Klaus Brieß

Methods for Managing Student-Driven Robotics Research

Robotics plays a major role in educating engineering students and can be integrated into a curriculum in many ways. Problem-based lecture courses allow only a limited technical complexity due to the number of their corresponding credit points. From all project categories described, long-term student-driven research projects are the most challenging regarding management. Several of such projects have been initiated at the Technische Universitat Berlin (TUB). One example is the rover SEAR which participated in space robotics competitions. During many years of experience in hands-on education, the major characteristics and challenges of student-driven projects were identified. Proven methods and good practices for addressing these challenges are discussed. If project leaders carefully respect all conditions of a student project, they can reduce the risks by implementing measures to keep a steady work-flow. Thus, the success rate of complex robotics research conducted by a student workforce can be increased significantly.

SEPSAT – A Nanosatellite to Observe Parameters of Space Weather

SEPSAT (Spherical EUV- and Plasma Spectrometer-Satellite) is a nanosatellite that will observe several parameters of space weather, especially solar Extreme Ultraviolet Radiation (EUV), the higher atmosphere and effects of solar fluctuation on parameters of the ionosphere. This helps to improve our knowledge of integrity and accuracy of GNSS signals, the origin and variation of EUV radiation and finally the composition of the solar and upper atmosphere. To detect and observe these parameters a concept for a nanosatellite was designed. SEPSAT is a boom stabilized, 35 × 35 × 35 cm³ satellite, weighing just 15 kg. Most of the subsystems are based on developments of Technical University of Berlin (TU Berlin), where the focus lies on the design of small satellites and their miniaturized components. The SEPSAT payload is a low-cost spherical EUV- and plasma spectrometer.

A WEB-BASED MODULAR AND FLEXIBLE DATA ACQUISITION AND TELEMETRY MONITORING SYSTEM FOR MICRO SATELLITES

The process of software development for the ground segment of micro satellites is a very time consuming and costly procedure. Most of the micro satellite projects have come up, therefore, with their own specific, non standard software solutions, which are generally customized to the specific project requirements and hence not reusable in other projects. In this paper a generic, flexible and reusable software architecture and a corresponding application programming interface (API) are introduced, which can reduce the time and costs of the software developments significantly for new missions.

PICO SATELLITE CONCEPT OF TU BERLIN

One of the latest manifestation of miniaturization in space applications is the development of standardized pico satellites. The so called CUBESAT’s for example, which are standardized picosatellites have a size of only 10x10x10 cm3 and a maximum mass of 1 kg. They are based on concepts of California Polytechnic State University and Space Stanford University. Pico and nano satellites will be developed at the Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics of the Technical University of Berlin as one of the major working topics within the department of astronautics. The basic vision behind the objective is to use pico satellites for demanding scientific and technological applications at a very low cost. The development of pico satellites is currently in an very early phase. It is however conceivable that reliable and powerful platforms will emerge from today’s efforts, which will enable a large number of applications for pico and nano satellites. The range of potential applications will include areas such as earth observation, space science, astronomy and on-orbit verification of new technologies. Another additional advantage of developing pico satellites at the TUBerlin is the opportunity to give hands on experience to students on complete satellite missions, including design, test, production and operations. Enabling technologies for demanding applications will surely make use of MEMS based components. Especially in the fields of attitude control, communication and propulsion there is a need for new developments in order to enable demanding applications with pico satellites. TU-Berlin is working on various concepts for the development of such components at various levels and under the involvement of external cooperation partners, companies and students. This paper will give an overview of current and future activities of the TU-Berlin related to the development of pico and nano satellite mission concepts. 1. CURRENT SITUATION More then 40 developers worldwide are working currently on CUBESATS with different objectives. Based on concepts of California Polytechnic State University and Space Stanford University, the CUBESAT specifications define the overall dimension, mass and other interfaces, in order to fit the satellite into a deployment mechanism called PPOD. Besides this specification, developers are free in the design of the satellite functions. All activities onboard a CUBESAT are strongly limited by the available space and electrical power. These two aspects are dominating and limiting all functions. While one of the most common aspects is, that students are involved it the development and operation of the CUBESAT’s, many of them are rather at a very early development stage. For example, most of the CUBESAT’s have either no attitude control or very limited attitude control capabilities, which is a precondition for rather demanding applications. The most important reason is the lack of adequate attitude control sensor and actuator elements. But not only attitude control is an important issue for future pico satellites with demanding applications. Communications at higher bit rates is also an important issue, especially for downlink. In most cases, current projects make use of low bit rate communications between 1,2 kBit/s and 9,6 kBit/s. As soon as the need for the transmission of images or other scientific data with higher volume is given, downlink capability on at least S-Band with adequate formatting and coding is required. Onboard processing of data is the next point, where many considerations are necessary within an CUBESAT environment. Demanding CUBESAT applications require high processing capability at very low available electrical power. Today, microprocessors get always faster and consuming lower power but their suitability in the space environment must be proved. Also different redundancy and power saving mechanisms for pico satellites must still be tested is space. As stated in the objectives, pico satellites are ideally suited to make such tests in orbit.