How to get started in the project
Project Elara is not the work of one person, but the work of a team - and we welcome anyone who wants to work with us to join us. If you’re new to the Project, or interested in participating in it, this part of the Handbook is for you!
If you’re just starting with us, we want to make sure that joining Project Elara is as seamless as possible. And we know it can be quite confusing to start work on any research or open-source project, with bewildering documentation and a lack of a clear beginner’s guide to follow. This is a step-by-step guide to quickly get up to speed and become part of Elara’s mission!
Step 1: Get in touch¶
We want to make sure that you can get in touch with us. This is especially important so that we can explain things and troubleshoot in case you run into any trouble with the onboarding process! If you’re on Discord, you can join our Discord server by copying our server invite link https://
elaraproject
.sci@gmail .com, which is our official organization email (this is the recommended email for official inquiries) jacky
.song .elara@gmail .com, which is the email of Jacky Song, our organization head and chief administrator (this is the recommended email for fast responses)
Step 2: Understand the basic onboarding tasks¶
Before working on the Project, we want to get to know you a little more, and make sure you have access to the main platforms we use below.
New Member Form¶
There is a New Member Form available to anyone who wants to join. This simply is used so that we can get to know you a little more, and we thank you for providing a little bit about yourself!
Sign up for Codeberg¶
Project Elara operates much of its research & development on Codeberg, a repository of all our progress so far. We require that members set up an account so that they have easy access to our work. Start by using the link provided - make sure that you use an email so that you feel comfortable with being publicly-visible.
Installing Git¶
You can also check out our Git Reference Guide, an introduction to the work we upload on Git.
Signing the Licensing Policy¶
Lastly, we have a Licensing Policy that we would like members to look at. Not only does it help you understand our values and goals, but it also helps us in knowing that you are well-committed and understand our policies.
Signing the Charter (Optional)¶
Lastly, there is a Project Charter that is open to signing, but is completely optional. If you are interested, feel free to read through the link above.
Step 3: Understand our framework¶
Project Elara is part of RCOS, Rensselaer’s Center for Open Source. Whether you are a student currently attending Renssealer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) contributing to the Project for credit, or if you are simply interested in working outside of RCOS, we have a spot for you!
Understand that Project Elara is open to all experience levels - in fact, you don’t even need to have experience working on open-source research or have a strong grasp in the type of work we do. Other than our more hands-on, technical, and mathematical aspects, we are also open to article writing, music composition, digital/conceptual design, and uploading content pertaining to our progress. Regardless of how you want to contribute to the Project and the amount of experience you have, we are more than ready to welcome you, helping you settle in and adjust to work that you enjoy doing.
Step 4: Familiarize yourself with general information about the Project¶
Of course, we want to make sure you know what we do, and what our mission is! First, make sure you read our mission statement, which we’ve put down below:
We believe in open science = science without paywalls, done for the sake of advancing science and public good. And we believe in the value of open source - releasing our code and hardware into the public domain, making sure it’s available to everyone, and that no one will be able to establish a monopoly for its use.
In terms of the platforms we use, we’ve provided brief descriptions of each below.
As mentioned above, Codeberg is our main repository of work and progress, including commits, tasks, trackers, and more. We are also on OpenCollective, where we keep track of our purchases for materials meant for practice and experimentation. Additionally, we are on Weblate, where we keep track of the langauges that have been translated completely for our website so far. Lastly, we use Substack for article writing and personal stories, in the hopes of raising awareness for the Project and also allowing opportunities for members to express their creative freedom via writing and peer review.
Last but not least, we believe in working as a team, treating each other with kindness and understanding, and making sure everyone feels comfortable and safe within our team. A big part of this is that we carefully track contributions so everyone gets credit where credit is due. Working with us is contingent upon you affirming these ideals. If you choose to espouse, disseminate, or take action based on ideas that are hostile to our mission, you will not be allowed to further participate in our work. We will trust that you will act in good faith - please do not break that trust.
Optional: Gain a basic understanding of our research¶
We also want to make sure you have a basic grasp of our research and our design! For this, we highly recommend watching our trailer aimed at anyone new to the project.
Reading the first chapter of this Handbook is also recommended, but feel free to skip that if you don’t have the time.
Step 5: Pursue your interests¶
Having read our mission statement and our introductory poster, we want to make sure you have an idea of what we’re working on! Our general projects can be found on our research website. For more specific details on each project, please speak to our other members on the Discord. Feel free to ask questions!
To help divide up our work and to make best use of everyone’s talents, we have divided our team into several divisions (we colloquially just call them “teams”). At the moment, our divisions/teams are, respectively:
The research team, which focuses on developing the theoretical groundwork of our space-based power system using both analytical calculations and physics simulations
The build team, which focuses on construction and testing of power system prototypes, with plenty of hands-on work!
The engineering team, which works on creating CAD models, turning designs into buildable prototypes, and all-around engineering tasks
There are also specialized sub-teams within engineering that work on a specific area, such as aeronautics
The software team, which focuses on developing and maintaining our open-source software, documentation, and web content (including our website). Experience in physics/engineering is a bonus, but not required. If you’re a developer, this might be the place for you!
Again, we have specialized sub-teams in software development, including the embedded development team, which (as the name suggests) works on embedded systems and microcontrollers for our hardware
The media team, which works on communicating and promoting the project through art, video, music, and other mediums, as well as designing our posters, website, and software user interfaces (UIs).
This is especially suited to anyone with experience or interest in the visual arts (in particular digital art, photography, film production, motion graphics, and graphic design)
The community & outreach team, which focuses engaging with the community, helping out, and spreading the awareness of Project Elara and encouraging more people to join us. volunteering, fundraising, or public speaking.
Please also make sure that you let us know how you’d like to keep in touch with us, so that we can work together more easily - again, our work is highly collaborative in nature. If you try a role and find that you don’t like it, that’s okay! Just let us know, we are happy to help you find something you enjoy doing!
Step 6: Next steps¶
Once you’ve done all the previous steps, you’re all set to start working with us! What to do next depends on which division you wish to join. We’ll go through the things to do for each of our divisions, one-by-one.
We post all of our tasks on our general project tracker. Just let us know which task(s) you’d like to work on by adding a comment under the task(s), or by sending us a message: you can take whichever tasks interest you! In each task, we list out the work description in detail, as well as relevant sections in the Handbook for any background knowledge required. You are also welcome to work on improving this Handbook itself in the Elara Handbook repository!
And as mentioned, please get in touch with us, either by emailing elaraproject