The last three weeks have seen a flurry of activity and setbacks here at UVM AERO.

A number of UVM purchasing cards were compromised and ours was among them. As a result, we were unable to make purchases for about a week. Unfortunately, this came at just about the worst possible time for us since we had recently finalized a number of parts. But now the card is back and we are online once again.

Since the purchasing card has come back we have been ordering parts non-stop. Some of the parts we have recently ordered have been:
      -Custom Half Shafts
      -Custom Uprights
      -Wheels
      -Tires
      -Transaxle Internals
      -Custom Prototype AeroCAN3.0 PCBs
      -New Microcontrollers
      -Hundreds of Small Electrical Components

We have also made huge progress on the Gen-3 frame, and it is almost completely tacked together. Finish and tab welding are all that separate us from a rolling chassis. Transaxle repairs are almost complete with our new case-hardened gears and newly designed shear pins coming in next week.

We will be continuing our updates weekly, so remember to check back next week!

The Alternative Energy Racing Organization is back in action this fall and under new management. Junior Mechanical Engineer David Artim is the Club President and junior Electrical Engineer Melinda Edgerly is the new Resource Manager for the 2010-2011 competition season.

We set off with a number of new goals for the year:
      -Improve club member participation and design input
      -Shoot for an earlier completion deadline for the sake of driver training
      -Bring a completely rules-compliant car to the competition in May

With these goals in mind, we have reorganized the structure of the club to consist of subgroups. Instead of having everyone work on every part of the car, we have formed small task-oriented groups. This will allow us to multitask and make progress in many subsystems at the same time. Another benefit of the system is that it allows the senior Mechanical and Electrical Team Leads to oversee the whole car without having to do all the work themselves. We have also added a Logistical Team which will focus on everything that keeps the club running. This includes website updates, managing team funds, and all sponsorship activities.
Here to a great competition and year in general!

Aero recently came back from the 2010 Formula Hybrid competition in Loudin, NH placing 8th in the overal competition. The 2nd generation car had the fastest time in the electric only drag race and the 2nd fastest time in the hybrid run. There were some technical difficulties, but overal we were able to compete in every event and learn more about how the car handles and improvements that can be made.

Improvements will be taking place this summer before AERO travels to Italy to compete in the FEHI competition. We have the speed to do well in this competition and will be repaining the car to get a lot of drive time in before flying out in October. To learn how to help us participate in this unique opportunity please contact us.

AERO is very proud to announce that we were able to run our new drivetrain for the first time and have captured it on video. The carb definitely needs tuning and the exhaust pipe was covered in oil from the assembly which caused some smoke, but it ran smoothly and stayed cool. We'll be working to get the bugs ironed out and to transition the power source from a bench supply to the battery. Stay tuned.

The second semester starts on the 19th and AERO will be quite busy for the coming months. We recently received word that the welding and subassembly of our new battery pack has been finished and it is currently on its way to us. See the picture below.