Aerospace Engineering Commons^™

A Polygon Approach For Satellite Coverage Computation Problems, Caleb I. Arbreton

Master's Theses

During celestial body observation mission planning, predicted sensor coverage is a key analysis tool used by designers to inform concept of operations. It enables trade studies by applying a metric to assess how well different sensor, satellite, and constellation configurations can observe a mission's region of interest. The effectiveness of the studied components is then paramount in determining whether they are justified in the system architecture. Coverage computation becomes more difficult as sensor types and regions of interest (RoIs) deviate from simple shapes, and as problem formulations seek higher-fidelity results. These simplifications include: conical camera sensors, RoIs represented as simple, …

Optimization Of Repeat Ground Track Constellation Design For Complex Discontinuous Regional Coverage, Paige Jewell

Master's Theses

The continued growth of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations motivates efficient constellation design methods to reduce cost and complexity. Although brute-force methods are commonly employed in the preliminary design of satellite constellations, pairing analytic methods with optimization algorithms provides a more efficient means of searching the design space. Constellation design for continuous global and regional coverage is well-established; however, strategies for discontinuous regional coverage remain underdeveloped. This thesis focuses on an analytic geometry-based method for computing satellite coverage and revisit metrics, coupled with genetic algorithm optimization to efficiently explore the design space. The viability of this method is shown …

Development Of A Computer Vision Based Rendezvous And Docking Test Platform, David T. Forbes

Master's Theses

This thesis presents the work completed in the development and testing of a low-cost modular sensor package capable of rendezvous and docking by providing a vehicle with relative navigational commands. These navigational commands are created using relative localization data gathered and processed onboard the sensor package, with validation, in post-processing, against global localization data. This research aims to reduce the cost of smaller autonomous vehicles by removing the need for custom control units, as its modular nature will allow it to be adapted to many different systems and vehicles. Discussed within this thesis is the rapid prototyping, development, and testing …

Spaceotter: A Floating Spacecraft Simulator Air Bearing Vehicle For Hardware-In-The-Loop Experiments And Research, Alexander Debartolo

Master's Theses

Growing interest in nanosatellites has increased demand for accessible ground-testing methods, which have historically been expensive and restricted. Floating Spacecraft Simulators (FSS), built around Air Bearing Vehicles (ABVs), address this gap by approximating a zero-gravity, friction-minimized environment suitable for testing spacecraft control systems, robotics, and propulsion on the ground.

This thesis presents the design, realization, and initial performance characterization of the Space Optically Tracked Testbed for Experiments and Research (SpaceOTTER) ABV, developed for the Cal Poly Space Robotics Lab. SpaceOTTER is the first step toward emulating the 3 degree of freedom (3-DOF) planar dynamics of a simulated spacecraft and is …

Development And Verification Of An Updated Thermal Model For Cal Poly's Small Thermal Vacuum Chamber, Bryce G. Leonard

Master's Theses

This thesis discusses modifications made to the Small Thermal Vacuum (TVAC) Chamber in the Space Environments Laboratory at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and the development and verification of an updated thermal model reflecting these changes. The chamber was redesigned to improve thermal performance, featuring a homogeneous aluminum platen coated with Aeroglaze Z306 to enhance radiative heat transfer, along with expanded data acquisition capabilities for temperature and pressure measurements.

A new thermal model of the chamber was developed in SolidWorks using a finite element approach. The model incorporates conductive and radiative heat transfer mechanisms and is configured to …

Tracking Continuous Non-Differentiable Trajectories In Euler–Lagrange Systems With Continuous Dynamics, Nilay Kant

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Tracking controllers for Euler–Lagrange systems are designed under the assumption that reference trajectories are continuous, and at least twice differentiable with respect to time. However, this assumption precludes several use cases, such as when a robot end-effector must track a path with corners at constant speed. This paper introduces the control design for tracking continuous but non-differentiable trajectories in fully actuated Euler–Lagrange systems that have continuous-time dynamics. The proposed controller combines a continuous feedback law with impulsive inputs, that are intermittently applied at the instants of non-differentiability. A Lyapunov stability analysis establishes global exponential convergence of the tracking error to …

Evaluation Of The Effect Of Vibration On Signal Reflection In Coaxial Cable Connectors For Vibration Sensing In Aircraft Structures And Systems, Saidanvar Esanjonovich Valiev, Anthony C. Okafor, Jeremiah J. Rittenhouse, Daniel S. Stutts, Jie Huang

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper investigates the effects of vibration on signal reflection (S11) in aerospace data transmission line (ADTL) and commercial data transmission line (DTL) connectors for their alternative use as vibration sensors. The impact of vibration on the S11 signal was investigated on five ADTL and four DTL connectors at six vibration frequencies (20 Hz, 40 Hz, 80 Hz, 160 Hz, 320 Hz, and 640 Hz) and four vibration accelerations (0.5G, 1 G, 2 G, and 4G). The experiment was conducted using a split-plot design with a cable type assigned as the main-plot factor, with vibration frequency and acceleration as subplot …

Design And Development Of Pcb-Fabricated Faraday Probes For Micropropulsion Diagnostics, Avery Adams

Masters Theses

An investigation into the feasibility of printed-circuit-board-fabricated (PCB) Faraday probes (FPs) for use in micro-electric spacecraft propulsion (EP) diagnostics was performed at the Aerospace Laboratory for Plasma Experiments (ALPE), at Western Michigan University (WMU). This investigation included the design, fabrication, calibration, and characterization of a prototype probe-board for the purpose of exploring the physical constraints for this design concept. Analytical calculations and modeling in COMSOL Multiphysics were used to quantify the error sources in incident ion current flux measurements. Decoupled electrostatic and charged-particle tracing models were used to evaluate the error impact of charge buildup on dielectric surfaces and the …

Entropy-Constrained Closure For Steady, Quasi-One-Dimensional Flow Of Ideal Gases, Andrew A. Oliva

Michigan Tech Publications

An entropy-constrained closure is developed for steady quasi-one-dimensional flow of a calorically perfect ideal gas. Net irreversibility is represented by a prescribed entropy change between the inlet and outlet or, equivalently, by a stagnation pressure ratio together with the stagnation temperature ratio implied by the energy balance equation. The thermodynamic constraint, enforced through Gibbs relation together with conservation of mass and energy, yields an algebraic mapping from the inlet flow state, area ratio and prescribed stagnation property ratios to the outlet flow state. The momentum balance is retained only as an auxiliary post-processing relation and may be used to infer …

Data-Driven Lpv Modeling Via Parametric Dmd And Predictive Control Of Highly Flexible Aircraft, Larry Catalasan, Tianyi He, Weihua Su

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Student Publications and Presentations

This paper presents a method of data-driven parametric dynamic mode decomposition (p-DMD) to derive a linear parameter-varying reduced-order model (LPV-ROM) and predictive control for the nonlinear aeroelasticity of highly flexible aircraft. It directly uses the data snapshots obtained at varying flight conditions and encodes a nonlinear model’s polynomial dependency on flight conditions to produce a polynomial-dependent LPV-ROM. The modeling method can handle not only equilibrium flight conditions but also continuously varying flight conditions. In numerical studies, the proposed data-driven p-DMD modeling is applied to a highly flexible cantilever wing perturbed around equilibrium conditions and a flexible aircraft with time-varying angles …

Sentience, Sheetal Agrawal

Masters Theses

The increasing urgency for sustainable and adaptive systems has driven research toward embedding intelligence directly into materials rather than relying solely on external sensing and control systems. This thesis explores how smart material1 embedded systems can be designed to recognize and respond to environmental signatures, defined as measurable patterns such as temperature fluctuations and mechanical forces. Central to this investigation is the integration of shape memory alloys, particularly Nitinol, with geometry-based actuation mechanisms that amplify material behavior into functional system responses.

The central argument is that designing with smart materials is a design problem, not primarily a materials science problem …

Seizing Strategic High Ground Of Space Computing Power: Global Competition Landscape And China’S Path, Yan Chen, Wenbin Song, Ping Zhang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The deep integration of artificial intelligence and commercial aerospace is accelerating the transformation of space computing power from conceptual exploration to engineering verification, becoming a key direction for building an integrated space-air-ground information infrastructure. This study delves into its strategic value, global landscape, industrial chain bottlenecks, and advancement paths. The research reveals that the core value of space computing power does not lie in replacing ground data centers, but rather in focusing on network coverage blind spots, data transmission limitations, and high-timeliness scenarios, providing a new supply model of “in-orbit computing + space-ground collaboration”. Currently, the world has entered a …

The Impact Of Dispatch Weight Restrictions On Derivative Aircraft Propulsion Technology Evaluation, Timothy T. Takahashi

Faculty Publications

This paper arises from an ARPA-E-sponsored project seeking design opportunities to retrofit existing aircraft with hybrid electric propulsion systems. Engineers typically configure aircraft to fly a given payload over a long range, which is subject to field performance constraints. In practice, operators fly transport aircraft (civilian and military) in a manner where dispatch consciously trades payload and/or range to enable safe operations to and from short runways. This work describes a simple yet novel analytical process suitable for inclusion in conceptual design or technology portfolio trade study evaluations to assess the impacts of weight-restricted dispatch upon usable payloads. We find …

Developing And Evaluating U.S. Army Bridging For Ship Simulation, Jacob C. Hodges

Theses and Dissertations

This research investigates the intricacies of ship simulation and developmental processes for integrating wet gap crossing capabilities into a simulated environment. The US Army Mark III Bridge Erection Boat (BEB) and Improved Ribbon Bridge (IRB) were modeled in commercial off the shelf (COTS) and Government Co-Owned (GCO) navigation software suites to determine their performance capabilities and limitations. Each model was constructed using naval architecture concepts to accurately capture their hydrostatic and hydrodynamic effects before being validated against available performance data and expert elicitation from expert US Army watercraft operators. Models were configured and tested in simulated river flows with current …

Experimental Investigation Of The Effectiveness Of Various Stitching Methods On Arresting Mode-Ii Interlaminar Damage Propagation In Geometrically-Scaled Stitched Resin-Infused Composites, Allison Jean White

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents an experimental and analytical investigation of mode-II interlaminar fracture in geometrically-scaled quasi-isotropic resin-infused composites, with emphasis on through-thickness stitching as reinforcement. A global-local framework integrating load-displacement response, size effect fracture energy analysis, and digital image correlation-based separation measurements enabled direct comparison between unstitched and stitched configurations. Unstitched laminates exhibited pseudo-ductile behavior but significant post-peak load drops (16.7–26.8%) and a small fracture process zone (FPZ) of 0.73 mm, limiting stable crack growth. Stitching preserved pre-peak stiffness while reducing post-peak load drops by 43–95%, increasing effective fracture energy by 39.7% (to 2.413 N/mm), and expanding the FPZ to 2.85 …

Development Of Carbon-Fiber-Reinforced Composite Rotor Sleeves For High-Speed, Multi-Layer Ferrite-Based Interior Permanent-Magnet Motors, Andrew Walters

Theses and Dissertations

This research investigated whether a non-wound carbon fiber reinforced composite (CFRC) sleeve could serve as an effective retention mechanism for a high-speed, multi-layer ferrite-based interior permanent magnet motor. Material characterization testing was conducted on IM7/CYCOM-5320 and IM7/8552, with IM7/8552 selected due to its superior commercial availability. Experimentally obtained properties for both materials fell within acceptable tolerances of published values. Sleeves were manufactured to rotor design specifications (50-mm width, 1.2-mm thickness, 88.6-mm diameter) and tested per ASTM D2290 Procedure A to determine apparent hoop-failure stress. These experimental results validated a finite element model of the D2290 test, confirming realistic strain patterns …

Trussworthy - A Lunar Module Truss System, Anthony Wehrli, Sebnem Kalayci, Tyler Williams, Sofia Lopez-Linares Perez, Connor Mcdonagh, Presley Robb

Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium

TrussWorthy is a modular truss-based construction platform designed to support the gradual development of sustainable infrastructure on the lunar surface. Aligned with NASA’s Moon to Mars objectives, the system emphasizes in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) by transforming lunar regolith into structural components through sintering and additive manufacturing. By reducing dependence on Earth-supplied materials, TrussWorthy aims to lower launch costs while enabling scalable, long-term construction capabilities. The design integrates autonomous excavation, 3D printing, and robotic assembly, building on technologies expected from upcoming Artemis and Commercial Lunar Payload Services missions. Engineered to withstand extreme thermal cycling, vacuum conditions, and reduced lunar gravity, the …

Meeting The Moment With Ai-Employer Informed Education, Brent Terwilliger, John Faraca

Publications

As artificial intelligence transforms aviation, aerospace, and autonomy-related sectors, higher education must adapt to meet evolving workforce demands. This session shares emerging findings from a nationwide study led by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, focused on employer perceptions of AI adoption, responsible use, and workforce preparedness in domains including uncrewed systems, space systems, robotics, and advanced air mobility. Based on a structured survey and follow-up interviews, the presentation explores how organizations are using AI tools, from generative platforms to enterprise systems, and defining effective and inappropriate use in operational contexts. Participants will gain insight into critical concerns (e.g., data privacy, compliance, security, …

Comprehensive Analysis Of Spray Development And Low Temperature Combustion Characteristics In A Cvcc With Nvh Of Renewable Aerospace Fuels: Hefa & Ft Synthetic Kerosene (S8) Compared To Jet-A & Ulsd, Coleman Norton

Honors College Theses

A comprehensive analysis was conducted to research the viability of Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA) and S8 Synthetic Kerosene fuels as a drop-in replacement for conventional petroleum-based fuels, Jet-A and ULSD (Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel). Global transportation remains heavily dependent on liquid fossil fuels, while renewable aerospace fuels offer a promising pathway to reducing life cycle greenhouse gas emissions and pollution. However, the combustion performance and long-term feasibility of these fuels remain insufficiently characterized. This study performed a thorough assessment of each fuel's thermophysical and combustion properties. Thermophysical characterization encompassed viscosity, freezing point, energy density, spray atomization, and volatility. …

Design Optimization Of Active-Stabilizing Canards For High-Powered Rockets, Simon Babcock

Senior Honors Theses

Rocket canards are a common means of stabilizing a high-powered rocket in flight by producing aerodynamic forces to correct the rocket's trajectory. The size, shape, and position of the canards relative to the rocket body determine their control effectiveness and aerodynamic efficiency – two objectives of canard design with an inverse relationship to each other. By integrating automated iterative rocket trajectory simulation with adaptive surrogate modelling, this research optimized the canard planform geometry for a high-powered rocket to maximize the canards’ control effectiveness and aerodynamic efficiency through multi-variable, multi-objective design optimization. The canard design was first parameterized into four design …

Ballistics Characterization Of Micro-Truss Reinforced Lunar-Inspired Geopolymer Concrete For Space Construction, Phoebe G. Johnson

Honors Theses

This research investigates the ballistics response and compressive strength of a Fly Ash/ Lunar Regolith hybrid geopolymer concrete developed for space construction. The study aimed firstly to optimize the Fly Ash/ Regolith mix ratio for maximum mechanical performance and secondly, to evaluate the effectiveness of carbon-fiber micro-truss reinforcement, produced by 3D printing, in mitigating damage from high-velocity impacts. Concrete specimens with varying Fly Ash-to-Regolith ratios (100-50% Fly Ash) were fabricated and tested under compression and ballistic loading. Compressive strength tests followed ASTM C109 using a 110 Kip 810-MTS testing apparatus on both unreinforced and reinforced 2” cubes. For unreinforced samples, …

Lunar Regolith Sintered Brick Apparatus, Andrew Fasano, Noah Parayil, Darius Felix Karra

Senior Design Project For Engineers

This project describes the preliminary design and analysis of the Semi-Autonomous Lunar Regolith Sintered Brick Apparatus that will assist in developing permanent infrastructure on the Moon. An issue with permanent lunar operations is the transportation of materials to the Moon. To address this, the designed device uses lunar regolith as the source material for producing bricks. This design considers the constraints set for operation with the Griffin lunar lander: maximum payload mass of 200 kg, power consumption below 5 kW, and limited payload dimensions. The design uses a combination of a laser sintering motion system, a regolith layering subsystem, a …

Stabilized Cargo Relay Aircraft For Precision Payload Yielding, Dato A. Tabidze, Michael Conely, Ben Courtney

Senior Design Project For Engineers

As military missions become more complicated, warfighters need more capable drones to use across diverse scenarios. The same also applies to civilian applications, like infrastructure inspection, package delivery, and disaster response. Current multirotor drones, also known as unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), provide simplicity, affordability, and ease of operation; however, their primary limitation is their low payload-to-weight ratio, which typically falls at 1:1 or less. The DARPA Lift Challenge aims to shatter the heavy lift bottleneck, seeking novel drone designs that can carry payloads more than four times their weight, which would revolutionize the way we use drones across all sectors. …

Hybird Vtol Gust Load Alleviation Uav, Ryan Birch, Mouhamadou Diop, Sebastian J. Flores, Alan Alan Rubio-Saavedra

Senior Design Project For Engineers

Here's a 250-word abstract:

Abstract

This paper presents the conceptual and preliminary design of a sub-500g hybrid vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with an active gust load alleviation (GLA) system. The aircraft combines passive twist wingtip (PTWT) devices with an inertial measurement unit (IMU)-based adaptive feedforward control architecture to reduce peak wing-root bending moments by 30–40% relative to an unmitigated baseline configuration.

The propulsion system employs a twin tilt-rotor plus rear pusher arrangement within an 80g mass budget, enabling clean sensor inflow while supporting both hover and efficient cruise flight at 12–13 m/s. Electronic …

Lunar Manufacturing Systems And The Role Of Additive Recycling Technologies, Camille A. Newman

Honors Theses

Renewed international interest in sustained lunar exploration has created a growing demand for technologies to support long-duration space exploration. Part of the recent Artemis missions and the Moon to Mars initiative is to improve key mission capabilities and fill critical gaps necessary to sustain lunar habitation. Waste management, recycling systems, and manufacturing systems have been identified as critical technologies that need further development before a sustained mission is possible. This thesis explores the feasibility of an additive manufacturing and recycling system designed to process plastic waste generated during extended lunar habitation. Initial research focused on existing manufacturing and recycling technologies …

Leveraging Information Theory And Ecological Network Analysis To Monitor Communication Networks In A Student Aerospace Team, Christine Sessions

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Effective communication is a critical component of successful collaboration in group projects and team settings. However, systematically tracking and analyzing team communications can be challenging, especially in complex, multi-member teams such as those found in the aerospace industry. This paper explores an information-theoretic approach that leverages encoding techniques and graph theory to analyze communication networks within a university’s multi-year, student-led cubesat design project (Project COMET). By utilizing Shannon Entropy as a measure of information flow, encoding communication patterns, and analyzing Ecological Network Analysis parameters, this research aims to understand how an Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University student project team evolves over the …

Aerodynamic And Acoustic Modeling For Evtol Rotor Noise Prediction, Daniella Bezuidenhout, Anastasios S. Lyrintzis, Vladimir V. Golubev

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

This thesis presents the development and validation of a methodology for predicting total acoustic emissions from a one-fifth scale electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) rotor in both hover and edgewise flight conditions. The approach couples sectional two-dimensional Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (2D-RANS) airfoil simulations with rotor loading predictions from the Comprehensive Hierarchical Aeromechanics Rotorcraft Model (CHARM), tonal noise calculations using the acoustic solver PSU-WOPWOP, and broadband noise predictions from the UCD-QuietFly framework. Boundary-layer inputs traditionally obtained from the viscous-inviscid solver, XFOIL, were replaced with higher-fidelity 2D-RANS results from OpenFOAM to better capture low-Reynolds-number flow physics, including laminar-turbulent transition and laminar separation …

Adaptive Control Combined With Integral Concurrent Learning For Trajectory Tracking Near Asteroids, Alvaro Diaz Rodrigo

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Close-proximity operations in the vicinity of Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs) are essential for scientific studies and possible future planetary-defense missions. Unlike motion around large celestial bodies, spacecraft dynamics near small, rotating asteroids are dominated by weak, highly irregular gravity fields. While full characterization of an asteroid’s shape enables high-fidelity gravitational modeling, such information is typically unavailable in realistic mission scenarios, and in-situ exploration is often required. As a result, the forces acting on the spacecraft cannot be modeled accurately in advance, leading to significant uncertainty in the equations of motion and challenging guidance and control strategies. To address these challenges, the …

Contributions To Ship-Airwake-Rotor Coupling Characterization Using Controlled Forcing, Guillermo Mazzilli

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Shipboard helicopter operations occur within a highly unsteady environment referred to as the dynamic interface (DI), encompassing the coupled effects of the ship airwake, rotor wake, flight dynamics, and pilot response. A central aspect of the DI is the aerodynamic interaction between the ship airwake and the rotor wake, which degrades handling qualities and increases pilot workload, yet the underlying mechanisms governing ship-rotor coupling remain insufficiently understood. The ship-rotor aerodynamic coupling was examined using two canonical ship geometries, the NATO-GD and SFS2, together with a controlled experimental framework, the airflow-and-blade-frequency (ABF) system, which independently varied wake momentum flux and unsteady …

Turbulent Plenum Jet-Crossflow Validation Via Subgrid Scale Model Variation And Upstream Forcing Under Dynamic Hybrid Rans-Les, Cole W. Mccallum

Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

In modern gas turbine design, film cooling has become ubiquitous as a method for limiting heat transfer between high temperature gases post-combustion and the surface of downstream blades. This paper validates the use of various computational fluid dynamics techniques in recreating an experiment measuring adiabatic effectiveness over a surface downstream of a compound-angle N2 plenum jet incident on a turbulent-air boundary layer [1]. To do this, both RANS and Dynamic Hybrid RANS-LES (DHRL) methods are implemented and compared to previous research [2]. The latter method is then modified through implementation of a different subgrid scale (SGS) model and through addition …