Nano-Satellite Payload

Development
at the
University of Sydney
Associate Professor Salah Sukkarieh
Australian Centre for Field Robotics
ARC Centre of Excellence in Autonomous Systems (CAS)
The University of Sydney, Australia

ARC=Australian Research Council

 Who are we?

• Research, development and application of

“field” autonomous robot systems
• 200 researchers including 100 PhD students
• Supported by:
• ARC Centre for Autonomous Systems
• NSW State Government, Federal Government
• CRC Mining (Mining Research Centre)
• DSTO Centre in Unmanned Systems (Defence)
• Australian and overseas industry R&D funding
• A new generation of autonomous systems:
• “Dirty, Dull and Dangerous” jobs
• Mining, agriculture, underwater, defence, …
• Rich sensing and perception problems
• Learning, control and intelligence.
• Go to far-away places and automate them !
 So why am I here?

• We are just venturing into the exciting area of small

satellites
• We want to provide a rich learning environment for
undergraduate and graduate students for satellite
design, building and testing (and one day launch).
• I came to see what everyone else is doing.
• Build up some collaboration for teaching project work?
 So why am I here?
• We want to also do research into advanced data fusion techniques for
satellite payload systems in cooperation with terrestrial systems.

• We do not have the skills to build a whole satellite ourselves and to

launch it
• Looking for collaboration
• Provide complimentary skills
 What is this talk about?

• I want to present to you two

payload sensors:

• Radiometric device capable

of measuring frequencies in
the 77GHz band.

• Electrodynamic Tether
Systems
• Space Charging
• Rapid De-orbiting.
77 GHz 12 GHz
 Selection of Operational Frequency

• Balance usefulness against hardware availability

• 12GHz Option
• Radiometers can easily be made using low cost LNBs made
for satellite TV
• Main disadvantage is that they may pick up stray broadcasts
from other satellites
• Poor ground resolution due to wide beamwidth
• 77 or 94GHz Option
• Components readily available but expensive
• Low probability of interference (particularly at 94GHz)
• Good ground resolution due to narrow beamwidth
 Usefulness

For dry Australia, monitoring

rainfall patterns over the
land is of great importance
Detailed Radiometer Simulation (Atmosphere, Temperature,
Antenna and Electronic Simulation)
Design - Radiometer Options
Proof of Principle 77GHz Total Power Radiometer
Partial Development of 77GHz Radiometer using Integrated Block
Antenna Deployment for X-Band Horn
 Aim

• Picosatellite’s size limits their power collection

capability.

• The ionosphere is well known to lead to charging

effects.

• An integrated power collection EDT has never been

built for a satellite.
 What is an Electrodynamic Tether?

Vfloating = Vplasma -Vtether

E
Testing and Theory

Experiments were conducted at the Space Plasma, Power and

Propulsion Group laboratories in Canberra Australia.

Plasma onTest
in Vacuum
Setup Chamber Record
Tether Results
Samples
 Results

Experiments in plasma chamber show that a bare wire in a

plasma under the effect of a magnetic field can produce a
current and voltage bias Æ Power Can be Produced!

Current produced with a 100mT Magnetic Field

250

200
Electron current (mA)

150

With guards biased

Without guards biased
100

50

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

-50

Total bias (V)

 Simulation Design
TTHER
An EDTsuite simulation:
Physical System Design
A physical system must be designed to satisfy the EDTsuite outputs. This was
done using CAD.

Can fix base to satellite Tether and keeper line

structure at a variety of feed through base plate
locations

Guide rails ensure

Base: 19.23 g ballast is released
straight
6061 Al Springs housed in
base and ballast

Ballast: 46.63 g Tether winds

around ballast
6061 Al
Attachment point of Stopper ensures 5mm
keeper line displacement of springs and
protects tether attachment
point in the stowed position

Important Properties:
Total mass*: 95 g Volume*: 24390 mm3

Maximum height: 25mm compressed *excluding springs

 Integration: CubeSat

Example....

The ACFR’s CASsat

- Consumes only 6.5% of usable internal volume (6.5%)

- Low mass of system limits shift on COM
Integration CanSat

Fix base plate to rails of

CanSat
Keep end of ballast flush with
outer skin

Fix here

Example of a
CanSat structure Hole in bottom plate for
(Texas University) ballast to eject through
 Manufacturing

Manufactured at the University of Sydney Technical Workshop.

- Cost: ~$1000 AUD for deployer
 As for the Cable

400 Denier Aracon space tether donated by MicroCoax USA.

- Flexible
- Lightweight
- High strength
- High specific conductivity
 Next Step: Electronic Design
Integration into satellite bus electronics still to be completed.
- Integration procedure must be robust and fail-safe.
- Treat as a oscillatory power source with known current and voltage fluctuations.
- Detailed recommendations and designs given in parent thesis.

Concept II
EDT

Trickle Circuit

Step-Up Battery
Regulator charging
circuit

Solar
Cells High voltage rail

Step-Down Low voltage rail

Batteries Regulator
Questions ???