RockSat-C 2011

CDR

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech RockSatRockSat

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Robbie Robertson Chris Gates Younes Taleb

RockSat-C 2011

CDR

NOIME (Nitric Oxide and Inertial Measurement Experiment)

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• Optical nitric oxide (NO) probe for atmospheric science research • Data will be used to validate

and improve global modeling of NO concentrations

• Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU)• 3-axis accelerometers, gyros,

and magnetometers• CubeSat Computer System

• Air Force Research Labs plug-and-play computer

system

RockSat-C 2011

CDR

Electronics

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• Designed power supply and signal processing circuits

• 5 separate power supply lines from one battery pack

• Designing and manufacturing our own circuit boards

RockSat-C 2011

CDR

Software

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• Computer system includes:• 2 Atmel microcontrollers• 1 Gumstix single board

flight computer• Programming Atmel

microcontrollers to read analog and digital signals from our sensors

• Programming the flight computer to collect and store data from the microcontrollers

• Using programming tools provided by the Air Force

Interface Microcontroller

Interface Micorcotroller

Hub

Flight Computer

SensorAmplifier

IMU

RockSat-C 2011

CDR

Mechanical Design

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• Modeling and developing our mechanical design in Autodesk Inventor

• Using tools in the VT space lab and the department machine shop to manufacture components

RockSat-C 2011

CDR

Team Overview

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Ryan Capps – Mechanical and ElectricalChris Gates – Software and Electrical

Robbie Robertson – Mechanical, Electrical, SoftwareYounes Taleb – Mechanical and Electrical

(2 Junior Aerospace Engineers, 2 Senior Aerospace Engineers, 1 Electrical and Computer Engineer)

RockSat-C 2011

CDR

Lessons Learned

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• Iterative design worked well for our small group… Brainstorm, develop, test, and repeat

• Read the #&$% data sheet. Neglecting to do this cost us time and money.

• Plan to be finished well before you need to be finished

• Don’t expect anything to work the first time

RockSat-C 2011

CDR

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QUESTIONS?QUESTIONS?