The Simon Fraser University (SFU) Satellite Design Team is a collective of students with the joint task of designing, manufacturing and testing a CubeSat to be launched into orbit. The team is composed of various sub-systems: Attitude Determination and Control, Communications and Data Handling, Payload, Power and Structure.
CubeSat Design Challenge
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The Simon Fraser University Satellite Design Team have competed in multiple CubeSat Design Challenges (CSDC). The competition is designed to enable students to design, build and validate their own CubeSat around a payload.
The rules specify spacecraft, ground, operations and programmatic requirements by which the design must strictly adhere. Over two years, the system design undergoes a preliminary design review (PDR), critical design review (CDR) and test readiness review (TRR). If the team meets all mission requirements and passes the test readiness review, the student designed CubeSat will be launched as part of a ride share sponsored by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and placed into orbit. |
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Attitude Determination Control System
My role on the SFU Satellite Design Team was acting team lead for the Attitude Determination and Control sub-System (ADCS) of the satellite. Attitude determination is the means of calculating the current position and orientation of the spacecraft; the control system is the set of actuators used to stabilize or point the spacecraft.
Attitude Determination |
Control System |
Software Development |
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Our approach for calculating the attitude included sun sensors, a GPS, and an inertial measurement unit (IMU), which combines an accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer into a single component. Our goal was to implement sensor fusion using an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) to reduce noise and provide an array of data to the onboard computer (OBC) which could be used to calculate the current orbit.
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The pointing requirements the CSDC-5 were very strict, which means a highly accurate actuator was necessary for the CubeSat design. I led our team through the design, selection and manufacturing of both magnetic torque rods and reaction wheels. After manufacturing the prototype, we conducted various in-house tests to validate our design before integrating the actuators with the satellite.
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The drivers for each sensor and actuator are written by the ADCS team for the onboard computer (OBC). In addition to low-level drivers, an advanced control algorithm was developed in MATLAB with the intention of porting it to the OBC where it can automatically operate while in orbit.
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OutreachThe SFU Satellite Design Team has considered education outreach to be a key part of its purpose since its inception. Through our educational programs we have reached more than 10,000 kids. We attend events all over souther BC which focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) giving talks and presentations.
To further expand our reach and impact, the SFU Satellite Team partnered with the SFU Aerospace Team to design a 4-day robotics workshop for elementary school students. As an early member in of the SFU Aerospace Team, I was personally involved with designing the Decode program, which teaches the fundamentals of coding syntax and good practices, as well as mechanical applications using Lego. The students build and program their own "battle bot," which combines everything they learned throughout the workshop into a fun and tangible project. |
Presentations
The following are some documents I have presented during my time in the SFU Satellite Design Team.
Magnetorquer Design
Students at Simon Fraser University are working towards the design of a satellite for the Canadian CubeSat Challenge ending in 2020. The Attitude Determination and Control sub-System are working towards designing and fabricating a magnetorquer which will actuate the satellite in space in a defined slew time to meet the mission requirements. The team design process involves researching magnetorquers and the relevant equations, defining the constraints and selecting materials that will meet the requirements. This is part one of the team design phase and is based strictly on mathematical calculations and models.
| magnetorquer_design_i.pdf |
Inspiring Students through an Attitude Determination and Control System
This poster was presented as part of the Small Satellite Conference in Logan, Utah 2019. The poster explores how our team leverages the Attitude Determination and Control sub-System as inspiration to learn more about satellites and their space technology.
| poster_pdf.pdf |
