Payload Project List

PL1: Payload Orthopedics Research

Description

PL1 is the orthopedics part of Payload - the main component of our experimental design. It is a great option for students who want to gain experience in researching and working on topics in biomedical engineering!

In space, astronauts’ bones are subjected to an environment very distinct from Earth - microgravity along with the forces of launch and descent can take a toll on their anatomy. We aim to examine astronaut bone health to ensure the safety of humans in space.

This year, your job will be to help conduct research to model a fractured bone fixated with an orthopedic plate. This model will be placed into the rocket before launch, like an astronaut aboard a passenger rocket.

As image analysis is relevant for many types of orthopedic research and publications, the project will also incorporate the 3D visualization of bone with software. The 3D modeling will be created with BoneJ, an ImageJ extension. Scans of the tibial models will be taken for analysis with BoneJ to compare with existing literature on bone density and fracture geometry.

Keywords

Research, Orthopedics, Image Analysis, Biomedical Engineering, Biomechanics

Timeline

Medium-term project (1 year)

Requirements

  • Students in all faculties and years are encouraged to apply! This project is a great opportunity for both science and engineering students to contribute 

  • Interest in research and interfaculty collaboration

  • Ability to communicate well with students of all backgrounds

  • Willingness to do “whatever it takes” to get a project “off the ground”

Resources

PL2: Structural Design, FEA and 3D Printing

Description

Project PL2 as a whole is an opportunity for recruits who want to learn and work on mechanical design, analysis, and testing under novel and challenging topics.

You will be responsible for building the structural components required for housing the payload experiment inside the rocket. The design of the payload will involve using FEA (Finite Element Analysis) to simulate the payload’s environment and ensure that your design is robust. Design and analysis will be carried out mainly in Siemens NX CAD/FEA programs.

Additionally, you will be involved in the experimental side of the project, working on  the custom hardware needed to support the orthopedics experiment. This will involve experimenting with 3D printing mechanically-accurate bone segments, and mechanical testing. You will use FEA to predict how flight conditions (G-forces, vibrations, etc.) will affect the experiment.  This will be an interdisciplinary project, involving many possible topics both related and separate from mechanics/dynamics.

Keywords

CAD, 3D Printing, Prototyping, Structure, Testing, FEA, Simulation

Timeline

Continuous, needed each design cycle

Requirements

  • Willingness to learn about CAD and 3D printing (experience is nice to have)

Resources

  • Attend the NX101 tutorial coming soon

  • FEA intro

PL3: Electronics Circuit Design

Description

Electronics are an important part of Payload. Data needs to be extracted from any experiment and be saved (on an SD card for example) to be analyzed when the rocket is recovered. The payload electronics this year will mostly quantify vibrations and force experienced during our orthopedics project’s flight.

Your role will be to find the right components for specific applications, to draw the circuit schematics, to convert them into PCBs, and to validate them. This position is great for anyone who wants to learn the basics of circuit design and to make printed circuit boards (PCBs) with Altium Designer.

By the end of the year, all members of this project will have contributed to creating the payload Flight Computer PCB which includes components such as the STM32 microcontroller, an altimeter, an accelerometer and a load cell.

Additionally, you will have the chance to develop your critical thinking skills by analyzing the data collected during tests during flight. For example, on the vibration side of the experiment, you will get to apply a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), an algorithm used in several branches of engineering, to better pinpoint the effects of different frequencies on the experiment.

Keywords

Electronics, PCBs, electrical engineering, computer engineering, microcontroller, simulation tools LTspice, circuit design

Timeline

Continuous, needed each design cycle

Requirements

  • Willingness to learn about/or have knowledge of electronics and circuitry

  • Would like to test and improve the electronics

  • Resourceful

Resources

PL4: Payload Software Design

Description

Since the payload contains its own independent flight computer,  its microcontroller needs to be programmed to ensure data logging, component communication and data processing. You will be responsible for developing the software that will control the payload experiment,  gathering pertinent data to trigger different parts of the experiment at the right time. For example, depending on the altitude of the rocket, different electronics components need to be activated.

In this project, you will program the STM32 microcontroller using C/C++ and optimize the code to make it as efficient and fast as possible. You will be working closely with payload Electronics Design (PL3) for hardware/software integration, and with Avionics for sending and receiving live data during the rocket flight.

Additionally, you will learn to analyze the data from the experiment using signal analysis software.

This role is perfect if you love software design and working as a team to tackle programming challenges!

Keywords

Computer engineering, software engineering, electrical engineering, Arduino (C++), coding, programming, I2C, CAN bus, communication

Timeline

Continuous, needed each design cycle

Requirements

  • Programming experience preferred but not required

  • Want to learn how to program microcontrollers (Arduino)

  • Good team player 

Resources

PL5: Orbital CubeSat Electronics R&D

Description

Historically, the Payload has always been electrically connected with Avionics to communicate with its electronic system and to send the experiment data over radios. Payload needs to become fully electronically autonomous to fly its experiment in every possible environment regardless of the medium. Gaining this autonomy would allow Payload to have more design freedom when picking an experiment and even to participate in its own CubeSat competitions! In the coming years, we would like to deploy a CubeSat from the ISS to collect experimental data while orbiting around Earth!

Members of the Payload Electronics R&D team will have the chance to develop the following future payloads electronics systems: Antennas, Radios and Power. You will get the chance to develop your C/C++ skills by integrating all these Hardware components by programming a microcontroller. Moreover, you will familiarize yourself with LTSpice and Altium PCB designers in order to produce custom PCBs.

As part of this project, you will participate in a full electronics design cycle: 1.Researching the topics 2.Prototyping/Simulating circuits 3.Designing a PCB 4. Writing the software 5.Assembling/testing the PCB 6.Improving the design.

As this is an R&D project for future year payloads, your design will only be launching inside a rocket in future years. Rest assured, you will still see your designs in action as we will be using Recovery’s High-altitude Balloon project to test designs!

Keywords

Hardware, Software, PCBs, microcontroller, Arduino, electrical engineering, computer engineering, software engineering, simulation tools LTspice, circuit design, radios, antennas, RF, Power

Timeline

Long term, 2-3 years

Requirements

  • Circuits experience required from classes or personnel project

  • Programming experience required from classes or personnel project

  • Resourceful. As this is an R&D project, we will need to research the topics and learning from other designs

  • Would like to participate in a full electronics design cycle (Prototyping, Designing, Testing, Iterating)

  • Motivated to apply the theory seen in classes to practical projects

Resources