AE Brown Bag Seminar

 

Friday, November 22

11:00 a.m. -12:00 p.m.

Guggenheim 442

Pizza Served

 

Lauren Forcey

Bhaskar Jain

Varum Natarajan

Aaryak Shastri

 

Lauren Forcey

Title:

Implementing Custom Command Frameworks for CubeSats using COSMOS

Abstract: 

COSMOS is a command and telemetry system with a graphical user interface that features logging, scripting, and graphing capabilities. Developed by Ball Aerospace, it provides a robust framework that facilitates the integration of CCSDS standards, ensuring reliable communication and command execution. By leveraging this combination, command sequences can be designed to optimize onboard system performance, enhance mission flexibility, and maintain compliance with international data standards, ultimately driving successful mission outcomes. This presentation will discuss the process for developing custom payload commands and the general usefulness of COSMOS for bus and payload testing in the context of SSDL’s Virtual Super-Resolution Optics Using Reconfigurable Swarms (VISORS), a multi-university CubeSat formation flying mission designed to image the sun in unprecedented high resolution.

Faculty Advisor:

Prof. Glenn Lightsey

 

Varum Natarajan

Title:

Gain Scheduled Stability Augmentation System Design for a Nonlinear F-16 Aircraft Simulation

Abstract:

A stability augmentation system (SAS) is implemented to improve the longitudinal and lateral-directional handling qualities of a nonlinear F-16 aircraft simulation. A series of gain scheduled PID controllers are designed to provide a parameterized control strategy based on flight regime. A perturbation approach is employed to linearize the dynamics of the F-16 model at multiple trim points and construct decoupled longitudinal and lateral-directional dynamic models. Automated design methods in MATLAB are used to tune the PID controllers, generating gain sets represented as a hypersurface. The SAS of the nonlinear flight dynamics model selects PID gains through linear interpolation of this hypersurface. Simulation results show the gain scheduled SAS significantly improves aircraft stability and controllability across a wide range of flight conditions.

Faculty Advisor:

Prof. Jonathan Rogers

 

Aaryak Shastri

Title:

Lunar Terrain Vehicle Navigation Architecture Study

Abstract:

This seminar focuses on developing the navigation solutions needed for the design and deployment of NASA’s Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) for operations on the lunar south pole. One of the LTV’s planned capabilities is autonomous driving, requiring a robust onboard navigation sensor suite to maneuver accurately. To assist with developing the navigation suite for the LTV, this presentation proposes a trade study that will assess sensor qualities and combinations. Based on the study's results, a subset of sensor combinations could then be tested more thoroughly in simulations. To provide background data and references for the study, a survey of the five NASA Mars rovers is presented with their sensor combinations, qualities, and accuracies. Of the navigation instruments, visual navigation sensors are flight-proven and provide a useful supplement to IMUs and wheel odometers; however, it is more difficult to quantify their performance. This is because the performance of visual navigation state estimation is tied not only to camera hardware but also to its architecture (e.g., image processing, estimation algorithms, etc.). Therefore, to understand how architectures might vary, the presentation illustrates a generalized pipeline for visual odometry (VO). Following this, a discussion about LIDAR Odometry and a study of the lunar regolith and topography provide additional context and potential challenges for the LTV’s autonomous driving in the lunar south pole region.

Faculty Advisor:

Prof. John Christian

 

Bhaskar Jain

Title: 

Designing and Building a Hydrogen Burner Test Rig

Abstract:

Ammonia cracking is a pivotal process in the sphere of hydrogen production. It relies on the reliable decomposition of ammonia (NH3) into its constituents, hydrogen, and nitrogen. This project is focused on understanding this ammonia burner, and building the test rig to characterize its properties.

Faculty Advisor:

Prof. Tim Lieuwen