Subteam alignment & concept gen kickoff

What I’m trying to achieve

Get aligned with the full subteam on where we’ve been, what we own, and what the short-term looks like.

Notes from the subteam meeting

Attendees: Aurora, Leo, Isaac, Owen, Radman, Amjad.

Scope of work and ownership

Three primary functions split across the subteam:

• Motion (shared priority); how the payload moves on the DLZ
• Interaction (mech priority); connecting to the plane during capture, disconnecting during release
• Detection + localisation (avionics priority); find the payload, guide the approach, avoid the DLZ boundary and other obstacles

What went wrong last year

The plane did all the locating. We were not able to land precisely enough to capture non-electronic payloads. Putting sensors and motors on the payload is now the confirmed direction.

Constraints worth noting

• Payloads stay on the DLZ until end of competition: overnight battery life, morning moisture, and previously dropped payloads are concerns.
• Worst case: one other payload already on the DLZ to avoid. If we’re dropping several, we’ve probably given up on capture.

Timeline

Shifted to something more aggressive. Derisking all summer wastes prototyping time. The new target is 6 weeks to a well-understood design, then start prototyping.

Driving questions

• What is RTK and does it fit a localisation use case? Still open from the first meeting.
• What’s our weight budget? Still open from the first meeting.
• How configurable is the DLZ? [reread the rule-set]
• How do we handle power for a payload sitting on the DLZ overnight?
• What does the payload history document say? [Isaac sending soon]

Next

• Create a collection of concepts. Research the space, reference previous work.
• Read the payload history document when it arrives.
• Can’t meaningfully plan around a design that isn’t shaped yet, so revisit timeline after concept gen.