Engineering Commons^™

Adomian Decomposition Of The Flowfield In A Simulated Rocket Motor, Jeisson Juliany Parra

Masters Theses

The work presents an analytic, approximate solution to an internal flowfield for a solid rocket motor. The flowfield is modeled as a wall-normal injection or suction in a symmetric porous channel with laterally expanding or contracting walls. From the effective speeds that gases are ejected into the combustion chamber of typical rocket motors, the flowfield is modeled to be incompressible. Since the flame zone occurs in a very thin space above the propellant grain surface, it will be disregarded. Assuming linearly varying axial velocity and uniform expansion (or contraction), the Navier-Stokes equations will be reduced into a single nonlinear equation …

The History Of Space Debris, Loretta Hall

Space Traffic Management Conference

This paper examines what space debris consists of and where it came from. In 1958, astronomer Clyde Tombaugh published the results of his research into the existence of natural debris near the Earth, concluding that no such debris existed. During the ensuing fifty-five years, man-made debris has been accumulating to the point that it threatens launches, active satellites, and the International Space Station. NASA reported that as of 2013, more than 21,000 pieces the size of a softball or larger were being tracked, as were about 500,000 pieces at least the size of a marble and “many millions” of pieces …

Validation Of New Technology Using Legacy Metrics: Examination Of Surf-Ia Alerting For Runway Incursion Incidents, Robert Joslin

Journal of Aviation Technology and Engineering

This study demonstrated an innovative method of utilizing expert raters and actual high-risk incidents to identify shortcomings of using legacy metrics to measure the effectiveness of new technology designed to mitigate hazardous incidents. Expert raters were used to validate the Enhanced Traffic Situational Awareness on the Airport Surface with Indications and Alerts (SURF-IA) model for providing alerts to pilots to reduce the occurrence of pilot deviation type runway incursion incidents categorized as serious (Category A or B) by the legacy FAA/ICAO Runway Incursion Severity Classification (RISC) model. The study concluded that the SURF-IA model did not yield an outcome of …

Automated Image Interpretation For Science Autonomy In Robotic Planetary Exploration, Raymond Francis

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Advances in the capabilities of robotic planetary exploration missions have increased the wealth of scientific data they produce, presenting challenges for mission science and operations imposed by the limits of interplanetary radio communications. These data budget pressures can be relieved by increased robotic autonomy, both for onboard operations tasks and for decision- making in response to science data.

This thesis presents new techniques in automated image interpretation for natural scenes of relevance to planetary science and exploration, and elaborates autonomy scenarios under which they could be used to extend the reach and performance of exploration missions on planetary surfaces.

Two …

Foss Big Data Storage Solution, Gary L. Jaffe

STAR Program Research Presentations

Utilizing the AERO Institute as an IT test bed or “sandbox”, a small-agile development team will design, build, and test a data management storage system to support post processing of archived and in-flight data collected with the Piccolo flight control system and Compact Fiber Optic Sensing System (C-FOSS). Both systems are integrated on the APV3 aircraft, a small remote-operated vehicle. Due to the amount of data collected from C-FOSS, a system will be designed to sort and organize large data sets. An open-source database will be explored as a viable solution to manage large data loads and provide multi-cluster system …

A Two-Phase Development And Validation Plan For North Dakota's First Spacecraft, Jeremy Straub, Ronald Marsh

Jeremy Straub

The Open Prototype for Educational NanoSats (OPEN) aims to make space more accessible for educational and other uses by driving down the cost of CubeSat development. This paper presents a tentative plan for the use of two orbital missions as part of a two-phase technology demonstration sequence focusing on raising the technology readiness level (TRL) of OPEN to a level suitable for wide use and adoption. It presents an overview of a two-mission development plan including mission objectives, requirements and constraints. The paper considers how the phase one mission’s spacecraft may serve as a lower-cost platform for some users in …

A Variety Of Configurations For Incorporating Actuation Components Into The Structural Members Of A Cubesat, Jeremy Straub

Jeremy Straub

This paper describes the volume and mass challenges faced by designers utilizing the CubeSat form factor. It has considers the need to more effectively utilize the corner-spaces of the CubeSat, particularly when there is a need to incorporate narrow and long structures. It discusses several prospective approaches for incorporating long and narrow structures into a CubeSat and considers the prospective value of doing so.

A Novel Deployable Array Architecture For Micro To Full Sized Satellites, Benjamin Kading, Jeremy Straub, David Whalen

Jeremy Straub

This paper provides an overview of several techniques that can be used on spacecraft of various sizes to increase the longevity of onboard solar power generation capability and – in some cases – via this, overall mission life. Three designs that shield solar panels until they are needed for use and which can, prospectively, provide other benefits are presented. A conventional design is also discussed, for purposes of comparison. Mass and volume analysis is used to demonstrate the cost (in terms of mass and volume) for the proposed solutions and compare this to the benefit provided by the extension in …

Lightweight Uav Launcher, Ben Miller, Christian Valoria, Corinne Warnock, Jake Coutlee

Mechanical Engineering

This report discusses the design, construction, and testing of a lightweight, portable UAV launcher. There is a current need for a small team of soldiers to launch a US Marine Tier II UAV in a remote location without transport. Research was conducted into existing UAV launcher designs and the pros and cons of each were recorded. This research served as a basis for concept generation during the initial design development stage. It was required that the design weigh less than 110 lbs, occupy a smaller volume than 48" x 24" 18" in its collapsed state, be portable by a single …

A Study On The Vibrational Performance Characteristics Of An E22 Isolator After Outgassing And Bake-Out, Alma Melendez

Master's Theses

The launch environment experiences many vibration, shock, and acoustic loads. A great concern is the high random vibration levels that can damage components and spacecraft structures, which can cause a mission failure. An effective method of reducing high frequency energy is using isolators. Overall, the need for vibration isolation has been increasing because there has been an increase in the use of mechanisms in which vibrations are prevalent. In addition, there has not been extensive research on the effects of isolators that are outgassed and cured. Therefore, it is important to investigate and understand the vibrational effects on isolators. It …

Flightlines, Vol. 21, No. 1, Jeffrey A. Johnson

Flightlines Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Development Of A Ground Station For The Openorbiter Spacecraft, Jacob Huhn, Alexander Lewis, Christoffer Korvald, Jeremy Straub, Scott Kerlin

Jeremy Straub

The OpenOrbiter Small Spacecraft Development Initiative[1] at the University of North Dakota is working to design and build a low cost[2] and open-hardware / opensource software CubeSat[3]. The Ground Station is the user interface for operators of the satellite. The ground station software must manage spacecraft communications, track its orbital location , manage task assignment, provide security and retrieve the data from the spacecraft. This will be presented via a graphical user interface that allows a user to easily perform these tasks.

Mechanical Design And Analysis Of A 1-U Cubesat, Ben Kading, Jeremy Straub, Ronald Marsh

Jeremy Straub

The OpenOrbiter Small Spacecraft De-velopment Initiative seeks to create a low-cost, easy-to-assemble CubeSat1 design that can be produced with a parts budget of under USD$5,0002. In [1], an initial design was presented; this design was enhanced in [3] and has been revised further. The current design, which has switched focus from defining specifications, requirements and constraints to identifying real parts which meet these previously defined constraints, is presented herein.

Advancement Of The Software Defined Radio (Sdr) For The Open Orbiter Project, Michael Wegerson, Jeremy Straub, Sima Noghanian, Ronald Marsh

Jeremy Straub

Software Defined Radios (SDRs) are an exciting development in radio technology. The SDR uses software to perform many of the tasks that only hardware could previously complete on a traditional analog radio. Such tasks include encoding/decoding or applying filters to reduce noise on the signal. This powerful fusion of software and hardware have allowed SDR to be smaller in size and have a greater functionality than traditional radio setups; a perfect solution for our Open Orbiter satellite. Currently, the implementation we use consists of a simple $20 USB TV decoder for receiving, a Raspberry Pi micro-computer for transmission, and the …

Integrating Mammalian Hazards With Management At U.S. Civil Airports: A Case Study., Kristin M. Biondi, Jerrold L. Belant, James A. Martin, Travis L. Devault, Guiming Wang

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Wildlife incidents with U.S. civil aircraft cost an estimated $1.4 billion from 1990 to 2010, with mammals 5 times more likely to cause damage than other wildlife. We surveyed 2 general aviation (GA) airports and 6 Part-139 certificated (i.e., certified) airports to assess efficacy of management practices for mammalian species hazardous to aircraft. We obtained information on mammalian species present on airport grounds, types and estimated effectiveness of management techniques, and effort spent on wildlife management. We evaluated management techniques relative to aircraft–wildlife collisions (i.e., incident) frequencies taken from Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) National Wildlife Strike Database and species hazard …

The Use Of The Blackboard Architecture For A Decision Making System For The Control Of Craft With Various Actuator And Movement Capabilities, Jeremy Straub, Hassan Reza

Jeremy Straub

This paper provides an overview of an approach to the control of multiple craft with heterogeneous movement and actuation characteristics that is based on the Blackboard software architecture. An overview of the Blackboard architecture is provided. Then, the operational and mission requirements that dictate the need for autonomous control are characterized and the utility of the Blackboard architecture is for meeting these requirements is discussed. The performance of a best-path solver and naïve solver are compared. The results demonstrate that the best-path solver outperforms the naïve solver in the amount of time taken to generate a solution; however, the number …