2023-11-19 Meeting notes

 Date

Nov 19, 2023

 Participants

  • @Vann Wellmon

  • Ryan St. Clair

 Goals

  • Discuss group standing after the Fall Quarter as well as plans for the Winter Quarter and the rest of the academic year.

 Discussion topics

Time

Item

Presenter

Notes

Time

Item

Presenter

Notes

 

Recruitment

Vann

  • Recruitment went well, group is standing at ~15 members.

  • Solid recruitment of both lower and upperclassmen.

  • Retention is not bad but could be improved.

 

Materials lab ovens

Ryan

  • The materials lab has an oven that could be used for sintering the 3D printed test piece.



Test site design


Ryan

  • It would be easy to, for example, want to put it as far away as possible but that would be inconvenient and may not be a requirement. Make sure to have a robust understanding of requirements and not arbitrability set things like standoff distance/LOS reqs.

  • Also consider reaching out to Chambers Battery people/GPE for test site, while the actual test "enclosure" may not have overlap between groups we could still work together to improve the stalls/get utilities ran/running. Point being if our exact test need don't overlap we can still collaborate if it is beneficial.

 

Livestreaming testing

Ryan

  • Consider livestreaming testing for both EHS and CPLC needs/desires.

  • It is not very hard to stream to Yotube, it saves the recording on their servers and should not be hard given that testing happens on campus (internet connection + power).

 

Consider building the lander now

Ryan

  • This is a big one but has some genuine backing. Firstly, the lander could be split between a top half (tanks, av bay, rcs, etc.) and a bottom half (landing structure and engine system (including plumbing and valves)), if necessary. This has two major benefits: 1. We get hardware on hand, this build momentum for the group as well as credibility, Tom can't hand wave so easily when the bottom half of a lander is sitting in the bay. 2. being hardware rich early could be highly beneficial.

  • The scope of this may very well be lower than some, myself included, imagined. It could be done in a sprint of a few weeks.

  • I'd like to discuss this and barring any major pushback will mention it in the rocketry callout meeting week 1.

 

Onboarding projects → CPLC work

Ryan

  • Following FC onboarding project that team may want to pivot to DAQ/Labview work.

  • Same for other groups/individuals.

 

New meeting structure

Vann & Ryan

  • Weekly Tuesday meetings in the KIC

  • Friday accountability updates

    • “what you did, should have gotten done, and what is at risk”

 

Final notes

Vann & Ryan

  • I (Ryan) strongly recommend entering a structure where you’re either a part of making a lander or you’re a part of making PB-1 hotfire.

  • That being said, by winter quarter start, everyone should be able to ask themselves “what did I do this week that got us closer to [hotfire or lander]?”

  • Start breaking the problem down into what is the bare minimum that is gating test (as well defined by a set of requirements) and work on those problems

  • Lastly I recommend heavy documentation. Mostly because writing things down (e.g. minimum requirements to get to hotfire) gets you to think about them clearer. Also if someone signs off on a requirements set, it forces that person to commit and stand ground about decisions

  • Winter quarter callout is soon, the request is for PM’s to present very briefly on group progress and focus more on what new members can work on.

    • Vann intends to present Lander and Test Site.

 Action items

@Vann Wellmon , talk to GPE and Battery Challenge people about shared infrastructure.
@Vann Wellmon make a big announcement covering: new meeting times, callout meetings (have people bring friends), and …
@Vann Wellmon implement new meeting structure.
@Vann Wellmon new solenoid valve for ox load

 Decisions

  1. Consider building the lander in the Winter Quarter
  2. Livestream testing on Youtube when possible, share that link with EHS and CPLC