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20230213 - TFM - Project plan

Project purpose

  • Why are we conduction this project?
    • There is a need of open CubeSat learning tools.
  • To whom is the project interesting? Short term – long term?
    • Short term: TIF and DTU
    • Long term: ESA and universities with Space studies.
  • Will the project be “To the benefit of society”? And related to The UN Sustainable Development Goals?
    • This project is focused on the goal number 4 of the UN, “# Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”.

Aims / Objectives

  • What are the expected outcomes of the project?

Applied techniques

  • What are the skills required to conduct the project? Which experiments am I going to do?
    • The skills required are:
      • Electronic Design and manufacturing.
      • Low level software programming for embedded devices
      • Spacecraft Systems engineering and planification
    • Which experiments:
      • Test the functionalities of the systems
  • Do I need tome to learn these methods, and thus need to calculate extra time for this? Is there any expertise from other people that I need to execute the methods successfully?
    • I don’t need to acquire the skills, no extra time is needed.
  • Equipment availability? What equipment am I going to use? When will it be available?
    • Equipment necessary:
      • Professional soldering tools
      • Power supply
      • Osciloscope / Function generator
    • Equipment availability:
      • I have access to these equipment in the TIF, my job (FaunaPhotonics) and the Polyteknisk Radiogrouppe.
    • When will it be availabe?
      • Always
  • Technique costs?
    • No cost

Materials

  • What are the starting materials?
    • Previous developed subystems at TIF
  • Do materials need to be ordered and/or booked in advance? When will it arrive?
    • Some materials should be bought in advance, will arrive in 1 month.
  • Material costs?
    • The first budget is 3.400 DKK
  • What materials do you expect to generate?
    • 1 PCB with the communication subsystem
    • 1 PCB of the ground segment
    • 1 Basic Cubesat Powered by batteries, using the subsystems already made at TIF.
  • How and where am I going to store my data or materials? How will I make sure that the data do not get loost ater the projects is finished?
    • The software output data is going to be stored in the DTUSat Gitlab
    • The materials are going to be stored at TIF after the thesis

Analysis of data

  • What is the complexity of analysis?
    • No analysis is needed
  • Is specific software and tools required for the data analysis?
    • No analysis is needed
  • Is there any expertise from other people taht i need to analyse my data successfully? How and when will I get this expertice? (hint: people are usually busy, so try to arrange a meeting early in advance)
    • No analysis is needed

Project risks

  • Does the project plan include a feasible path to achieve the aims, or is there a risk of not meeting the goals and aims? Are contingency plans included for the more risky aims?
  • Are there experimental factors that influence the likelihood of success?
  • Do the different steps in the project have different levels of risk?
  • Do we have the computing infrastructure and know‐how to perform the analyses?

Report writing

What is the plan for writing the report?  

  • Will an outline be written first and discussed with the supervisor(s)?  
  • Will there be enough time to write the report?

Innovation/ IPR / Collaboration agreements

  • Does the project contain innovation potential?
    • No potential IP
  • Are there any possible or required collaboration agreements that need to be settled?
    • The collaboratons are already settled
  • Is it within the expectations that work in the project will result in intellectual property/patents, and if yes, who owns the intellectual property rights (IPR)?

Time plan

  • What is the logic progression of the project?
  • Are there specific key objectives in the project that can be marked as milestones?
    • Key objectives
      • Have a system capable to send and receive telecommands and telemetry. Telemetry plotted in the ground station software.
      • Communication between the different subsystems to the OBC
  • When do I expect to reach these milestones?

Organizing the Time Plan as a Flowchart

Time planning is also crucial to good project plans. Below is a list of elements to consider in your time planning, and an example of how to do a timeline chart (Gantt chart):

  • Alignment of expectations between student and supervisor. Getting to know each other’s interests and what each other’s priorities are
  • Introduction to the lab and specific techniques
  • Literature study and topic introduction
  • Write your own project description and learning objectives
  • Make the project plan
  • Experimental lab work (specify experiments) ‐ reach milestones
  • Mid‐project oral presentation during group lab meeting (train presentation skills)
  • Start writing report (remember to get feedback on writing skills)
  • Hand‐in report
  • Presentation/defense

Phases of the thesis:

  • Getting to know the lab
    • Define the scope of the project
    • Define budget
    • Define project plan
    • SSCB: Getting to know the schematics and PCB
    • SSCB: Fix known errors
    • COMMS: Get2Know the COMMS and being able to connect to it
    • OBC: Get2Know the OBC and being able to connect to it
    • Redefine project plan if necessary
  • Comms subsystem
    • Program the SS with the programmer and SSCB
    • Example communication 2 COMM SS
  • Ground segment subsystem
    • Create middleware COMM SS with the computer. UART to TCP
    • Define Telemetry and telecommands
    • Integrate TM and Telecommands with BALL Cosmos.
  • OBC subsystem
    • Flash a custom image on the OBC
    • Integrate SCP on CAN bus
    • Integrate CCSDS packets on OBC
    • Interconnect CAN bus with COMM SS
  • Subsystems integration
    • Ground segment software -> Ground segment transceiver -> COMM SS -> OBC
    • OBC -> COMM SS -> Ground segment transceiver -> Ground segment software
    • Put a simple battery and make the system “Portable”
    • Integrate preliminary mechanical structure
  • Writing report

Update 28 Feb 2023

Some time ago I finished my Gantt chart, but there are some missing things that I would like to fit in my calendar:

  • PCB Design of PC104 Board with the subsystems of TIF. A breakout board with the PMOD connector
  • PCB Design of the COM SS (Lora and Wifi) on the PC104 format. So the microcontroller is directly a ESP32.