Senior Design 2011-2012

Course Coordinator: Jean Koster
Course Assistant: Kyle Kemble
Professional Advisory Board (PAB): Jean Koster, Dale Lawrence, Xinlin Li, Scott Palo, Matt Rhode, Trudy Schwartz

8 Teams:

  • CASTOR: CubeSat
  • DAYSTAR: star tracking system
  • FENIX: experimental test bed to support multiple fluid injection scenarios
  • ICECUBE: testbed to determine the cryogenic emissivity for a given surface 
  • IMPULSE: test bed that measures the effects of an imparted impulse on a particular hubmotor/wheel system
  • PACRAT: space debris collection system
  • SPEAR: payload ejection & recovery system
  • STARR: multi-vehicle rover system for sample collection

CASTOR

Cubesat for Atmospheric Studies in Orbit and Re-entry (CASTOR) will design, build and test an Engineering Design Unit CubeSat with the purpose of validating the data path required to support the QB50 mission between the CubeSat and the ground in a near-flight configuration.

DAYSTAR

Diurnal Star Tracking for Balloon-borne Attitude Determination (DAYSTAR) will develop a prototype star tracking system to provide pointing knowledge to a diurnal, lighter-than-air platform. DayStar will improve on current attitude determination devices used on balloon payloads in two areas: daytime operation and accuracy.

FENIX

Fluid Extraction for Nozzle Injection eXperiment (FENIX) will design an experimental test bed to provide multiple fluid injection scenarios in a nozzle, and will measure thrust forces in three axes as well as flow parameters.

ICECUBE

Investigation of Cryogenic Emissivity by CU and Ball Engineers (ICECUBE) will design, build and validate a testbed to determine the cryogenic emissivity for a given surface and determine the uncertainty of the emissivity measurement.

IMPULSE

Investigation of Motor Performance Under Low-frequency Shock Environments (IMPULSE) will develop and deliver a test bed that measures the effects of an imparted impulse on a particular hubmotor/wheel system.

PACRAT

Progress and Advancement to Capture and Remove Aerospace Trash (PACRAT) will design, build, test and evaluate an earth-based system to demonstrate a method to capture multiple pieces of debris from Low Earth Orbit.

SPEAR

Sounding Payload Ejection and Recovery (SPEAR) will design, build and validate an engineering model of the payload ejection and recovery system for the HySoR launch vehicle.

STARR

Sample Targeting and Retrieval Rover (STARR) will design, build and test a multi-vehicle Rover System that will be capable of identifying a sample based on color, collecting a sample and performing 2D navigation.