July 2026 Blog
The dog days of summer have reached the Maritimes, and while the team has been enjoying a well-earned break, it hasn't stopped everyone from continuing to develop the car. Team members have been meeting both in person and virtually to work on and discuss the car's development. Although the official 2027 rules are just around the corner, the team has decided to begin constructing several key models in advance.
This means that some of the components currently being designed and built may require adjustments once the final rules are released, but this has already been accounted for in our planning. The team intends to build critical components, such as the chassis, now so that each sub-team can begin integrating their systems early. This will allow us to identify and address any issues before producing a second, final design, giving the team the best possible chance of passing technical inspection in the fall.
Electrical
We've been kept very busy this past month within the LV team trying to bring our shutdown system architecture to its completion. We've made our final decision for our brake pressure sensor, BOTS, and shutdown buttons, which leaves only the inertia switch to be chosen before our shopping list is completed! We'll also be ordering the first PCB model for our BSPD within the next week. We're very proud to be able to look at a completed design given that this has been the biggest design challenge we've had to face so far. We're excited to keep this momentum moving through the school year as we begin the testing and validation phase for our shutdown circuit as well as step into new grounds to attack the wiring harness.
Powertrain
This month, we made significant progress in defining our data acquisition strategy and selected the microcontroller that will serve as the car’s central unit.
With this key decision finalized, we can now begin deciding the sensors we plan to integrate into the car over the coming year while developing the high level system architecture that will connect and manage these components.
Chassis
This month the tubes ordered by Livingston steel were cut, bent, notched, and tacked to create a chassis that is ready to be fully welded by the team. It will be delivered from Sunny Corner to the school sometime in the coming month. This milestone is huge for the team and will allow other sub teams to begin integrating their designs and start the full assembly.
Also, the new rule set for the upcoming competition season was released. These rule changes will be looked over in the coming weeks to confirm the validity of our current model.