Space Environment Team
November 2021
The Space Environments Team will begin bi-weekly meetings next quarter to discuss design considerations of the space environment such as solar, thermal, radiation, etc. Training sessions about using DAS, SPENVIS, STK, and GMAT will be provided to new members who express interest.
ADCS
November 2021
The ADCS team has had several trainings in ADCS software architecture, classical control theory, and rotations. Several newer members have gotten involved with the Star Tracker project on the ADCS theory side, which is a great application of some theory discussed at their training sessions. They also said goodbye to Josh Grace, who was the sole ADCS Lead up until this quarter. He is graduating this quarter.
Star Tracker
October 2021
The Star Tracker team is hoping to set their year-long goals this upcoming month. They are currently doing research on how to improve their algorithms.
Ground Station
November 2021
Ground Station is still a work in progress. Antennas are still being worked on. Due to the lack of flight missions, there is little work in command and control of Ground Station.
October 2021
Ground Station has started developing algorithms to automatically uplink and downlink pictures from their satellites to help train their Star Tracker. Additionally, they have begun work on ground infrastructure and updating and maintaining their current technologies. Some work has been done in testing the low noise amplifier for their SDR (software defined radio), along with some minimal testing of their quad-yagi on top of Engineering 4 that is currently broken. There are also a few more programming projects in the works, which future updates will touch on as they get closer to finishing them.
Diversity and Inclusion
January 2022
The DEI Team is working to update its website to have more information about applying, FAQs, and information about each team. They have also gotten in contact with more professors and DEI Teams at Cal Poly, and is working to standardize its application, interview, and acceptance process to make it more professional.
October 2021
The DEI Team has reviewed and revised take-home questions to improve their hiring process.They have also standardized a mentorship process, aimed at helping and supporting new members in the best way possible. The team has also provided resources to everyone involved in hiring so as to ensure that interviewees and application reviewers are informed and prepared for the upcoming hiring process.
Propulsion STMD (PESPI)
February 26th 2021:
This month, the PESPI team completed the component research for high voltage DC-DC converters as well as the high level switching technology research necessary for them. They produced a low level block diagram design which they presented to their collaborators and gathered information about every system that is required from them. The team will be working on requirements for the next month.
February 23rd 2021:
Increased collaboration with UCI; we collected enough information to begin requirements. Created systems level design for PPU. Continuing research and trade studies on high voltage DC-DC design and component selection.
Electrical Power Subsystem
November 3rd 2020:
The Electrical Power Subsystem team is new to the Cal Poly CubeSat Laboratory. This month, they set up resources and began to hold meetings and training sessions with a focus on the EPS development needed for the PowerSat mission as well as research on new EPS techniques.
Lab Improvement
October 7th 2020:
CPCL has begun its restructure to a more subsystem-focused organization. New subsystem teams are being created one-by-one with the goal that all pertinent subsystems will have infrastructure established by the end of the quarter. So far, the Systems Engineering, Testing and Facilities, and Structures and Mechanisms teams have started weekly meetings. Electrical Power Systems, Communications, Space Environments, and Attitude Determination and Control are next. Each team will begin by working with the lab managers to define the roles and responsibilities of the members within their team, meeting with the project leads to coordinate needs and tasks, establishing trainings for new members, and creating meetings for both experienced and new members to communicate across projects and ensure that consistent approaches are taken regarding that subsystem. Meanwhile, discipline leads are shifting their focus towards recruitment, new member induction, and culture creation within the lab.
ADE
November 2021:
The ADE Team has been working with Purdue University on interface documentation. They have also been busy with mechanical design work, electrical work on PIB, side panels, and a brand new battery trade study.
April 2021:
The ADE team has been working in conjunction with Purdue University to define system requirements, interfaces and other mission details. The team is currently looking for a GTO launch in the coming year that will allow them to advance this technology to a usable state for any future CubeSat mission.
February 23rd 2021:
The ADE team is currently working to define system interfaces with Purdue university.
October 7th 2020:
Currently, the ADE structures team is working with Purdue University on a valid mechanical interface between the dragsail and avionics sub-assemblies. The electrical team is working on designing custom side panels that incorporate radiation sensors for the high exposure of the Van Allen belts.
CP-15 Spinnaker3:
April 2021:
Spinnaker-3 will be launching soon on the Firefly Alpha rocket. This month there is a planned test fire on the pad to ensure all systems are still nominal after transport.
February 2021:
Spinnaker3 is currently waiting for launch on the Firefly Alpha rocket in March.
October 7th 2020:
Spinnaker3 is in the final stages of assembly and testing in preparation for launch on the Firefly Alpha launch vehicle later this year. After a couple weeks of troubleshooting, a successful boom deployment test was completed in late September. The team is currently working with Purdue University to have all the proper licenses and documentation completed for delivery.
StickCube
March 2nd 2021:
This month the StickCube team did further training in control system (deriving controller gains, general control system trade-offs) and relevant software (implementing difference equations into C, the NASA 42 simulation). Additionally, they made further progress with the cad model and had an informal review to be approved to order electrical parts. The order was approved and parts are currently on their way. The following months should see the StickCube team writing assembly and testing procedures and beginning to work on assembling and testing hardware. The software for the control system they will be implementing on the Arduino is also still in development.
November 3rd 2020:
The StickCube team has made progress primarily with improving our simulation and holding trainings. Parts for StickCube have been evaluated and selected using a Simulink model which characterizes how the system responds to external torques. This model allows the team to tweak the system and make major changes before buying or assembling anything costly. The team has held several trainings focusing on introducing major ADCS ideas and concepts paired with the foundational mathematics essential to understanding classical controls theory.
October 7th 2020:
StickCube is an internal lab project that aims to develop a self-stabilizing inverted pendulum using a micro-controller and two reaction wheels. It is designed to serve as a hands-on attitude determination and control systems (ADCS) learning platform, where lab members can practice running simulations, build a physical structure, and implement control algorithms. This is part of CPCL's transition towards having more ADCS capabilities to bring to future flight missions.
CubeSat Kit
February 28th 2021:
This month, the CubeSat Kit team has been tackling pivotal stages in the design and integration process for both CubeSat Kit Version 1 and Version 2. The IPPM for CubeSat Kit Version 1 is functional and is still going through final testing with the full system integration test happening after. An Interface Control Document (ICD) is currently being developed for CubeSat Kit Version 2 in order to study and identify the dependencies and risks associated with integration for every system. This document will be studied by systems engineering to help faciliate integration and make a full functioning CubeSat possible.
February 1st 2021:
CubeSat Kit continues its progress with Version 1 and Version 2. For Version 1, the structure, EPS, and IPPM have been delivered and are being prepared for testing and verification. Version 2 continues its work with the new COMM, ADS, and OBC, and second revisions of the IPPM, EPS, and Backplane. New deadline dates are as follows:
Testing and Verification of CubeSat Kit Version 1 - End of Winter, 2021
Complete Version 2 subsystems - End of Spring, 2021
Complete integration, testing, and verification of CubeSat Kit Version 2 - End of Summer, 2021
November 3rd 2020:
Two versions for the CubeSat Kit have been defined and are being worked on in parallel. CubeSat Kit Version 1 uses its 1U metallic structure made through additive manufacturing, and incorporates a Version 1 Backplane, EPS, and IPPM. The purpose of this version is to test the fundamental functions of the CubeSat kit as it uses solar panels, on-board batteries, and an EPS to power the IPPM which can incorporate a wide range of integrated payloads for testing. CubeSat Kit Version 2 incorporates Version 2 EPS, Backplane, and IPPM plus the following subsystems: COMM, ADS (Attitude Determination System), and OBC (On-Board Computer). The idea is to build up the CubeSat Kit capabilities through versions. Version 1's testing and verification deadline is by the end of Fall 2020. Version 2's deadline is by the end of Summer 2021. Version 3 will be defined in the future.
October 7th 2020:
Students wrapped up summer 2020 with great progress on setting the foundation for the structural and electrical layout of the CubeSat Kit. They have mainly worked on the Electrical Power System (EPS), Integrated Payload Processing Module (IPPM), system board, and structures subsystems; a general meeting schedule for Fall 2020 has been set to continue development and integration progress for the modular CubeSat.
August–September 2020:
The CubeSat Kit project aims at developing an educational platform with modular subsystem components so students can learn more about CubeSat operations and systems. This includes developing the Electrical Power System and Backplane interconnect for the CubeSat Kit prototype and developing the Integrated Payload Processing Module (IPPM). The IPPM acts as the payload subsystem and communicates with the main flight computer to execute commands and share processed payload data. This project is partially supported by the Aerospace Engineering Department and the Office of Research and Development through the Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activities Grant Program.
XBand
April 2021:
XBand revisited the Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) document designed last summer and started to onboard Electrical Engineers to prepare for summer testing. Several test boards are being developed to verify theoretical design during last summer's SURP.
November 3rd 2020:
The XBand team characterized their Software Defined Radio’s noise floor, which will aid in finding the right LNA for the team’s Front End. They are close to manufacturing their Tx board and are designing the Rx board.
October 7th 2020:
EE: The team has selected a Software Defined Radio (SDR) to act as the transceiver's back end, and have also programmed the SDR with GNU Radio to transmit and receive BPSK modulated signals. Additionally, we’ve designed both the transmit chain PCB for the front end and the patch array antenna.
Aero: Aero member’s have defined customer requirements, decomposed to component level requirements, and created a work breakdown structure. We’ve also defined interfaces using N-squared diagrams and an Interface Control Document (ICD) and defined the concept of operations.
The team plans to design the receive chain PCB for the front end, get boards and antenna manufactured, and obtain S-parameters from the antenna to check for tuning and efficiency. They are also planning to test the boards and their components to see if they are mixing, filtering, and amplifying the signals up to the requirements. In addition, they plan to run a loopback test on the whole system with attenuators to simulate the path loss.
August–September 2020:
The deep space communication system SURP is a research project focused on developing a small satellite comms system for a potential lunar mission. The team is working on the development of the RF front end to the X-Band transceiver such as developing schematics and layout for the prototype board. They are also focusing on the systems engineering of the project such as developing requirements and the mission concept of operations.
PowerSat
November 3rd 2020:
PowerSat’s Systems Engineering (SE) team is currently preparing for a systems requirements review (SRR) later this month, following which, the project will enter a detailed design phase. This review will validate the work that has been done so far to bring the project from an idea to a conceptual realization. “Systems Engineering” is the process of modeling a project (in this case our spacecraft) with requirements, defining how subsystems function and interact with each other, scheduling a mission timeline, and other critical tasks that are necessary to organize the team and realize its goals.
PowerSat started over the summer through meetings with DcubeD to determine the primary mission objectives: operating their deployable solar array in space and logging data on its power generation. Since the solar array will generate much more power than any of our previous missions, an MPPT system capable of handling up to 100W was deemed necessary and is currently in development for PowerSat. The solar array, taking up 1U of space when stowed, will extend out and unfurl in a short deployment sequence. To record acceleration and vibrational data from the satellite during deployment, the team decided upon mounting inertial measurement units (IMUs) on the satellite. Additionally, two cameras will be mounted to take pictures of the solar array post-deployment.
October 7th 2020:
Powersat's Electrical Power System (EPS) team is developing an advanced power system that implements Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) for efficient, high-power generation in orbit. Their work was recently featured at Cal Poly's SURP Symposium, for which they created this poster outlining their impressive accomplishments:
August–September 2020:
PowerSat is a new and developing partnership project between the Cal Poly CubeSat Lab and Deployables Cubed in Germany. PowerSat aims at demonstrating the deployment of a large solar array to produce up to 100W of power. For Deployables Cubed, this project serves as the next big step in proving their technology readiness by testing their deployable structure in space.
For the CubeSat Laboratory, the project serves as a stepping stone for in-house development of a new high power electrical power system using maximum power point tracking. Development of such technology is essential not only for PowerSat, but also for the Laboratory’s future deep space missions. This project is partially supported by the Aerospace Engineering Department as well as CENG under the Summer Undergraduate Research Program.
AMDROHP
January 2022
AMDROHP has completed its final mechanical review, and stock is being purchased for part fabrication to begin the first integrated thermal prototype. JPL has successfully printed a full scale prototype of the entire radiator system, complete with springs, an evaporator plate, and a condenser plate. Integration of the full scale prototype with the CubeSat chassis has been planned along with the environmental testing of the complete prototype.
November 2021
The AMDROHP successfully submitted to NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) with a letter of funding commitment for that phase. The thermal prototype is on track to be manufactured and delivered next quarter, on time. The JPL/CSULA Teams have successfully printed some prototype units of the spring joints and the radiator plates. Experimental testing has been completed on the prototype spring joints, demonstrating their ability to undergo loading stresses while deployed.
October 2021
AMDROHP is approaching thermal prototype readiness; starting the end of this quarter/beginning of next quarter, they will be manufacturing the thermal prototype bus. On the payload side, JPL and CSLA will be 3D printing a prototype of the payload and integrating it with the bus. Following this, the vehicle will be testing in TVAC and experiments with the payload will be run to compare with the thermal simulations predicting on-orbit behavior. On the deployment side, Cal Poly has developed a new mechanism and plans to try to test it with a separate prototype before the quarter is out.
February 28th 2021:
Much of the recent focus of the AMDROHP team has been towards developing a deployment mechanism for the radiator panel payload. Different designs and latches are being considered as the project continues towards a defined radiator design in collaboration with Cal State LA and NASA JPL.
February 1, 2021:
In January AMDROHP concluded reviewing results from the Preliminary Design Review and begun the next phase of the project. On the radiator side by JPL and CSLA, work continues developing the radiator and the flexible joints. On the side of the spacecraft bus by the Cal Poly CubeSat Laboratory, work is ramping up with the development of the deployment mechanism for the radiator and sensor selection/integration. There continues to be development in defining the methods by which the temperature gradient of the radiator will be determined on-orbit and predicting the behavior of the temperature sensors and the data they record, along with the margins for error.
November 3, 2020:
The AMDROHP team primarily worked on mission planning in the month of October. The development of the radiator to integrate into the CubeSat bus continues to progress.
October 7th 2020:
The AMDROHP team is focusing on the integration of the radiator into a CubeSat design, as well as expanding the project within the CubeSat Laboratory to the full range of disciplines. This involves work such as developing the deployable mechanism for the radiator and designing the stowed configuration to support the radiator during launch. Additionally, the AMDROHP team has created a larger systems engineering infrastructure to support the efficacy of the multi-disciplinary group involved as well as the continuity of the project moving forward.
August–September 2020:
AMDROHP is a new project in collaboration with NASA JPL and Cal State LA to design an Additively Manufactured Deployable Radiator with Oscillating Heat Pipes (AMDROHP) and an accompanying CubeSat mission. The project is still in the early stages of technology and concept development.
ISP-POD
April 2021:
This month, the ISP-POD team been building their 2021–2022 team. Project lead, Grace Guarraia is excited to prepare new members for research and is aiming to wrap up thermal analysis this quarter. She hopes in the next month, the team will start doing radiation analysis for ISP-POD.
August-September 2020:
The goal of the SURP is to design a thermal control system that can regulate the spacecraft’s temperature for the duration of an interplanetary journey. To that effect, the team has been focusing on creating an accurate thermal model to represent the spacecraft in the most extreme environments it might experience. Additionally, they have been developing a control algorithm that will be the brain behind their active thermal control. The combination of these will allow the team to simulate the ISP-POD’s thermal environment and how it reacts to that environment.
FAUXSAT
February 1st 2020:
FAUXSAT just passed its CDR review on January 30th. The FAUXSAT team plans to begin manufacturing the structure and electronic components, assemble FAUXSAT, and start environmental testing and sensor calibration.
November 3rd 2020:
FAUXSAT is currently undergoing its Structures and Mechanisms review process to approve the structural design for continuation to manufacturing. Additionally, the majority of the electronic components for FAUXSAT have been purchased and are beginning to undergo software and electrical testing.
October 7th 2020:
FAUXSAT has begun the process of ordering electrical hardware to start testing our electronics. The team is also almost done with the design of our structure, and is beginning to formalize the plans for environmental and functional testing.
August–September 2020:
FAUXSAT is the mission that is being developed as the first payload to fly onboard XCube. Recently, the team finished an SRR review to define the goals for the mission and success rate of the project. Now, they are considering the requirements that they have set for the team and are deciding on how to design FAUXSAT so that it can best meet its mission objectives and requirements. The team is also beginning to design and test the electronics for the project so that they can bypass any electrical issues that may come up in the future.
XCube
March 1st 2021:
The XCube team is currently split up into two teams: the testing team and analysis team. The testing team, mainly consisting of the Software and Electronics members, is focusing on testing the communication protocols and power-on testing for the XCube system. This will give the team insight into how the PPAC, the power handling board, and MOAP, the communications board, will work with payloads and how they can accommodate different itnerfaces.
The analysis team is focusing on the structural analysis of the XCube System. The main concern is the buckling or fastener failure in the structure due to the high G-loads (9g down and 4.5g lateral load). The team is in an open dialogue with the structural and mechanical engineers at NASA: Armstrong to ensure the analysis is valid and representative of the real-life loads.
November 3rd 2020:
Structures:
The structures team is finalizing the parts they need for the rest of the build. Remaining hardware/parts/stock to be ordered soon. They are also working on manufacturing the components (i.e. Capacitor enclosure, Replacement Mounting Plates, MOAP Mounting Bracket Modification).Once all parts are manufactured and test assembled, parts will be sent to get alodine treatment.
Electronics:
In the month of October, the electronics team met with NASA Armstrong to discuss interfacing to ER-2 and sent them a wiring diagram for review. The team continues to perform modifications, check-outs, and testing.
Software:The software team continues to develop the remaining data protocols for XCube.
October 7th 2020:
Program: NASA ER-2 aircrafts are undergoing maintenance and are expected to host flights starting early 2021.
Structures: The team is going through the test assembly and had to modify some parts (ie. MOAP, due to machining errors). They are also creating a new enclosure for high voltage capacitors, since the product page provided incorrect data/drawings. They also need to finish ordering parts and machining stock before sending all parts to get alodine treatment.
Electronics: The team is performing check-outs and testing. Some issues have been identified and procedures for modifying them are being written.
Software: 2 SW members are researching the I2C and SPI data protocols before developing the software for XCube. We still need to test SPI, I2C, Serial, and Ethernet data protocols before the final flash onto boards.
August–September 2020:
In the month of August, the XCube team has mainly been progressing on documentation, putting together analysis packages. and preparing the work plan for when there is more personnel available in San Luis Obispo to work on the project. The structures team is currently waiting on parts to come in while the software and electronics team are assisting in documentation.
ExoCube II
August 11th 2020: The ExoCube II team is in the final stages preparing for integration with the dispenser. As of right now, the team is currently conducting final Operations Testing to ensure critical aspects of the satellite and are functioning correctly prior to integration at Virgin Orbit in Long Beach, CA. ExoCube II’s mission is to detect mass and densities of ions located in the exosphere; these values will be used to calibrate ground stations.