Systems Engineering and Multidisciplinary Design Optimization Commons^™

Autonomous Payload Design With Systems Engineering, Michael Downs, Christopher James Liebhart 2nd

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The design will be an autonomous payload consisting of auto deployment of a drone running an autonomous mission of mapping the terrain around a grounded rocket. The project is part of the Akronauts payload project for the 2022 Spaceport competition. It will include the development of a ground station for monitoring and controlling the drone and the transfer of live data to the station and a computer on board the rocket. The project will aim to use system engineering techniques to accomplish this in the hope of providing documentation and thus insight into the best way to develop a multi-disciplinary …

The Design Of The Payload System Of An Aircraft, Ryan Cooper

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The project group will design and build a system to unload packages for the Zips Aero Design Team's aircraft for the 2021-22 competition year.

Drone Cage Design And Implementation To Enable Small Drone Architecture Testing, Marco Fagetti, Emily M. Suh

Undergraduate Student Works

Geometric mechanics is a dynamical formalism that allows for simultaneous treatment of rotational and translational motion without the drawbacks of attitude parameterization sets. While geometric mechanics is well suited to deal with full six degree-of-freedom motion or significant position-attitude coupling, this formalism has yet to be extensively applied to hardware systems. The broader research goals of this work aim to prove the practical viability of this theoretical framework by applying it to a class of Crazyflie drones, which are frequently used to assess Guidance, Navigation, and Control schemes. To efficiently achieve these goals, a reliable, collapsible drone cage is required …

Investigations Of The Low Temperature Combustion Regions And Emissions Characteristics Of Aerospace F24 In A Constant Volume Combustion Chamber And A Common Rail Direct Injection Ci Engine, Richard C. Smith Iii

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

A study was conducted to investigate the low temperature combustion (LTC) regions of aerospace F24 and ULSD in the static setting of a CVCC and the dynamic setting of a CRDI research engine. This research is conducted to reduce in-cylinder emissions by understanding and implementing a technique to achieve an extended LTC. Emissions data for this study were collected during the operation of the CRDI research engine with a MKS 2030 FTIR and an AVL Microsoot 483. The parameters researched within the static setting of the CVCC included the determinations of the cool flames and NTC regions within the LTHR …

Attainable Moment Set And Actuation Time Of A Bio-Inspired Rotating Empennage, Christian R. Bolander, Douglas F. Hunsaker, David Myszka, James J. Joo

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Future tactical aircraft will likely demonstrate improvements in efficiency, weight, and control by implementing bio-inspired control systems. This work analyzes a novel control system for a fighter aircraft inspired by the function of – and the degrees of freedom available in – a bird’s tail. The control system is introduced to an existing fighter aircraft design by removing the vertical tail and allowing the horizontal tail surfaces to rotate about the roll axis. Using a low-fidelity aerodynamic model, an analysis on the available controlling moments and actuation speeds of the baseline aircraft is compared to that of the bio-inspired rotating …

Concept Evaluation And Development Of A Novel Approach For Integration Of Turbogeneration, Electrification And Supercharging On Heavy Duty Engines, Satyum Joshi

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

While many technologies such as electrically assisted turbocharging, exhaust energy recovery and mild hybridization have already proven to significantly increase heavy-duty engine efficiency, the key challenge to their widespread adoption has been their cost effectiveness and packaging. This research specifically addresses these challenges through evaluation and development of a novel technology concept termed as the Integrated Turbogeneration, Electrification and Supercharging (ITES) system. The concept integrates a secondary compressor, a turbocompound/expander turbine and an electric motor through a planetary gearset into the engine cranktrain. The approach enables a reduced system cost and space-claim, while maximizing the efficiency benefits of independent technologies. …

Mu2e Pion Degrader For Detector Calibration, Jessie Bouche Miles

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Particle tracking within the Mu2e experiment can be accomplished through regulating the rate of capture at the stopping target with the addition of a thin, low atomic weight material, the “degrader.” Investigation of Mu2e studies and simulations provide initial data for degrader design. The overall thickness of the degrader plus structural components must fit between the last two solenoids during operation and resist displacement. The degrader area, perpendicular to the beamline, must exceed that of the stopping target during alignment and be able to clear outer diameters of the beamline components. Structural analysis will ensure all dimensional constraints are met …

Conceptual Design Of Fuel Dumping System In Aircraft, Naveen M. Kumar Mr., Ravi A. Kannan Be., Magesh L Be., Praveen T. Kumar Be., Vijay K. Babu Me., Prashanth Radhakrishnan Be.

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Airlines release the unburned jet fuel into the atmosphere to reduce the weight of aircraft before landing. Sometimes, aircraft reach a weight more than takeoff weight while departing from the airport. Therefore, the pilot follows the ATC comment to dump fuel into the atmosphere to reduce the aircraft's weight to avoid accidents. Due to fuel dumping, an airline faces fuel consumption, loss, and several diseases affect environmental pollutants, and living things. The total fuel consumption of commercial airlines worldwide in 2021 is 57 billion gallons. If jet fuel routinely hit the ground, it would pollute water and land and damage …

Cfd And Heat Transfer Analysis Of Rocket Cooling Techniques On An Aerospike Nozzle, Geoffrey Sullivan

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

In recent years the development of rocket engines has been mainly focused on improving the engine cycle and creating new fuels. Rocket nozzle design has not been changed since the late 1960s. Recent needs for reliable and reusable rockets, as well as advancements in additive manufacturing, have brought new interest into the aerospike nozzle concept. This nozzle is a type of altitude adjusting nozzle that is up to 90% more efficient than bell nozzles at low altitudes and spends up to 30% less fuel. Since the nozzle body is submerged in the hot exhaust gasses it is difficult to keep …

State-Of-The-Art Of Thermal Control Solutions To Establish A Modular, Multi-Orbit Capable Spacecraft Thermal Management System Design Methodology, Robert C. Consolo Jr

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Today, the exploration and exploitation of space continues to become a more common occurrence. All types of spacecraft (S/C) utilize various types of thermal management solutions to mitigate the effects of thermal loading from the unforgiving vacuum of space. Without an appropriately designed thermal system, components on-board the S/C can experience failure or malfunction due to fluctuations in temperatures either beyond the designed operational parameters or unstable oscillating temperatures. The purpose of this study is to perform a comprehensive review of technologies available today that are being used for thermal management onboard S/C in addition to investigating the means to …

Lupa: An Excursion Vehicle For The Moons Of Mars, Shannon Kavanagh, Bo Lewis, Alex Odinamba, Joshua Mulhern

Senior Design Project For Engineers

Our team has designed a spacecraft and mission for exploring the moons of Mars. The Lithological and Ultraviolet Photometry Assessment (LUPA) excursion vehicle is capable of crew habitation, autonomous rendezvous, and in-vacuum sample collection all in support of a parallel Mars surface mission to be carried out in the year 2040. Our project's key focus areas revolve around orbital mechanics, space vehicle propulsion analysis, scientific exploration, and the management of various interconnected spacecraft subsystems.

Project Scrappie (Clear Constellation), Jacob Bertram, Jacob Britt, Bill Ngo, Mike Diesing

Senior Design Project For Engineers

Clear Constellation™ is a nationwide competition hosted by Rubicon® to combat the growing problem of space debris in Low Earth Orbit. Project Scrappie is our team’s solution to this problem. Scrappie is an autonomous apparatus will make use of Whipple shield technology to collide with debris at high velocities and effectively destroy the debris throughout selected orbital paths.

Break The Ice Challenge, Peter Karkos, Alex Lewis, Eva Kouyate, Vy Han

Mechanical Engineering

The report documents and justifies team LEGION’s senior design project, from research and ideation to prototype manufacturing and testing. It begins by providing some background on the project and outlining the mission scenario given by NASA. This is followed by related literature on excavation of icy regolith on the moon, water transportation, lunar environment, and space law. Next, research is performed into existing products, such as patents and various designs from previous related NASA competitions.

After providing the relevant background information, focused objectives are outlined, with a problem statement, boundary sketch, and engineering specifications. The wants & needs of NASA …

Tradespace Exploration Of A Uav Conceptual Design Using Model-Based Systems Engineering, Ayan Srivastava

All Theses

The objective of this research is to apply model-based systems engineering approaches to the conceptual design of unmanned aerial vehicles. This is accomplished by evaluating the models of aircraft performance, extracting input and output parameters from the models, creating chains of models, and implementing the models in the MATLAB programming language. By following this process, it is possible to identify the global parameters that remain constant across models, the shared input parameters, the dependencies between models, and the feedback loops with the systems models.

The models are currently implemented in two files using Microsoft MS Excel, one is focused on …

Issue 18: Contributors, Don Flournoy

Online Journal of Space Communication

List of Issue 18 Contributors

Sunsat Design Competition 2015-2016 First Place Winner – Team Space Transport: Power Satellites Beamed Energy Bootstrapping, Keith Henson, Anna Nesterova

Online Journal of Space Communication

This International SunSat Design Competition first-place winner for 2016 describes a beamed energy transport system that will operate in Space above low earth orbit (LEO) as a way to move power satellite parts into high orbits.

This design, entitled “Beamed Energy Bootstrapping,” makes use of small propulsion power satellites to provide the energy for space-based vehicles using electric arcjets. The proposal lays out a scheme to get the first propulsion power satellite in place without damage as it passes through the orbiting space junk below 2000 km.

Click here to see the video: Space Transport for Power Satellites Beamed Energy …

Sunsat Design Competition 2015-2016 Second Place Winner – Team Pathway To Power : Wireless Power Transfer, Javier Tandazo, Ethan Wong, Curtis Waggoner, John Guggenheim, Alexander Carter

Online Journal of Space Communication

Solar Power Satellites (SPS) using Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) to beam renewable energy to consumers on earth face three grand challenges: moving parts, heat dissipation, and radio interference. Solutions to each of these “show stoppers” are presented here. Further, a progressively more-complex pathway is described which starts where we are now and leads step-wise to implementation of large-scale Space Solar Power (SSP).

The first two grand challenges are addressed by a novel SPS design based on a thin-walled cylinder configuration of solar panels. The remaining challenge is tackled through a newly-discovered antenna configuration which allows dramatic reduction in radio/telecom interference …

Sunsat Design Competition 2014-2015 Third Place Winner – Team Martian: Space Solar Power Test Bed, Jeremy Straub, Tristan Plante, Benjamin Kading, Alex Holland, Landon Klein, Jordan Forbord

Online Journal of Space Communication

We propose a four-stage plan to demonstrate the effectiveness and safety of Space Solar Power (SSP) for use on Earth. Our project goal is to achieve Technology Readiness Level (TRL) by means of: 1) a test mission in low Earth orbit using a small spacecraft; 2) that will support a manned mission to Mars; 3) that includes a bent pipe experiment (power supplied from Earth, to a spacecraft and back to Earth), and 4) to complete system deployment.

The primary impediment to SSP implementation is thought to be the acceptance of the system by those on Earth who may be …

Sunsat Design Competition 2014-2015 First Place Winner – Team Cast: Multi-Rotary Joints Sps, Xinbin Hou, Meng Li, Lili Niu, Lu Zhou, Ying Chen, Zhengai Cheng, Haipeng Ji

Online Journal of Space Communication

Space Power Satellite (SPS) is a huge spacecraft designed to collect solar energy in space for supplying electric power to the electric grid on the ground. The SPS concept was first proposed by Dr. Peter Glaser in 1968.

Various studies on SPS in various countries have been produced over the past forty years. Today, there are multiple variations on this early concept, both in innovation and in optimization. Because of the huge size, immense mass and high power of these SPS installations, there are many technological difficulties.

Here, a new Multi-Rotary Joints SPS (MR-SPS) concept is proposed. The large solar …

Sunsat Design Competition 2014-2015 Second Place Winner – Team Sunflower: Thermal Power Satellite, Keith Henson, Steve Nixon, Kris Holland, Anna Nesterova

Online Journal of Space Communication

Space-based Solar Power has failed to be competitive on cost in spite of decades of study. A new approach appears to resolve the cost issue, undercutting coal and opening huge markets for low cost solar power from space. There are two parts to the problem. First is the cost of lifting parts to Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO; second is the mass of parts that make up a power satellite.

Our team is proposing a combination that makes use of Skylon to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), and a 15,000 ton payload ground powered electric propulsion from LEO to GEO. This strategy …