Solar panels

For this week's hardware blog post, we're introducing you to the solar panels which can be found all over our satellite! This component has been worked on by NEUDOSE's electrical power systems team. This team manages power generation using solar panels, power storage using batteries and the overall power distribution to sub-systems. 

Check out our Q&A with our electrical power system team:

Q: How much of each Solar Panel was designed/assembled by the team, as opposed to bought commercially?

A: Each Solar Panel consists of a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) with 2-6 Solar Cells adhered to its surface, depending on which face of the satellite the panel is for. The Solar Panel PCBs were designed from scratch by our team, and sent to an external company for fabrication. The Solar Cells themselves were bought to our custom specifications from a commercial manufacturer. Our team then had to adhere the cells to the panels without breaking them, or getting them dirty, and make sure the assembled panel was functional.

Q: How do you know the Solar Panels will receive enough light to power the satellite for the entire mission?

A: Our Orbital sub-team has done extensive work in quantifying the trajectory of the satellite in orbit, and quantifying how much light each face of the satellite will be exposed to throughout. We made use of this information to customize our solar cells place them in as optimal of a location as possible.

Q: How do you test the Solar Panels before placing them on the satellite?

A: The first thing we check is that the tabs of the solar panel PCBs are electrically connected in series, as the cells should be. We then adhere the cells to the panel and characterize their performance electrically by measuring its open-circuit voltage and current, as well as environmentally by applying a calibrated light source against it and measuring the power it produces, generating what is known as a characteristic IV curve.

We hope you learned something new about  mechanical structure hardware! Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about this hardware or NEUDOSE.

Ground station antennae

For this week's hardware blog post, we're introducing you to our ground station antennae! This component has been worked on by NEUDOSE's communications sub-team.

Check out our Q&A with Daniel Tajik, our Communications Team Lead.

Q: How long did the project take to build?

A: The ground station project was conceived in 2017, but its engineering began in earnest in late 2020 with the support of Telstorm Corporation, an expert in the field of antenna mounting for cellular projects. Over the course of the past year, the team completed design work, acquired city permits, and began construction. The final installation of the radio hardware is still underway with hopes of being completed in early March of 2022.

Q: What progress have we made during quarantine?

A: This ground station was designed and built during the quarantine with the help of our engineering partners at Telstorm and the contracting services of JW Contracting. Before this, we had several students design an outline of what we envisioned for the ground station, and what you see in the photos matches quite closely to our original designs!

Q: There look to be two types of antennas here, why are they different?

A: These specific antennas are called Yagi-Uda antennas, which have been heavily used over the past century for both wireless radio and television reception. The two antennas operate at two different wireless frequencies, referred to as Very High Frequency (or VHF) and Ultra High Frequency (or UHF). The specific electromagnetic frequencies for which the satellite will use exists within what is known as the amateur radio spectrum, which any member of the public can freely listen to! More details on the specific frequencies and how to access them will be published on our webpage in the following months

Q: Why do the antennas rotate?

A: These antennas are what is known as "directive" antennas, meaning that they focus the wireless energy (both transmitting and receiving) in a specific direction. Since our satellite is travelling in a non-geostationary orbit, meaning that they travel across our skyline instead of remaining fixed, we need to point the antennas at the satellite and follow it as it passes by in order to capture the signal.

Q: How long can you use the ground station for?

A: While the lifespan of the satellite is expected to be a year, the ground station has been designed to survive for 10 years of operation, which would enable its use for missions beyond NEUDOSE, and possibly assist in other satellite missions communication requirements.

We hope you learned something new about mechanical structure hardware! Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about this hardware or NEUDOSE.

Mechanical Structural

For this week's hardware blog post, we're introducing you to our mechanical structure!

Q: What is the the mechanical structure hardware?

A: This is the first prototype for the mechanical structure of the NEUDOSE CubeSat! It was built right here in Hamilton ON at MERQ Inc. The machining of these precision components is accurate 50 micrometers (about the width of a human hair). For more information about MERC, you can check out there LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/merqinc/

Q: What is the mechanical structure used for?

A: The mechanical structure is the skeleton of the NEUDOSE CubeSat. These parts provide the strength to stand up to the tough environment of the launch. The structure is what holds all of the other parts of the satellite together despite the powerful forces and vibrations experienced on the rocket.

Q: What are the improvements since the last version?

A: The black colour on these parts comes from a hardcoat aluminum oxide coating, provided by Aluminum Surface Technologies in Burlington ON. The coating process is called anodization which results in a tough and durable protective layer on the important surfaces of the structure. These are the places where our satellite will contact the CubSat deployer aboard the ISS and we need to take special care to make sure these surfaces are perfect! For more information about Aluminum Surface Technologies, here is there LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aluminum-surface-technologies/

Q: What progress have you made during quarantine?

A: During the quarantine we have been working hard to transform our many hours of design and simulation work into real physical parts. We hope you are as excited as we are to see some hard work paying off!

We hope you learned something new about the mechanical structure hardware! Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about this hardware or NEUDOSE. 

CDH Onboard Computer

Welcome to the third installment of our hardware blog post series! This week’s post highlights the onboard computer, which is a part of the command and data handling team’s work. Keep reading for more information on this essential piece of hardware and what it does for the satellite!

Q: What is the OBC (onboard computer)?

A: The on-board computer is a commercial board that will act as the "brain" of the satellite. Our on-board computer is the NanoMind A3200 (as observed to the right on image 2) manufactured by GOMSpace and will be mounted to the CDH Motherboard (as observed to the left on image 2), a custom printed circuit board, in order to interface with the rest of the satellite.

Q: What is the OBC used for?

A: The OBC gets information about the health and state of the satellite and takes any appropriate action to make sure everything is working nominally. It performs tasks like getting housekeeping data, executing any commands the satellite receives from the ground station, and ensuring all the other parts of the satellite are working as expected.

Q: What are the software improvements since the last version?

A: We recently changed our software design to use the software provided by the manufacturer to write the software on the OBC. It makes our system simpler and easier to implement!

Q: What progress have we made during quarantine?

A: Quarantine has seen some major design changes like the redesign of our software, lots of planning tests to do once we can get back in the lab, and trying to find ways to write code on different platforms! 

For more information, head to our NEUDOSE team website through the link in our bio! Feel free to reach out if you have any additional questions regarding the onboard computer or general hardware here at NEUDOSE.

Communications Module

Welcome to the 2nd edition of the NEUDOSE hardware series! This week’s hardware post is focusing on the communications module, which can be seen in images 1 and 2. Keep reading to learn more about this hardware! 

Q: What is the Communications Module?

A: The communications module is the radio onboard the NEUDOSE CubeSat mission. The module contains two independent radio systems; one for uplink (receiving commands on the satellite) and another for downlink (transmitting data out of the satellite). This module works in a full-duplex mode meaning we can transmit and receive information at the same time.

Q: What is the Communications Module used for?

A: The communications module is what allows us to talk with the NEUDOSE CubeSat while in orbit.  It has three key objectives during the mission:

1. the reception of telecommands (i.e. operational commands) onboard the satellite as it travels 400km+ overhead,

2. obtaining vital telemetry and subsystem health information to inform ground-based operators on the satellite status, and

3. relaying the scientific data generated by the payload to the ground for further analysis.

Q: What are the improvements since the last version?

A: Since the last revision, the communications module has undergone a major design overhaul. Many aspects of the design required an upgrade or modification to meet the capabilities of the NEUDOSE mission. An upgrade to the radio frequency (RF) front-end has led to improved signal quality, strength and efficiency. The digital systems, such as the microcontroller and sensors, have been modified to handle mission tasks. This revision strikes a balance between performance and efficiency, and the ability to do more with less is at the heart of each design choice.

Q: What progress have we made during quarantine?

A: Since quarantine began, the team has fabricated and manufactured the latest revision (rev 3.0). The module is currently undergoing testing, software development, and fine-tuning to ensure each component works as intended. The lessons learned from rev 3.0 have allowed us to develop our next and hopefully final revision, rev 3.1. The next revision aims to improve the subsystem design flaws and manufacturability for flight-ready hardware.

Payload Data Acquisition Module (DAM)

Welcome to the new NEUDOSE hardware series! Over the coming weeks we’ll be introducing you to the essential NEUDOSE hardware we use, what it does, and how it works. This week’s hardware post is focusing on the payload team’s Data Acquisition module (DAM), which can be seen on image 2. In Image 3, the DAM is the blue PCB located underneath the Payload assembly. Keep reading to learn more about this hardware! 

Q: What is the DAM?

A: The Data Acquisition Module (or DAM for short) is the brain of the payload on NEUDOSE. It controls and monitors all electronic components and instruments in the Payload section of the CubeSat. The DAM is mounted at the bottom of the Charged and Neutral Particle Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counter (CNP-TEPC), and interfaces with the Pressure Vessel, Anti Coincidence Detector (ACD) as well as the rest of the satellite.

Q: What is the DAM used for?

A: The DAM is responsible for reading data from the Charged and Neutral Particle Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counter (CNP-TEPC), Anti Coincidence Detector, and monitoring the status of several sensors throughout the payload subsystem. The DAM reads the data obtained from each sensor and instrument, processes this data, and then communicates this data to the rest of the satellite. In addition to the reading and transmitting data, the DAM is also responsible for converting and distributing power to each of the electrical components in the payload subsystem.

The DAM also has firmware uploaded in order to detect and differentiate particle interactions based on the signals sent from the ACD (anti coincidence detector) and TEPC (tissue equivalent proportional counter) instruments.