Structures and Materials Commons^™

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. …

G.W.A.I.H.I.R. Guided Wing Aircraft For Intelligent Hybrid Insertion And Recovery, Abdirahman Ahmed Shirwa, Zach Richards, Derek Harwood, Alex Duncan

Senior Design Project For Engineers

The paper outlines the conceptual and preliminary design of a hybrid vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) heavy lift unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for autonomous cargo transport missions. The primary design objective was to create an aircraft capable of carrying a 15 kg payload over a range of 33 km, achieving a top cruise speed of 45 km/h and maintaining an endurance capacity of at least 90 minutes.

A comprehensive literature review informed key design decision, including airfoil selection, structural material, propulsion system configuration, and control. Key requirements were established early in the design process, such as payload capacity, energy efficiency, …

Robotic Arms For Microgravity Manufacturing, Connor Talley, Joshua Diamond, Mickael Bah

Senior Design Project For Engineers

There is a need to reduce manufacturing cost in space to avoid sending earth manufactured parts that could suffer damage during launch. The proposed idea consists of a dual robotic arm system attached on a precision gantry setup. The team developed an innovative design that is flexible and efficient for different assemblies, improving space manufacturing. With its two specialized robotic arms, our system maximizes versatility by catering to a wide variety of applications from manufacturing to assembly. The dual arms made of Al 7075 coupled with the gantry provides stability and performance in microgravity environments.

Kwad - Ksu All Weather Autonomous Drone, Nick Farinacci, Sebastian Gomez, Stewart Baker, Ed Sheridan

Symposium of Student Scholars

"KWAD" or "KSU all-Weather Autonomous Drone" project was sponsored by Ultool, LLC to the KSU Research and Service Foundation to create a lightweight drone capable of capturing HD video during all-weather operations. The conditions of all-weather operation include rainfall of one inch per hour and wind speeds of up to twenty miles per hour. In addition, a global minimum structural safety factor of two is required to ensure the system's integrity in extreme weather conditions. Potential mission profiles include autonomous aerial delivery, topological mapping in high moisture areas, security surveillance, search and rescue operations, emergency transportation of medical supplies, and …

Superfly Amphibian, Devonte Andrews, Ahmed Hamza, Kwesi Onumah, Eva Sanchez

Senior Design Project For Engineers

Following a Short Takeoff and Landing (STOL) mission profile, this seaplane is designed to carry 19 passengers and 1 flight crew with a range of 200 nautical miles. The seaplane is equipped with two turbo-prop engines and is economically comparable to current seaplanes in terms of servicing and operating expenses. The aircraft is capable of operating in remote locations with limited infrastructure due to its STOL abilities, allowing for increased access to difficult-to-reach areas. The seaplane's design incorporates modern materials and technologies to enhance efficiency, safety, and comfort for passengers and crew. The aircraft's versatility and cost-effectiveness make it an …

Novel Thermal Coating For High-Speed Airplanes, Abinash Satapathy, Lakshay Battu, Liam Watson, Nazanin Rajabi

Symposium of Student Scholars

In comparison to various other materials, Carbon Fiber, specifically Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRP), is pre-eminent amongst other materials for use on aeronautical systems. Due to its high specific strength (strength-to-weight ratio), CFRP is prominent for carrying heavy loads while maintaining a lightweight build. However, when influenced by heat resulting from air resistance, CFRP is known to undergo serious degradation that would significantly decrease the effectiveness of the polymers. To prevent this degradation and maintain the strength of the CFRP, thermal protective layers (TPLs) are designed to shield the CFRP from heat exposure. This research is focused on the examination …

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.