NASA Suborbital Flight Communication and Fire Box

=Problem Definition= This project continues the work by previous University of Idaho capstone teams who have partnered with NASA Ames Research Center on developing a communications system for a Tube Deployed Re-entry vehicle (TDRV). Previous teams have done a variety of groundwork such as building a guided parafoil system that can move itself in order to reach a pre-determined GPS location during its descent. Other work, accomplished between two of the previous capstone teams includes creating a carrier module capable of controlling and housing the Iridium 9523 modem in order to help integrate into future returning cube satellites. Lastly, a previous team developed the initial codebase for creating communication over the Iridium network utilizing the Iridium 9523 via a dial-up connection. They also attempted to implement a remote server to receive the data.

Our team is building off of these previous groups and creating a fully functional communication system through an Iridium 9523 connected to a carrier module that is powered by Canon BP-955 batteries in a fireproof containment unit. The end product will be a cheap, reliable, and physically safe system capable of real-time data communication with a returning satellite.

The project can be broken down into 3 main components:   The software necessary to provide communication through the Iridium network.  The carrier module re-design necessary to host the Iridium-9523 module  The battery box necessary to power the system in a safe and contained container. 

Deliverables
  Software:   Develop software packages and libraries for a Microcontroller Unit (MCU) necessary to establish a live connection over the Iridium Network. Develop a server capable of receiving transmitted information from the Iridium modem and display to a command line interface. </ul>  Carrier Module: </li> <ul> Fully functional Iridium Carrier Module confined to the PC-104 form factor.</li>  Report on the effect of vacuum and orbit temperatures on the functionality of various types of capacitors and resistors, and the performance differences between typical and high-performance resistors. </li> </ul>  Battery Box: </li> <ul> Design a lightweight “firebox” capable of containing a fire as a result of thermal runaway caused by batteries used to power the reentry module.</li> </ul> </ul>

Specifications
<ul>  Software: </li> <ul> Utilize the Iridium 9523 through a dial up data connection.</li> Web server must be accessible over HTTP</li> Server must receive data sent from the Iridium modem and store locally / display data.</li> </ul>  Carrier Module: </li> <ul> Fit Iridium Carrier within PC-104 Form Factor.</li> </ul>  Battery Box: </li> <ul> Size & Weight:</li> <ul> Must Weigh less than 500g.</li> Must fit within 104 form factor.</li> </ul> Batteries:</li> <ul> <li>Carry 4 BP-9555 batteries.</li> <li>Each battery needs to supply 5A.</li> </ul> <li>Insulation:</li> <ul> <li>No flames may leave the box.</li> <li>Must maintain an internal operating temperature between 0&#176;C and 40&#176;C.</li> <li>Vent hot gasses.</li> </ul> <li>Misc:</li> <ul> <li>Burn up upon re-entry.</li> </ul> </ul> </ul>

=Project Learning= <ul> <li> Software: </li> <ul> <li>The software subteam has spent a considerable amount of time researching details of the Iridium network as well as how to interact between the Iridium-9523 modem and the carrier module. <li>Primarily, the first semester of our project revolved around properly powering on the carrier module, testing the majority of communication ports and functionality, and ultimately working with the Electrical Engineers to fix all hardware issues holding us back from successfully interacting with the modem and the Iridium network. <li>Once the board was fixed and tested, the software subteam has since then focused on reading Iridium-9523 developer guides, NAL-Research communication documentation, and AT reference guides to initially test the carrier module and Iridium modem possibilities with SBD as well as dial-up communication.

</ul> <li> Carrier Module: </li> <ul> <li>The carrier module subteam is re-designing a carrier module that was created by a previous senior design team so much of the project learning for this section includes viewing and studying previously created schematics created in EAGLE. <li>Experience with this software is limited among team members so the early struggle on this project includes learning the software and how to make it usable for future re-design. </ul> <li> Fire Box: </li> <ul> <li>The fire box subteam has very unique requirements (quenching flames and venting gas) that required lots of upfront research into materials and designs that could achieve this. <li>Initial learning consisted of reaching out to Material Science and Mechanical Engineering professors, listing many possible materials, and then narrowing down the selection so that a design can be constructed based on these findings. </ul> </ul>

=Final Design= <ul> <li> Software: </li> <ul> <li>General Details: <ul> <li>Power up carrier board - Consists of code running on the MCU. It will set pins on the carrier module to provide power to the Iridium-9523. <li>Serial communication over RS-232 - Can utilize an external raspberry pi to manually read/write from the Iridium modem to easily test AT commands and develop our code. <li>SBD transmission - SBD packets can be sent via AT commands over the Iridium network and arrive in an email inbox. <li>Establish dial-up connection - The Iridium Gateway number allows for data connections and acts as an Internet Service Provider (ISP). <li>The final codebase will transition control from our Raspberry Pi setup to the MCU on the carrier module instead. <li>Final code library - The library will contain classes and methods for sending and receiving SBD packets as well as establish and maintain a dial-up connection automatically. <li>TCP/IP stack - We will develop and implement a lightweight TCP/IP stack to utilize the network connection and stream data to a ground server. <li>Server - The server will act as a listener with a provided port and IP address to record all incoming TCP packets sent from our Iridium modem. </ul> <li>UML Class Diagram: <li>UML Activity Diagram: </ul> <li> Carrier Module: </li> <ul> <li>General Details: <ul> <li>Component Testboard: <ul> <li>The design is finalized, ordered, and assembled. <li>It has been shipped for testing and we are waiting to see how the components performed under near space conditions to ensure a final re-design uses components compatible with these conditions. </ul> <li>The new flight ready carrier module with be a 4-layer board (2 signal planes, power, and GND). <li>Iridium modem will need completely uninterrupted ground plane beneath it. </ul> <li>The re-designed carrier board will follow the block diagram seen below: <li>The schematic for the new boost converter can be seen below: <li>The re-design will conform to the 104 form factor and appear like the diagram below: <li>The test board design and final build can be seen in the images below: </ul> <li> Fire Box: </li> <ul> <li>General Details: <ul> <li>The battery containment unit will feature an integrated ventilation system. <ul> <li>This will contain Aluminium metal foam. <li>Silica aerogel fabric was originally intended but was later determined not viable due to an internal operating temperature of 300 celcius which is only half of the required distance. <li>Instead, Pyrogel XT-E is being considered instead due to its operation temperature of 650 celcius. <li>The integrated vent system is untesting and pending reliabe, controlled battery failures. </ul> </ul> <li>The vent prototype can be seend below: <li>The Battery box design must conform to PCB-104 form factor. <li>The final design can be seen below: </ul> </ul>

=Validation= <ul> <li> Software: </li> <ul> <li> Successfully Completed: <ul> <li>Interfaced with the Iridium-9523 modem. <li>Validated Iridium network signals and achieved usable signal level and data integrity. <li>Transmitted short burst data messages and received them through an associated email account. </ul> <li> Future Validation: <ul> <li>The software team plans to fly with VAST (Vandals Atmospheric Science Team) in mid-April to test and validate that the communication from the Iridium-9523 is functional and performs the intended actions. </ul> </ul> <li> Carrier Module: </li> <ul> <li> Successfully Completed: <ul> <li>Re-designed components: <ul> <li>New Boost Circuit: <ul> <li>Designed with the Texas Instruments Power Designer <li>Validated that it performs as expected with LTSpice and allows for worst case (~1A) current draw </ul> <li>New PCB Layout: <ul> <li>Form factor design with 4-layer technology built overseas. </ul> <li>Upgraded SAMD51 chip: <ul> <li>Microchip provides 15 page checklist to help with the building and test against. <li>Created the power supply requirements. </ul> </ul> </ul> <li> Future Validation: <ul> <li>After assembling the PCB, we will test the components onsite. <li>Testing will work with the Software subteam to ensure that code working on the initial carrier module will work on the re-designed board. </ul> </ul> <li> Fire Box: </li> <ul> <li> Successfully Completed: <ul> <Initial battery testing didn't work due to safety measures built into the batteries, but this provided lots of helpful information to plan for future battery testing. </ul> <li> Future Validation: <ul> <li>Use experimental results as a validation measure against final design. <li>The fire box will be sent to Johnson Space Center for destructive testing. </ul> </ul> </ul>

=Team Members=

=Additional Documentation=

Project Schedule

Meeting Minutes

Presentations: