Aerospace Engineering Commons^™

The Critical Role Of Cubesat Spacecraft In A Multi-Tier Mission For Mars Exploration, Jeremy Straub

Jeremy Straub

A multi-tier architecture is under development (with similar craft heterogeneity to Fink's work on ‘tier scalable’ missions) which will facilitate autonomous local control of multiple heterogeneous craft. This mission architecture has been developed with a Mars mission in mind and has included CubeSats in a variety of critical mission roles.

Two concepts will be presented: the addition of CubeSats to a larger-scale multi-tier mission, where the CubeSats serve a supporting role and a mission driven by CubeSat orbital capabilities. In the first, CubeSats are utilized to augment the area of spatial coverage that can be obtained and the temporal coverage …

Assessment Of Educational Expectations, Outcomes And Benefits From Small Satellite Program Participation, Jeremy Straub, Ronald Marsh

Jeremy Straub

This paper begins to characterize the educational outcomes that can be produced from student participation in a small spacecraft development program. We asked students what benefits they expected to receive from program participation and we asked them, at the end of the semester, what benefits they had received. We also characterized student performance through the use of post-participation Likert-like scale questions and the use of a widely-used questionnaire for assessing student research participation outcomes. We compare benefit expectation and attainment, characterize the level of benefits received across multiple types of participation and assess the effect of program participation on subject-specific …

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 …

The Differences Are Not So Great: High Altitude Balloon And Small Spacecraft Software Development, Jeremy Straub, Ronald Marsh

Jeremy Straub

Previous work discussed critical differences in planning, developing hardware for and executing a high altitude balloon (HAB) mission. One area where this difference is less pronounced is in software development, allowing HABs to be utilized as a ‘software testbed’ for many orbital missions. This paper provides an overview of the software development process for both orbital and HAB craft, highlighting differences between the two processes and the numerous similarities. It concludes by presenting a framework for analyzing the suitability of HAB testing for small satellite software.

Considering The Educational Benefits Of A Cubesat Program, Jeremy Straub, Samudra Haque, Christopher K. Dinelli

Jeremy Straub

This presentation will provide an overview of work performed at the University of North Dakota with regards to the characterization of educational benefits from small spacecraft development efforts. We report on efforts to characterize benefits that ensued from participation for personal extracurricular enrichment, as part of a formal class (on project management), as part of multiple senior design projects, for independent study credit and for satisfying class project requirements. This assessment has been performed using a standard questionnaire for student research participation as well as custom questionnaires related to program focus areas. We have also analyzed student course performance, where …

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.

Update On The Operating Software For Openorbiter, Dayln Limesand, Christoffer Korvald, Jeremy Straub, Ronald Marsh

Jeremy Straub

The operating software team of the OpenOrbiter project has been tasked with developing software for general spacecraft maintenance, performing mission tasks and the monitoring of system critical aspects of the spacecraft. To do so, the team is developing an autonomous system that will be able to continuously check sensors for data, and schedule tasks that pertain to the current mission and general maintenance of the onboard systems. Development in support of these objectives is ongoing with work focusing on the completion of the development of a stable system. This poster presents an overview of current work on the project and …

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 …

An Overview Of The Hardware Designs Of The Openorbiter Program, Jeremy Straub

Jeremy Straub

This poster provides an overview of the hardware designs for the OpenOrbiter small spacecraft, including both missions in our two-phase mission design. The first mission will use a limited-configuration, limited-scope CubeSat which will develop and demonstrate UND’s capability to develop and launch a small spacecraft. It will also serve to inform the second mission through problems detected with included components, so that these can be corrected before the more robust phase-two mission is launched. The phase-two mission will feature the complete Open Prototype for Educational NanoSats (OPEN) design and will house a visual-light camera which will serve to collect imagery …

An Overview Of Current Progress On The Openorbiter Project, Jeremy Straub

Jeremy Straub

This poster presents an overview of the work that has occurred over the last year on the OpenOrbiter project. The new two-phase ‘experience-building’ mission strategy is presented and discussed and overviews of the hardware/software configurations applicable to each mission are presented. Highlights from recent work across all areas of the project are included. An overview of student involvement over the course of the last year is also presented. Also discussed are the future plans for the project and a look forward to the next year and what progress and deliverables are expected. The pathway to an orbital launch and the …

A Low-Cost Gps/Inertial Position Determination System For High Altitude Balloons, Spacecraft And Unmanned Aerial Systems, Tyler Leben, Jeremy Straub, Ronald Marsh

Jeremy Straub

A low-cost system is needed to determine precise position and predict future location in flight and low-Earth orbit. One method to accomplish this task is to utilize an onboard GPS receiver. GPS units receive data from the GPS NAVSTAR constellation of 24 satellites in the form of a 37 byte ASCII text sent at 4800 baud called NMEA sentences. The standard is 1 HZ, which is one sentence per second, but can be more. Ideally, from this data a PVT (position, velocity, time) and altitude can be determined. This data is then transferred from the GPS module to a separate …

Openorbiter Operating System Components: Development Of Software For Communications And Power Management, Michael Hlas, Calvin Littlebina, Dayln Limesand, Christoffer Korvald, Jeremy Straub, Ronald Marsh

Jeremy Straub

This poster presents details on two areas of the development of the OpenOrbiter Operating Software, communications and power management. Communications are an essential part of any satellite. Communications allow us to send commands and receive information from the satellite. However communications presents us with some unique challenges. The satellite is orbiting the earth about every 90 minutes at very high speeds making it difficult to track it through the sky. We also have a very limited window when the satellite is overhead to communicate with it. Bandwidth is also very limited so what is sent and received during that time …

Educational Benefits To Participants In Small Spacecraft Development, Jeremy Straub

Jeremy Straub

A key focus of the OpenOrbiter project has been identifying possible sources of educational benefit to student participants and ascertaining whether they have been received. To this end, we’ve asked participants what benefits they hope to attain, determined whether they attained them and measured increases in skills and abilities over the period of participation in the project. This poster provides an overview of all of the educational evaluation work performed to-date with regards to the OpenOrbiter project. It considers both the benefit of the particular project as well as the benefits of small spacecraft development work, in general, across a …

Openorbiter Ground Station Software, Alexander Lewis, Jacob Huhn, Jeremy Straub, Travis Desell, 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.

The Path To Regulation Of Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles In The United States, Jeremy Straub, Joe Vacek

Jeremy Straub

This poster presents an overview of proposed regulations that are presented in [1] related to a re-vised approach to small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) regulation in the United States. Prospective strategies for enhancing UAV regulation are consid-ered as is the pathway to develop and implement these regulations. The benefits of changing the UAV regulatory regime are discussed, on both a user/prospective user and societal scale.

The Development Of A Nanosatellite-Class Sunsat At The University Of North Dakota, Corey Bergsrud, Jeremy Straub, Robert Bernaciak, Subin Shahukhal, Benjamin Kading, Karl Williams, Hossein Salehfar, Johnathan Mcclure, James Casler, David Whalen, Elizabeth Becker, Sima Noghanian

Jeremy Straub

This poster presents the details of work on the SunSat spacecraft design initiative at the University of North Dakota. This project seeks to advance technologies1 and to increase public awareness of Space Solar Power based via visualization, science and engineering work. It will also focus on the development and demonstration of a workable solution and consider the economic benefits2 that the proposed (and alternate) solutions may generate. This poster details the design project which will construct a transmitting Nano Space Solar Power Satellite (NSSPS) and a power reception satellite for a space-to-space Microwave Wireless Power (MWP) demonstration. The SmallSatstyle spacecraft4, …

The Use Of Solar Balloons At Und As A Low-Cost Alternative To Helium Balloons For Small Spacecraft Testing And Stem Education, John Nordlie, Jeremy Straub, Chris Theisen, Ronald Marsh

Jeremy Straub

Helium-filled latex weather balloons have been utilized for many years to carry small satellite prototypes and subsystems into the stratosphere to allow testing in a “near space” (stratospheric) environment. A variety of environmental factors similar to the space environment can be found in this region, such as a rarified atmosphere, increased thermal stress including very low temperatures, increased solar radiation, the necessity of remote command and control, tracking, and telemetering of data. While this method of flight testing has been well-proven, a recent increase in the price of helium has driven the cost of such test programs to much higher …

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

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 …

The Use Of The Roofsat For Computer Science And Engineering Education, Jeremy Straub, Ronald Marsh

Jeremy Straub

This poster presents an overview of a tool that has been created to provide students with real-world experience in the design, development and operation of control and scientific mission software for a cyber-physical system. The ROOFSAT, developed at UND, is a low-cost analog for a small spacecraft (though in many ways these capabilities also enable similar UAV work). The ROOFSAT was constructed with approximately $1,500 generously provided by the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences out of commercially-available parts. It includes multiple cameras, a pan-tilt mount and the same space-qualified computer hardware which has been used on both spacecraft …

Software Group Of The Openorbiter Project, Christoffer Korvald, Jeremy Straub

Jeremy Straub

This poster provides an update regarding software development work for the OpenOrbiter project. The software development effort for the OpenOrbiter project currently consists of four teams: payload software development, operating software development, ground station software development and testing. The teams are designing and developing the software needed to create and operate a small spacecraft which can be produced for under USD $5,000 by students, faculty and others around the world. Participating students are gaining valuable real-world experience through the process of designing and developing the spacecraft. Each team is headed by a team lead that is responsible for conducting weekly …

Extending The Orbital Services Model Beyond Computing, Communications And Sensing, Jeremy Straub

Jeremy Straub

An orbital services model has previously been proposed which is conceptualized in terms of providing orbital services related to a remote sensing mission, typical of a sensornet (e.g., computing, communications and sensing services). This model, however, can be extended to support additional services provided in the orbital environment, which could become available in the near to mid-term future. Examples of these services include power (such as might be provided by a solar power satellite), physical servicing (such as described by the DARPA Phoenix project and others), orbital maneuvering or raising and actuation of other remote craft capabilities.

This paper considers …

The Use Of 3d Printing To Enable High Altitude Balloon Missions, Jeremy Straub

Jeremy Straub

The 3D printing technology allows the low-cost creation of structures based on user-defined configuration parameters. Unlike other plastic-forming technologies, there is no tooling cost related to the creation of a mold. Because of this, highly-customized structures can be created with a minimum production quantity of one, allowing adaptation to individual mission needs (for a single-HAB mission) or the change of the structure across a multi-unit run (e.g., to test various configurations or as part of a study requiring multiple payloads with different configurations).

This paper considers the mission possibilities enabled by the use of 3D printing for HAB structures. These …

Rocket Flight Path, Jamie L. Waters

Jamie L Waters

This project uses Newton’s Second Law of Motion, Euler’s method, basic physics, and basic calculus to model the flight path of a rocket. From this project, one can find the height and velocity at any point from launch to the maximum altitude, apogee. Once complete this can be compared to what the actual values were to see if the method is a plausible way of estimation. The rocket used in this project is modeled after Bullistic-1 which was launched by the Society of Aeronautics and Rocketry at the University of South Florida.

Solar Ballooning: A Low-Cost Alternative To Helium Balloons For Small Spacecraft Testing, John Nordlie, Jeremy Straub, Chris Theisen, Ronald Marsh

Jeremy Straub

Helium-filled latex weather balloons have been utilized to carry small satellite prototypes and subsystems into the stratosphere to allow testing in a “near space” environment. This provides a variety of environmental factors similar to the space environment, such as a rarified atmosphere, increased thermal stress, increased solar radiation, the necessity of remote command and control, tracking, and telemetering of data. While this method of flight testing has been well-proven, a recent spike in the price of helium has driven the cost of such test programs to much higher levels. In this poster, an alternative technology to provide the flight mechanism, …

Openorbiter Small Spacecraft Development Program Educational Benefits, Jeremy Straub

Jeremy Straub

No abstract provided.

Discrete-Time Hypersonic Flight Control Based On Extreme Learning Machine, Bin Xu

Bin Xu

This paper describes the neural controller design for the longitudinal dynamics of a generic hypersonic flight vehicle (HFV). The dynamics are transformed into the strict-feedback form. Considering the uncertainty, the neural controller is constructed based on the single-hidden layer feedforward network (SLFN). The hidden node parameters are modified using extreme learning machine (ELM) by assigning random values. Instead of using online sequential learning algorithm (OSLA), the output weight is updated based on the Lyapunov synthesis approach to guarantee the stability of closed-loop system. By estimating the bound of output weight vector, a novel back-stepping design is presented where less online …

Dynamic Surface Control Of Constrained Hypersonic Flight Models With Parameter Estimation And Actuator Compensation, Bin Xu

Bin Xu

In this paper, the robust adaptive controller is investigated for the longitudinal dynamics of a generic hypersonic flight vehicle. The proposed methodology addresses the issue of controller design and stability analysis with respect to parametric model uncertainty and input saturations for the control-oriented model. The velocity and attitude subsystems are transformed into the linearly parameterized form. Based on the parameter projection estimation, the dynamic inverse control is proposed via the back-stepping scheme. In order to avoid the problem of “explosion of complexity,” by introducing a first-order filtering of the synthetic input at each step, the dynamic surface control is designed. …