A blue glowing laser light draws the eye to mechanical gizmos and circuit boards, all crammed into a rectangular metal frame about the size of a loaf of bread.
This small, humble device is the University of VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 first shot at designing and building a micro-satellite. If the university had a space engineering program, this would be its Sputnik.
But this project was completed by small group of driven electrical engineering students who worked in their spare time to complete the UVic ECOSat project, the schoolB次元官网网址檚 entry into the Canadian Satellite Design Challenge.
Originally a competition involving 12 universities, the UVic crew made the final round of three in Ottawa in September, a brilliant accomplishment for an underdog team with little funding, few resources and originally, scant knowledge of satellite design.
B次元官网网址淲hen we started in January 2011, none of us knew anything about aerospace or space,B次元官网网址� admits Justin Curran, 26, chief engineer of the ECOSat project. B次元官网网址淲e came in 100 per cent cold.B次元官网网址�
Each university team had a goal to build a B次元官网网址�3UB次元官网网址� cube satellite B次元官网网址� 10 by 10 by 33 centimetres, weighing about four kilograms B次元官网网址� housing a payload of real experiments, and wired to receive and transmit data, generate its own juice from solar panels and tough enough to be punted from a rocket carrying a large satellite into orbit.
The UVic group quickly found out that DIY satellite building doesn't exist. In an age where seemingly anything can be found online, the ECOSat team said thereB次元官网网址檚 not much out there to help guide the construction of a device that can stand the rigours of near-earth orbit, about 900 kilometres up.
The team would cold-call engineers at companies such as McDonald Detwiller and Associates, a Vancouver-based technology company that designs satellites. B次元官网网址淵ou work in a vacuum. No one tells you how to do it. ItB次元官网网址檚 a lot of trial and error,B次元官网网址� said Dan Kennedy, 24, one of the ECOSat engineers.
The project had a $25,000 budget, which helped pay for a co-op student, materials and industrial grade circuit boards, as opposed to notoriously expensive space-grade electronics, which have already been subjected to radiation. They also needed to account for how materials react in space B次元官网网址� Kennedy points out that zinc, for one, turns to a gas in a vacuum.
Although led by small core group, about 100 engineering students came and went from the project, all learning and contributing to different subsystems of the ECOSat. Keeping track of bits of information gleaned from physics professors and aerospace engineers proved to be a daunting task.
B次元官网网址淥verall we did a good job with budget we had. We had three payload changes, and changes on how the satellite was configured. Nine months ago everything was thrown out and we started from scratch,B次元官网网址� Curran said.
B次元官网网址淎 few times I said this whole thing is a waste of time. ItB次元官网网址檚 extremely hard but itB次元官网网址檚 doable. You just need the right people who are dedicated and willing to sacrifice.B次元官网网址�
Key to the entire venture was finding experiments that could fit within the chassis, and wouldnB次元官网网址檛 overload other electronics. Fortunately for the team, recently graduated UVic electrical engineer Shayne Casavant, 26, works for Esquimalt-based AGO Environmental Electronics, which donated the experiment equipment and rescued the project.
All the payload experimental components centre around what is called the di-magnetic properties of pyrolitic graphite. Had the ECOSat been launched into space, the remarkably novel experiments would measure how pyrolitic graphite shields components from radiation and how it could be used to control the orbit of a satellite, among other properties.
B次元官网网址淐ontrolling guidance only by magnetics has never been done before,B次元官网网址� Casavant said. B次元官网网址淭he idea is to use it for a drive system in micro-gravity. With no gravity, even with a little force youB次元官网网址檒l get high acceleration.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 hard to see, but it can be tough to make these things work. You change one thing and it cascades through the payload,B次元官网网址� he adds. B次元官网网址淲e did what we set out to do, which was provide functioning payload. WeB次元官网网址檙e very happy with that accomplishment.B次元官网网址�
Concordia University won the first round of the satellite challenge, and has a chance that its device will be launched into orbit. The UVic team expects to submit an improved design in a few years to a second round of competition, although it will need a new generation of students to take over.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e worked out a lot of kinks. The next one will be space-ready,B次元官网网址� Kennedy says.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e got two years to find new kids to pick up where we left off,B次元官网网址� notes Justin Saukarookoff, 24, who worked as a co-op student on ECOSat. B次元官网网址淎nyone out there entering university in a year or two, this is a good point to join the club.B次元官网网址�
See for more on the ECOSat project.
editor@saanichnews.com
