ISP Lab Undergraduate Enterprise

What is Enterprise?

Michigan Tech's Enterprise Program is an integrated curriculum where interdisciplinary teams of undergraduate students work on complex engineering projects while earning credits toward their degree. Instead of completing a typical capstone Senior Design experience in the final two semesters of their degree, Michigan Tech students have the option to join an Enterprise team as early as their second year at MTU, and to remain with this team until graduation. The Enterprise Program currently boasts 26 different teams on diverse projects such as video game development, hybrid electric vehicles, alternative energy sources, and aeronautics and rocketry, to name a few. The Michigan Tech Aerospace Enterprise is just one of these teams.

Our Mission

• Educate future aerospace industry leaders by providing undergraduate students hands-on space systems engineering project experience through design, testing, and integration of spacecraft.
• Advance US space technology by solving real-world, challenging problems. The satellites we build aren’t just a student science project. These are real satellites, with real missions, that are directly relevant to current US military and NASA needs.

The Michigan Tech Aerospace Enterprise is developing the aerospace professionals and space systems of the future. Longtime team advisor Lyon (Brad) King has mentored hundreds of undergraduates on the application of systems engineering to the development of complex systems such as spacecraft and autonomous vehicles. The Aerospace Enterprise is led and operated completely by undergraduate students, while King serves as an academic resource. Students majoring in many disciplines (software engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, physics, etc.) have the opportunity to join one of the Aerospace Enterprise's eight subteams—one for each of the major subsystems of the spacecraft we build. Each subteam is led by a student team leader and systems engineer, who subsequently reports to a project manager and chief engineer.

Subteams

• Attitude Determination and Control
• Electrical Power System
• Ground Support Equipment
• Operations
• Payload
• Software
• Structures
• Telemetry, Tracking and Control
• Thermal

Oculus magnetic torque rod

Oculus SimuLink modeling

Attitude Determination and Control

The Attitude Determination and Control (ADC) subteam is responsible for the subsystems that are capable of sensing the attitude (aka where the satellite is pointed, with respect to some direction vector) and rotation rate of the spacecraft; this information is then used to command actuators that are capable of changing the spacecraft’s attitude and rotation rate. Primarily composed of mechanical engineering and electrical engineering majors, the ADC subteam’s primary objective is to develop and validate control algorithms (e.g., in MATLAB and SimuLink) that meet their subsystem’s requirements. The subteam works with a host of sensors, such as gyroscopes, magnetometers, and sun sensors. The actuators that the subteam works with include magnetic torque rods/coils and reaction wheels.

 

Oculus circuit board testing

Oculus solar panel

Students work on EAGLE PCB designs

Electrical Power System

The Electrical Power System (EPS) subteam is responsible for the satellite’s power system: solar panels, battery, and the electronics that monitor/control the electrical energy flowing through them. We design and manufacture our own solar panels here at Michigan Tech, which is an incredible learning opportunity for electrical engineering students. Using tools such as EAGLE PCB Designer and Multisim, students have the opportunity to see the end-to-end development of an electrical power control system, from requirements development to design and integrated testing. Additional opportunities on the EPS subteam include wire harness design/routing and the application of systems engineering tools, such as a power budget to manage the power demands of the spacecraft.

A student solders a Stratus test board

Students work with Oculus-ASR's electrical ground support equipment

Ground Support Equipment

The Ground Support Equipment (GSE) subteam is responsible for the development of systems that are used to support our spacecraft while on the ground. In order to safely transport and handle our satellites, mechanical ground support equipment (MGSE) needs to be designed/manufactured by the GSE subteam’s mechanical engineering students: structural frames and shipping containers. In order to test and interact with our spacecraft before launch, we need the GSE subteam’s electrical and computer engineering majors to have electrical ground support equipment (EGSE) ready: tools that can “plug in” to our spacecraft to charge its battery, edit the software loaded on its main computer, or monitor the status of its electronics. The GSE subteam maintains a Class 100,000 Clean Room on Michigan Tech’s campus that is used to work with flight hardware.

Students brainstorm Stratus mission design

Students brainstorm stratus mission design

Operations

The Operations (OPS) subteam develops and executes the missions that each of our spacecraft will be utilized for. The OPS subteam is responsible for performing analyses to answer questions such as: What kind of orbit should our spacecraft be placed in? How and when will we command the satellite after it is launched? What data do we intend to collect from the spacecraft? What is the mission timeline? Essentially, the OPS subteam is responsible for everything that happens immediately after the satellite is deployed from the launch vehicle. The team is also responsible for the development of a ground station that will be used to command the satellite once in orbit. Members of the OPS subteam get trained and certified to use AGI’s Systems Tool Kit software to build orbit analyses and mission scenarios, which is used to drive concept-of-operations decisions. Primarily composed of mechanical engineering majors, the OPS subteam has the unique opportunity to plan a real satellite mission and ultimately execute it.

Concept of operations

Concept of operations

Payload

The Payload (PYL) subteam is responsible for current missions data collection. They work on the components used to collect the radio frequency (RF) data for the mission profile. Using a software defined radio, GPS, and its own computer, we are able to collect and timestamp RF power to map over the Earth. Along with this, the subteam develops separate ground stations to be used in determining a target satellite’s position. Students on the PYL subteam are mainly electrical and computer engineers. In joining the PYL subteam, you will learn RF basics and how to build custom tests for this bespoke system.

Students develop flight software

A student works on a computer

Software

The Software (SFW) subteam is responsible for developing the flight software on our spacecraft, as well as any ground software used to communicate and collect data during their respective missions. Due to the nature of our missions, we have incredibly small communication windows with the spacecraft. Thus, the SFW subteam must be capable of creating an operating system that can operate the spacecraft autonomously and intelligently with the goals of meeting our mission goals and mitigating risk. Should the spacecraft enter a critical state due to low battery power or a failing subsystem, the software must handle these events properly and in real time for the sake of the mission. Students interested in joining SFW can expect extensive project work developing drivers and interfacing those drivers with more complicated algorithms (such as our science mission), as well as ground station development and data analysis automation.

A solid model of Oculus-ASR's gyroscopic enclosure

A student works on the Oculus-ASR CAD module

A student works in the MTU machine shop

Structures

Hence the name, the Structures (STR) subteam is responsible for the development of the satellite’s structure. The STR subteam uses tools such as Solidworks and NX to design the structural components of our spacecraft. Structural analysis tools such as Ansys then validate their designs. But these designs are not just sent off to some shop for fabrication. All of our spacecraft structural components are manufactured on campus by students. Michigan Tech has a number of product realization centers: machine shops, welding shops, assembly labs, etc., that students are trained to utilize. There is a lot more to spacecraft structures than nuts and bolts, and members of the STR subteam have the opportunity to learn how to design spacecraft structures for manufacturability, extreme environment survival, and launch vehicle compatibility. Additional opportunities on the STR subteam include thermal analysis and specialized payload integration design, such as camera isolation mounts, deployables, and releasables.

Oculus-ASR UHF/VHF radio board

A student positions an Auris ground station

Telemetry, Tracking, and Control

The Telemetry, Tracking and Control (TTC) subteam is responsible for the subsystems that allow the spacecraft to transmit and receive data to/from our ground stations back on Earth. Not all satellites are completely autonomous; they need to be commanded on a scheduled timeline. It is also important that the mission data obtained by our spacecraft can be transmitted back down to Earth securely and in a form that can be processed by our team. The TTC subteam makes this possible by integrating a radio electronics board and antenna system into each of our spacecraft. Primarily composed of electrical engineering majors, TTC subteam members have the opportunity to take the lead on real-world antenna design and link budget development.

A graph of apex pressures from dynamic simulation 

A graph of apex height versus apex voltage

Thermal

All electrical components of a satellite generate heat and have temperature ranges in which they are functional. The Thermal (THM) subteam is responsible for ensuring that the satellite stays within these ranges using simulation, analysis, and thermal engineering. Utilizing an industry standard software (Ansys Thermal Desktop), the THM subteam constructs a CAD model of the satellite, applies thermal and material properties of each part, and analyzes the collected data using MATLAB. Subteam members determine the proper course of action and where to apply a thermal management system, and recommend any physical or operational changes to the satellite.

Missions

Join Us!

Alumni

Alumni from the Michigan Tech Aerospace Enterprise have landed jobs at aerospace companies and research facilities throughout the country.

• Aerojet Rocketdyne
• AFRL – Kirtland Air Force Base
• Astronautics Corporation of America
• B/E Aerospace Inc.
• Bigelow Aerospace
• Boeing
• Capella Space Corporation
• Cirrus Aircraft
• Cornell University, Organic Robotics Lab
• Fort Rucker
• GE Aviation Systems
• General Atomics Aeronautical Systems
• Gentex Corporation
• Honeywell Aerospace Global Headquarters
• Integrity Applications Inc.
• MIT Lincoln Labs
• NASA Glen Research Center
• NASA Johnson Space Center
• Northrop Grumman (incl. Orbital ATK)
• Orbion Space Technology(Houghton, MI)
• Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
• Raytheon
• Sierra Nevada Corporation
• SpaceX Hawthorne
• SpaceX McGregor
• Tethers Unlimited Inc.
• Wright-Patterson Air Force Base – National Air and Space Intelligence Center

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