Principles and Practices

Final Project Proposal: The Electric Kart Project Concept: My project is to design and build an Electric Karting Car. This vehicle serves as a testbed for integrating digital fabrication techniques—such as CNC frame milling, 3D printed aerodynamic parts, and custom-designed electronics—into a functional, sustainable mobility platform.

This initial sketch represents my vision for a lightweight Electric Karting Car designed for performance and modularity. The drawing outlines a compact chassis layout that integrates a powerful electric drivetrain with custom-fabricated structural components.
Key Features of the Design:

  • Aerodynamic Chassis: A low-profile frame optimized for weight and stability.
  • Electric Powertrain: Centrally mounted motor and battery packs for balanced weight distribution.
  • Integrated Controls: A front-mounted digital dashboard and ergonomic steering assembly.
  • Fabrication Goals: The project will utilize 2D laser cutting for electronics housing, 3D printing for ergonomic interfaces, and welding for the primary frame.

Project Management

I am using Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat) for my development environment. I chose this for its native support for terminal-based workflows and Python development. Git Installation & Configuration:

  1. Installation: sudo apt update && sudo apt install git -y
  2. Identity Configuration :
    git config --global user.name "Name Surname"
    git config --global user.email "your.email@example.com"
  3. SSH Key Generation: To securely push to the GitLab repository, I generated a SSH key:
    ssh-keygen
    I then added the public key (~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub) to my Fab Academy GitLab profile.
  4. Cloning the Repo:
    git clone git@gitlab.fabcloud.org:academany/fabacademy/2026/labs/dilijan/students/daviti-khukhua.git

Building the Documentation

As a full-stack developer, I chose a Static Site Generation (SSG) approach using Jinja2 templates.

The Workflow:

  • Environment: Python 3.12 virtual environment.
  • Templating: I used Jinja2 to create a modular base.html, ensuring that my sidebar and navigation stay consistent across all 20 weeks without manual copying.
  • Optimization: Images are converted to .webp format to keep the repository size well under the 10MB limit.

Commitment & Ethics

I have officially joined the Fab Academy 2026 cycle by signing and uploading the Student Agreement. This document outlines the responsibilities regarding open-source sharing, safety, and academic integrity.

Pushing the Initial Site

After local testing, I staged and pushed my files to the FabCloud:

git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit: Week 1 setup and project proposal"
git push origin main