I joined the OreSat Team in 2020, first working as a measly
"CAD monkey" and eventually supporting development as one of the Mechanical Leads on the OreSat project. Over the course of nearly two years, I had my hand in various subsystems, ranging from the quad-band turnstile deployer, the Cirrus Flux Camera, to the defining characteristic of OreSat: the Card Cage frame. Throughout this portfolio, I will provide a holistic overview of the various subsystems I have worked on, in addition to the contributions I made throughout the years I have worked with the folks at OreSat and the Portland State Aerospace Society

On a side note, I have to give thanks to our faculty advisor on the project, Andrew Greenberg, as well as the numerous undergraduates I worked with throughout this project for their openness and welcoming nature. They gave me the opportunity to finally stretch my legs in applying engineering, and learn countless invaluable lessons throughout the design process.

CIRRUS FLUX CAMERA

One of the first projects I had a significant hand in was the primary science mission: the Cirrus Flux Camera. This mission is particularly complex due to its dependence on various mechanical characteristics of its design. The Short Wave Infrared (SWIR) sensor used to capture infrared imaging of cirrus clouds outputs a significant amount go heat and operates at a fairly low-temperature regime. To combat the heat output from the sensor, I implemented a relatively "brute force" design: a massive copper heat mass. While I certainly would have preferred utilizing a radiator of some sort, the limitation of breaking the universal design of the OreSat Architecture. The efficacy of the design was simulated through Thermal Desktop, where my teammates and I modeled the conduction paths and thermal masses were modeled. Further design choices were made to optimize the thermal conductivity between the thermal mass (located on the bottom of the assembly) to the lens mount, which also served as a thermal mass.

In retrospect, I should have pushed harder for a radiative design. This old design from nearly two years ago resulted in adding a kilogram to our satellite, in addition to shifting the center of mass significantly. 

Skills Applied: Solidworks 2021, Thermal Desktop, GD&T

Antennas: The Handheld Ground Station and Turnstile Deployers

One of the most important systems in a satellite is the RF system. Despite the primarily electrical nature, designing deployment systems are fundamental to designing a successful satellite. I supported the development of the quad-band turnstile deployer, used on our 1U CubeSat currently in space. Given the limitations of cost, space, and material (primarily due to outgassing), the turnstile design required careful iterations. We chose the body of the deployer to be 3D-printed SLS nylon for ease of manufacturing and strength. The deployer doors themselves were an unexpectedly intricate system to design, as I had to ensure the "hinges" would not break during deployment (which occurred in many instances).

I also worked on an RF system for a very different application: a handheld ground station to receive a video link from OreSat. Rather than focus on compactness as I did with the turnstile, the handheld ground station required a focus on cost (<$50), ease of assembly, easy 3D printing, and of course, basic functionality. 

Skills Applied: Design for 3D printing, Antenna Deployers, Solidworks 2021

The OreSat Card Cage Frame

Working on improving and analyzing the design of the OreSat card cage was no doubt the most enjoyable project I worked on. When I first joined OreSat, the previous engineers had designed a certainly functional frame for the 1U and 2U variants, it was certainly a prototype. The countless parts and complexity associated with the design made assembly difficult and required difficult machining operations. To iterate on the design, I reworked the "card clamp" design used to provide a thermal and mechanical connection to the PCBs into a single-part design, rather than the existing multipart design. Utilizing Jupyetr Notebook and Numpy, I optimized the design for the greatest clamping force. Moreover, reworked the drawings to match GD&T specifications, increasing the readability of the drawings (which admittedly were very cluttered) and reducing some of the excessively tight tolerances.

Skills Applied: Jupyter Notebook, Solidworks 2021, GD&T

Integration Nightmare & Battery Inhibits: Sending OreSat0 to Space!

Throughout the integration of OreSat0, our 1U CubeSat, I began to value an integration-forward mindset. Especially with a system as tightly integrated as a CubeSat, understanding the various interfaces between the various subsystems, in addition to the launch vehicle, are paramount.

One of the interfaces I worked on was the battery inhibits, used to keep the satellite "off" while in the launch vehicle. Designing the inhibits required a deep understanding of the various deployer interfaces (required surface finish, contact area, etc.) through interface control documents (ICDs), as well as design requirements for our satellite.

Throughout the integration procedure, I also wrote various Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to ensure repeatable assembly of the CubeSat.

Skills Applied: System Integration, Writing SOPs, Understanding ICDs

OSCW 2021: The Open Source CubeSat Workshop

In December of 2021, I presented the culmination of years of lessons learned, as well as successes at the Open Source CubeSat workshop. Effective communication was paramount, given that my Co-Lead and I were given 15 minutes to present. This presentation focused on providing a high-level overview of the design choices associated with the OreSat Mechanical Architecture, as well as the various mission-specific designs. The presentation (which can be seen below and in the video) was designed to be visually interesting and useful for the topics being discussed at hand.

My Co-Lead (Hayden Reinhold) and I had a successful presentation to various CubeSat professionals and space enthusiasts in December of 2021, and the video serves as the mechanical summary on oresat.org. 

Skills: Public Speaking, Presentation Design, Communication