now ready to go to Poland for ERC.
Quoc Trung (Alex) Vo, Rover Mech Chapter Lead
Drone
August was a bit of a slow month for us, with most of our progress being made on building an acrylic prototype for our chassis. Based off the prototype, we identified a few flaws and modified the design. The software team also made some progress with networking for the various components on the drone.
Lexman Palanirajan, Drone Team Lead
Satellite
From the Satellite CTO
August has been the exam period for BLUESat with members absent to study and celebrate post-exams. Documentation has greatly improved, as well as putting new protocols for documentation in place. Inventory management is ready to be utilised as orders for components are ready to arrive in the coming month, beginning weeks of building and testing. Lastly, the leaders are planning schedules and activities for potential new members that are set to join in the coming on-boarding session.
Timothy Guo, Satellite CTO
Groundstation
Although Groundstation has had a quiet month due to exams, we have started on a variety of work to assist the Balloon team. We are currently assessing the Arduino HamShield and the AX.25 frame structure for both Groundstation and Balloon (communications module) usage, as well as helping follow up on the Iridium module and negotiate the Balloon payload architecture. Progress has been made on the clean-up of our existing documentation, and initial preparations are underway for reopening the development of the K17 rooftop Groundstation for all varieties of satellite communication.
Victor Tse, Groundstation Squad Lead
Secretary’s Update
This month we had our end of term event, where we went bowling again, with many strikes and spares covering the scoreboard, even 3 strikes in a row to finish one of the games! BLUEsat also worked with the UNSW School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications to hold one of our dice kit workshops for the UNSW Open day, here is a video of the day:
Anita Smirnov, Secretary
