This week Ion Clad presented the first draft of our demonstration video in front of the IPPD class. We had a lot of fun making this and were excited to get the chance to show it off. This week we’ve… Read More

This week focused on advancing both the Robin and Batman prototypes toward final integration. The PCB for the Robin prototype has been ordered and is expected to arrive early next week. In parallel, the final electronics housing for the Batman… Read More

This week, our team focused on human factors testing, with an emphasis on evaluating the comfort and usability of the costume during real-world movement. We specifically tested how it feels to wear the Chewbacca costume over extended periods and how… Read More

Hello from Ion Clad! We are excited to announce that we now have a functional prototype for the Robin design. As you can see, Ben is wearing Robin as well as a string of LED lights that are being powered… Read More

To simplify the wiring mess that everyone saw in our impromptu IPPD update , we are building a PCB. We tried building the PCB in Altium , but setting up a custom footpring was an absolute nightmare. With the help… Read More

We’re getting very close to a major milestone: our team is nearing completion of our first full prototype. Over the past week, a few critical parts finally arrived, which means we can push forward with assembly and continue production on… Read More

This week was a very productive week for team Ion Clad! Our focus shifted toward getting Robinmoving from pieces on a table to an actual build we can test, while also starting earlypreparation for QRB next week. We put together… Read More

The team made significant progress this week by conducting electrical load testing on the Robin design to evaluate performance under expected operating conditions. In parallel, MOSFETs and boost converters were tested in the lab using controlled loads to verify proper… Read More

Big milestone moment for the Robin design 🎉 We officially assembled our first fully wearable prototype, and seeing it come together was incredibly rewarding. After weeks of CAD, planning, and part sourcing, we brought the physical components together and confirmed… Read More

Volt by Volt. Our team is preparing for electromechanical integration. All critical parts have arrived , but we need to prepare for our QRB1. The most prominent talking points were our plans moving forward , our risks , and where… Read More

This week the Ion Clad mechanical team 3D printed the v1 design for the codename Robin design and began assembly as well. This assembly will be completed for QRB1 to display the two pure-mechanical prototypes of our wearable lithium-ion battery… Read More

Ion Clad is back and ready to get to work in the new semester. After a successful SLDR and a well deserved break the engineering students are ready to jump right back in. We have many plans for the semester… Read More

As the semester wraps up Ion Clad is happy to report a successful System Level Design Review (SLDR). Pictured above you can see much of our team along with Mason Ripper, our Liaison Engineer from Lithionics, after the completion of… Read More

This week was a packed week for team Ion Clad. Our focus centered on preparing for our SLDR peer review day which included work on the prototypes, electrical schematic and doing materials research, as well as adding to the PDS.… Read More

Our team will now transition from CAD development to 3D printing our first round of prototypes. After receiving valuable feedback from our coach, university faculty, and liaisons, we refined several aspects of our designs to improve user comfort and manufacturability… Read More

For our prototype inspection day , our team prepared a small presentation of two designs to demonstrate our proof of concept. The presentation was a more condensed version of what will be presented on SLDR, however , this presentation was… Read More

The Lithionics team has been making steady progress toward refining our battery housing design. Recently, we completed detailed 3D models of both housing concepts, which will serve as the foundation for upcoming finite element analysis (FEA) simulations and drop tests.… Read More

With the PDR presentation and homecoming behind us, Ion Clad is looking forward to our next major milestone, prototype day. We presented several designs to Lithionics during the presentation, including both electrical architectures and mechanical designs. From the feedback we… Read More

Our team finalized its presentation at Lithionics and visited their headquarters for a design review. The feedback was clear and constructive. The company is aiming for a minimal, streamlined solution rather than anything bulky or overly artisanal. In response, we… Read More

This week, our team refined the content of our Preliminary Design Review (PDR) by finalizing our concept selection and systems architecture. As you can see in the diagram, we’ve now defined the electrical architecture for our battery pack. This has… Read More

Our team made exciting progress this week as we wrapped up the concept generation phase of our project. This step gave us the chance to explore many different directions and ultimately narrow in on what materials and design choices could… Read More

9/19/25 – This week, the Ion Clad team (pictured above) developed the first product design specifications (PDS) document for this project. There is still much left to be added, and we intend for this to become a living document as… Read More

9/12/2025 – Since our last post, the IPPD team for Lithonics has landed on the team name Ion Clad and the logo above. This is in reference to the Lithium-Ion technology involved in the project and the nature of the… Read More