Engineering Commons^™

Distributed Control Of Servicing Satellite Fleet Using Horizon Simulation Framework, Scott Plantenga

Master's Theses

On-orbit satellite servicing is critical to maximizing space utilization and sustainability and is of growing interest for commercial, civil, and defense applications. Reliance on astronauts or anchored robotic arms for the servicing of next-generation large, complex space structures operating beyond Low Earth Orbit is impractical. Substantial literature has investigated the mission design and analysis of robotic servicing missions that utilize a single servicing satellite to approach and service a single target satellite. This motivates the present research to investigate a fleet of servicing satellites performing several operations for a large, central space structure.

This research leverages a distributed control approach, …

Project Management And Systems Engineering Framework For Educational Cubesat Missions, Bailey Garrett

Master's Theses

The rising complexity of CubeSat missions and the unique challenges faced by educational CubeSat programs lead to high rates of mission failure. Implementing project management and systems engineering practices can alleviate these challenges and improve mission success rates for educational CubeSat developers. However, existing project management and systems engineering resources are too cumbersome and often assume the student has a base-level understanding of project management and systems engineering fundamentals. A new universal project management and systems engineering framework was created and tailored specifically to the needs of an educational CubeSat mission. The framework was designed to accommodate first-time CubeSat developers, …

Testing And Verification For The Open Source Release Of The Horizon Simulation Framewortesting And Verification For The Open Source Release Of The Horizon Simulation Framework, William J. Balfour

Master's Theses

Modeling and simulation tools are exceptionally useful for designing aerospace systems because they allow engineers to test and iterate designs before committing the massive resources required for system realization. The Horizon Simulation Framework (HSF) is a time-driven modeling and simulation tool which attempts to optimize how a modeled system could perform a mission profile. After 15 years of development, the HSF team aims to achieve a wider user and developer base by releasing the software open source. To ensure a successful release, the software required extensive testing, and the main scheduling algorithm required protections against new code breaking old functionality. …

Cultivating Creativity In Aerospace Systems Engineering To Manage Complexity, Kenneth Lucas Dodd

Master's Theses

In recent decades, complexity in aerospace programs has been increasing, leading to large budget and schedule overruns. Many of the risks of complex system development can be attributed to the inadequacy of linear methods when applied to nonlinear domains, i.e., oversimplification in a program amplifies the amount of risk produced when a system behaves unexpectedly. Effectively managing complexity involves responding to the various sources of complexity, whether it appears in the objective behavior of the system itself or in the subjective behavior of the people developing it. Thus, the engineering of complex systems requires nonlinear modeling methods of the system …

Simulation Of A Configurable Hybrid Aircraft, Brandon Bartlett

Master's Theses

As the demand for air transportation is projected to increase, the environmental impacts produced by air travel will also increase. In order to counter the environmental impacts while also meeting the demand for air travel, there are goals and research initiatives that aim to develop more efficient aircraft. An emerging technology that supports these goals is the application of hybrid propulsion to aircraft, but there is a challenge in effectively exploring the performance of hybrid aircraft due to the time and money required for safe flight testing and due to the diverse design space of hybrid architectures and components. Therefore, …

Development Of A Cubesat Conceptual Design Tool And Implementation Of The Eps Design Module, Sean K. Nogrady

Master's Theses

This thesis is the product of an effort to develop a CubeSat Conceptual Design Tool for the California Polytechnic State University CubeSat Laboratory. Such a tool is necessary due to inefficiencies with the current conceptual design process. It is being developed to increase accessibility, reduce design time, and promote good systems engineering within CubeSat development.

The development of the architecture of a conceptual design tool, the core user-interface element, and the completion of a module for the electrical power subsystem is the focus of this thesis. The architecture is built around different modules to design different subsystems that work in …

A Method For Visualizing The Structural Complexity Of Organizational Architectures, Jacob Michael B. King

Master's Theses

To achieve a high level of performance and efficiency, contemporary aerospace systems must become increasingly complex. While complexity management traditionally focuses on a product’s components and their interconnectedness, organizational representation in complexity analysis is just as essential. This thesis addresses this organizational aspect of complexity through an Organizational Complexity Metric (OCM) to aid complexity management. The OCM augments Sinha’s structural complexity metric for product architectures into a metric that can be applied to organizations. Utilizing nested numerical design structure matrices (DSMs), a compact visual representation of organizational complexity was developed. Within the nested numerical DSM are existing organizational datasets used …

Pathfinding Interplanetary Bus Capability For The Cal Poly Cubesat Laboratory Through The Development Of A Phobos-Deimos Mission Concept, Alyssa M. Ralph

Master's Theses

With the rise of CubeSats and the demonstration of their many space applications, there is interest in interplanetary CubeSats to act for example as scientific investigations or communications relays. In line with the increasing demand for this class of small satellites, the Cal Poly CubeSat Lab (CPCL) seeks to develop a bus that could support an interplanetary science payload. To facilitate this, a mission concept to conduct science of the moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, is investigated by determining the mission needs for a CubeSat in a Phobos-Deimos cycler orbit through the development of a baseline design to meet …

Three Axis Attitude Control System Design And Analysis Tool Development For The Cal Poly Cubesat Laboratory, Liam T. Bruno

Master's Theses

The Cal Poly CubeSat Laboratory (CPCL) is currently facing unprecedented engineering challenges—both technically and programmatically—due to the increasing cost and complexity of CubeSat flight missions. In responding to recent RFPs, the CPCL has been forced to find commercially available solutions to entire mission critical spacecraft subsystems such as propulsion and attitude determination & control, because currently no in-house options exist for consideration. The commercially available solutions for these subsystems are often extremely expensive and sometimes provide excessively good performance with respect to mission requirements. Furthermore, use of entire commercial subsystems detracts from the hands-on learning objectives of the CPCL by …

Conceptual Design Of A South Pole Carrier Pigeon Uav, Kendrick M. Dlima

Master's Theses

Currently, the South Pole has a large data problem. It is estimated that 1.2 TB of data is being produced every day, but less than 500 GB of that data is being uploaded via aging satellites to researchers in other parts of the world. This requires those at the South Pole to analyze the data and carefully select the parts to send, possibly missing out on vital scientific information. The South Pole Carrier Pigeon will look to bridge this data gap.

The Carrier Pigeon will be a small unmanned aerial vehicle that will carry a 30 TB solid-state hard drive …

Design, Validation, And Verification Of The Cal Poly Educational Cubesat Kit Structure, Nicholas B. Snyder

Master's Theses

In this thesis, the development of a structure for use in an educational CubeSat kit is explored. The potential uses of this kit include augmenting existing curricula with aspects of hands on learning, developing new ways of training students on proper space systems engineering practices, and overall contributing to academic capacity building at Cal Poly and its collaborators. The design improves on existing CubeSat kit structures by increasing accessibility to internal components by implementing a modular backplane system, as well as adding the ability to be environmentally tested. Manufacturing of the structure is completed with both additive (Fused Deposition Modeling …

Pocket Rocket: A 1u+ Propulsion System Design To Enhance Cubesat Capabilities, James M. Harper

Master's Theses

The research presented provides an overview of a 1U+ form factor propulsion system design developed for the Cal Poly CubeSat Laboratory (CPCL). This design utilizes a Radiofrequency Electrothermal Thruster (RFET) called Pocket Rocket that can generate 9.30 m/s of delta-V with argon, and 20.2 ± 3 m/s of delta-V with xenon. Due to the demand for advanced mission capabilities in the CubeSat form factor, a need for micro-propulsion systems that can generate between 1 – 1500 m/s of delta-V are necessary.

By 2019, Pocket Rocket had been developed to a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 5 and ground tested in …

Design Of A Martian Communication Constellation Of Cubesats, Scott J. Pirkle

Master's Theses

Spacecraft operating on the Martian surface have used relay satellites as a means of improving communication capabilities, mainly in terms of bandwidth and availability. However, the spacecraft used to achieve this have been large spacecraft (1000s of kilograms) and were not designed with relay capability as the design priority. This thesis explores the possibility of using a CubeSat-based constellation as a communications network for spacecraft operating on the Martian surface. Brute-force techniques are employed to explore the design space of possible constellations. An analysis of constellation configurations that provide complete, continuous coverage of the Martian surface is presented. The stability …

A System Architecture For Phased Development Of Remote Suas Operation, Eric Ashley

Master's Theses

Current airspace regulations require the remote pilot-in-command of an unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to maintain visual line of sight with the vehicle for situational awareness. The future of UAS will not have these constraints as technology improves and regulations are changed. An operational model for the future of UAS is proposed where a remote operator will monitor remote vehicles with the capability to intervene if needed. One challenge facing this future operational concept is the ability for a flight data system to effectively communicate flight status to the remote operator. A system architecture has been developed to facilitate the implementation …

Performance Enhancement And Characterization Of An Electromagnetic Railgun, Paul M. Gilles

Master's Theses

Collision with orbital debris poses a serious threat to spacecraft and astronauts. Hypervelocity impacts resulting from collisions mean that objects with a mass less than 1g can cause mission-ending damage to spacecraft. A means of shielding spacecraft against collisions is necessary. A means of testing candidate shielding methods for their efficacy in mitigating hypervelocity impacts is therefore also necessary. Cal Poly’s Electromagnetic Railgun was designed with the goal of creating a laboratory system capable of simulating hypervelocity (≥ 3 km/s) impacts. Due to several factors, the system was not previously capable of high-velocity (≥ 1 km/s) tests. A deficient projectile …

Cubesat Astronomy Mission Modeling Using The Horizon Simulation Framework, Alexander W. Johnson

Master's Theses

The CubeSat Astronomy Network is a proposed system of multiple CubeSat spacecraft capable of performing follow-up observations of astronomical targets of interest. The system is intended to serve as a space-borne platform that can complement existing systems utilized for astronomical research by undergraduate and high school students. Much research and development work has been performed to develop model-based system engineering methodologies and products for CubeSat missions, including the Horizon Simulation Framework. The Horizon Simulation Framework enables the development of system models using the Extended Markup Language (XML), and its simulation program can generate system simulations over model-specified timespans. System requirements …

A Homegrown Dsmc-Pic Model For Electric Propulsion, Dominic Charles Lunde

Master's Theses

Powering spacecraft with electric propulsion is becoming more common, especially in CubeSat-class satellites. On account of the risk of spacecraft interactions, it is important to have robust analysis and modeling tools of electric propulsion engines, particularly of the plasma plume. The Navier-Stokes equations used in classic continuum computational fluid dynamics do not apply to the rarefied plasma, and therefore another method must be used to model the flow. A good solution is to use the DSMC method, which uses a combination of particle modeling and statistical methods for modeling the simulated molecules. A DSMC simulation known as SINATRA has been …

Exploring The Concept Of A Deep Space Solar-Powered Small Spacecraft, Kian Guillaume Crowley

Master's Theses

New Horizons, Voyager 1 & 2, and Pioneer 10 & 11 are the only spacecraft to ever venture past Pluto and provide information about space at those large distances. These spacecraft were very expensive and primarily designed to study planets during gravitational assist maneuvers. They were not designed to explore space past Pluto and their study of this environment is at best a secondary mission. These spacecraft rely on radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) to provide power, an expensive yet necessary approach to generating sufficient power. With Cubesats graduating to interplanetary capabilities, such as the Mars-bound MarCO spacecraft, matching the modest …

Orbital Constellation Design And Analysis Using Spherical Trigonometry And Genetic Algorithms: A Mission Level Design Tool For Single Point Coverage On Any Planet, Joseph R. Gagliano

Master's Theses

Recent interest surrounding large scale satellite constellations has increased analysis efforts to create the most efficient designs. Multiple studies have successfully optimized constellation patterns using equations of motion propagation methods and genetic algorithms to arrive at optimal solutions. However, these approaches are computationally expensive for large scale constellations, making them impractical for quick iterative design analysis. Therefore, a minimalist algorithm and efficient computational method could be used to improve solution times. This thesis will provide a tool for single target constellation optimization using spherical trigonometry propagation, and an evolutionary genetic algorithm based on a multi-objective optimization function. Each constellation will …

Sysml Output Interface And System-Level Requirement Analyzer For The Horizon Simulation Framework, Viren Kishor Patel

Master's Theses

Model-Based Systems Engineering in industry has been constantly increasing its presence within the aerospace industry. SysML is one such MBSE tool that shows complex system organization and relationships. The Horizon Simulation Framework is another MBSE tool, created by Cal Poly students, that gives users the ability to run “day-in-the-life” simulations of systems. Finding a way to link these two tools could allow systems engineers to reap the benefits of both.

This thesis investigates the background and design process involved with developing the code that can convert an output file generated in SysML, into a format specifically made for the Horizon …

Whitespace Exploration, Jason Lloyd Daniel

Master's Theses

As engineering systems grow in complexity so too must the design tools that we use evolve and allow for decision makers to efficiently ask questions of their model and obtain meaningful answers. The process of whitespace exploration has recently been developed to aid in engineering design and provide insight into a design space where traditional design exploration methods may fail. In an effort to further the research and development of whitespace exploration algorithms, a software package called Thalia has been created to allow for automated data collection and experimentation with the whitespace exploration methodology.

In this work, whitespace exploration is …

Alternative Mission Concepts For The Exploration Of Outer Planets Using Small Satellite Swarms, Andrew Gene Blocher

Master's Theses

Interplanetary space exploration has thus far consisted of single, expensive spacecraft missions. Mission costs are particularly high on missions to the outer planets and while invaluable, finite budgets limit our ability to perform extensive and frequent investigations of the planets. Planetary systems such as Jupiter and Saturn provide extremely complex exploration environments with numerous targets of interest. Exploring these targets in addition to the main planet requires multiple fly-bys and long mission timelines. In LEO, CubeSats have changed the exploration paradigm, offering a fast and low cost alternative to traditional space vehicles. This new mission development philosophy has the potential …

Modeling And Simulation Of A Sounding Rocket Active Stabilization System, Steven M. Maclean

Master's Theses

The Horizon Simulation Framework is a modeling and simulation framework developed to verify system level requirements. In this thesis, the framework is extended to include the Dynamic position type that existed in the early development phase of the framework. The Dynamic position type is tested through the modeling and simulation of a sounding rocket. An active control system based on linear-quadratic regulator (LQR) control theory is implemented and tested in the simulation to determine the overall effect on altitude. A first order aerodynamics and aeroprediction model are created within the framework to allow for rapid changes early in the design …

Mass Estimation Through Fusion Of Astrometric And Photometric Data Collection With Application To High Area-To-Mass Ratio Objects, Matthew Richardson

Master's Theses

This thesis work presents the formulation for a tool developed in MATLAB to determine the mass of a space object from the fusion of astrometric and photometric data. The application for such a tool is to better model the mass estimation method used for high area-to-mass ratio objects found in high altitude orbit regimes. Typically, the effect of solar radiation pressure is examined with angles observations to deduce area-to-mass ratio calculations for space objects since the area-to-mass ratio can greatly affect its orbital dynamics. On the other hand, photometric data is not sensitive to mass but is a function of …

A Method For Evaluating Aircraft Electric Power System Sizing And Failure Resiliency, Cory Kenneth Kross

Master's Theses

With the More Electric Aircraft paradigm, commercial commuter aircraft are increasing the size and complexity of electrical power systems by increasing the number of electrical loads. With this increase in complexity comes a need to analyze electrical power systems using new tools. The Hybrid Power System Optimizer (HyPSO) developed by Airbus SAS is a simulator designed to analyze new aircraft power systems. This thesis project will first provide a method to assess the reliability of complex aircraft electrical power systems before and after failure and reconfiguration events. Next, an add-on to HyPSO is developed to integrate the previously developed reliability …

Integration And Qualification Of The P-Pods On The Vega Maiden Flight, Ryan Nugent

Master's Theses

On February 13, 2012, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo flew three Poly-Picosatellite Orbital Deployers (P-PODs), carrying seven European University CubeSats sponsored by the European Space Agency (ESA), on the Vega Maiden Flight. This was the first time CubeSats shared a ride to space with other payloads on an ESA-owned launch opportunity. In order to meet launch requirements, it must be proven through proper documentation that the P-POD would operate properly and not interfere with the launch vehicle or other payloads on the mission. This thesis outlines the program flow, required documentation, and issues encountered during the launch campaign …

Risk-Based Approach To Assessment Of Advanced Technologies For Conceptual Design, Adipratnia Asmady

Master's Theses

The conceptual design phase of an aerospace system development program is typically characterized by short duration and relatively limited resources, yet design decisions are made that have critical implications on program risk. To address the more aggressive requirements, one of these decisions is the selection of advanced technologies. System developers need to assess advanced technologies early on, but are faced with uncertainties surrounding the potential net benefits. The concept introduced in this study is uncertainty characterization as a way to better understand the associated risk. A framework was developed to guide the interaction between the technology developer and the system …

Subsystem Failure Analysis Within The Horizon Simulation Framework, Ian M. Lunsford

Master's Theses

System design is an inherently expensive and time consuming process. Engineers are constantly tasked to investigate new solutions for various programs. Model-based systems engineering (MBSE) is an up and coming successful method used to reduce the time spent during the design process. By utilizing simulations, model-based systems engineering can verify high-level system requirements quickly and at low cost early in the design process. The Horizon Simulation Framework, or HSF, provides the capability of simulating a system and verifying the system performance. This paper outlines an improvement to the Horizon Simulation Framework by providing information to the user regarding schedule failures …

Sysml Based Cubesat Model Design And Integration With The Horizon Simulation Framework, Shaun Luther

Master's Theses

This thesis examines the feasibility of substituting the system input script of Cal Poly’s Horizon Simulation Framework (HSF) with a Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) model designed with the Systems Modeling Language (SysML). A concurrent student project, SysML Output Interface Creation for the Horizon Simulation Framework, focused on design of the HSF Translator Plugin which converts SysML models to an HSF specific XML format. A SysML model of the HSF test case, Aeolus, was designed. The original Aeolus HSF input script and the translated SysML input script retained the format and dependency structure required by HSF. Both input scripts …

An Iteration On The Horizon Simulation Framework To Include .Net And Python Scripting, Morgan Yost

Master's Theses

Modeling and Simulation is a crucial element of the aerospace engineering design pro- cess because it allows designers to thoroughly test their solution before investing in the resources to create it. The Horizon Simulation Framework (HSF) v3.0 is an aerospace modeling and simulation tool that allows the user to verify system level requirements in the early phases of the design process. A low fidelity model of the system that is created by the user is exhaustively tested within the built-in Day-in-the-Life simulator to provide useful information in the form of failed requirements, system bottle necks and leverage points, and potential …