PROJECT EMBER Student Lead: Christopher Sorensen Student Team Members: Pramendra Bairagi, Julie Bengoa, Fred Benton, Emily Clark, Drew Dudek, David Gergeis, David Macphee, Kaija Martin, Cameron Meier, Christopher Sorensen Faculty: Professor Joseph Smith and Dr. Matthew Haslam Fire-mapping, the process of creating maps depicting the size, location, and rate of spread of a forest fire, has traditionally been done using manned aircraft. However, there are three notable challenges with manned aircraft: environmental hazards, cost and infrastructure requirements. These three challenges establish the need for an inexpensive UAV to perform this task. Ember is a small UAV designed to provide rapid deployment to the scene of developing fires to provide fire-mapping capabilities that allow first responders to better understand the fire, increasing the safety of everyone involved. Ember’s cost-conscious design ensures that it can provide IR mapping capabilities in the face of an ever-increasing demand that outpaces the current supply of IR mapping aircraft. The four keys to Ember’s success are its thermal camera, integration with ground software to generate maps, 2-hour endurance, and its ability to be transported in U.S. Forest Service trucks. Ember is a gas-powered UAV with a 6-foot, detachable wing and has the capability of being rail-launched. When Ember has completed testing and manufacturing, it will be capable of utilization for more than two hours in the field and will have no more than a 15-minute reset time between runs. These qualities make it a project with strong potential for use in the field after development.
AE 427: SPACECRAFT PRELIMINARY DESIGN
ARIES Student Lead: Sierra Gerard Student Team Members: Alima Bagdat, Grayson Bryant, Sierra Gerard, Morgan Lih, Jesse Lyszczarz, William McHugh, Christian Perez, Nicholas Verhelle Faculty: Dr. Mark Benton and Dr. Richard Mangum The Asteroid Reconnaissance and Imaging Exploration System (ARIES) is designed to advance the feasibility of asteroid mining and colonization through early classification of potential resources. Modeled after a 12U CubeSat, ARIES will validate the effectiveness of its design by constructing a small satellite body capable of maneuvering, enduring launch vibrations of a Falcon 9 rocket, and identifying an asteroid type. The ARIES test article will map asteroid topography and analyze surface composition using a LiDAR sensor, red-green-blue (RGB) imaging, and near-infrared (NIR) sensors. ARIES will contain an onboard propulsion system to demonstrate translational movement using cold gas. ARIES will be equipped with an ADCS to demonstrate rotational movement. To reduce costs, ARIES will test the compositional and topographical sensors independently from the maneuvering systems. Rotational control will be demonstrated on a dynamic suspension mount, while translational control will be demonstrated using a frictionless rail. The ARIES sensor package will be tested on a sample made of materials found in asteroids. Various ARIES components will undergo survivability testing using the vibration table on campus. The development of ARIES is critical for future space exploration missions that seek to utilize asteroid resources.
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COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
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