Project Overview

Aerospace Corporation has a need to perform various technology experiments with CubeSats such as moving around other satellites without hitting them and grappling with them to repair or attach parts.  Experiments are difficult though because simulating motion in space often requires expensive and complicated rigs. Traditionally, smaller setups to simulate motion in the vacuum of space might be a vehicle floating on an air table (think air hockey). Unfortunately, the air table:

• is large and unwieldy for its small surface area,
• exerts frictional forces (although reduced), and
• are limited to a horizontal plane.

This project suggests a way to overcome the first two limitations by use of a semi-autonomous powered vehicle.  The vehicle’s movement is only limited to the size of the room or parking lot. Friction limits are avoided by simply moving at a steady speed. The vehicle provides a small-scale way to test out new CubeSat technologies and approaches.

At first blush, the Senior Design Project will consist of four main components:

• Space Dynamics Simulation Platform (SimPlat)
• Servicing CubeSat (Cub)
• Ground System (GS)
• Wounded Satellite (Target)

The computer science team will develop the software for the SimPlat, Cub, and GS, creating the command and control system, telemetry processing, space dynamics simulation, image recognition, and machine learning system. The software development team will use appropriate collaboration tools. Develop the following software:

• Develop GS with intuitive user interface

• For SimPlat, read real-time signals from Cub, interpret intended motion, and move vehicle to simulate motion in space, communicate status with GS, receive instructions from GS
• For Cub, interpret proximity sensor data to approach/avoid objects, process camera image data and understand what it’s looking at, send/receive thruster status, control deorbit mechanism, communicate status and receive commands from GS.
• For GS, two-way communication with Cub and SimPlat, ability to compare action/response data of Cub and SimPlat.