Awards & Nominations
STB011 has received the following awards and nominations. Way to go!
Global Nominee
Let it go (without a bang) - A reefing line cutter solution
High-Level Project Summary
Current solutions used for parachute release involve violently cutting the rope using explosive charges. This means that the device is lost after use and on top of that, debris is shot into the environment. The solution we propose for the release of a parachute, involves the use of a mechanism with two parts, which exploits the elasticity of materials to fit the two pieces.
Link to Project "Demo"
Link to Final Project
Detailed Project Description
How it works
The device is composed of two parts: the upper one is composed of 24 slats and it is attached to the parachute; the other part consists of a screw connected to a stepper motor is attached to the spacecraft or a satellite.
In order to lock the two components, the screw goes up, enlarging the slats that then adhere to the upper block, attached to the parachute to detach. In this situation, the entire device can hold up to 50kN of traction force.
At the moment of release, the linear actuator underneath pulls under the screw, allowing the slats to return to their initial position and thus allowing the parachute to slide, without using explosive charges and without releasing debris. The estimated power comsuption is around 0.36W per phase.
How it is made
The materials used allow it to support very high loads, comparable to those of the current techniques used, despite the small size. Titanium is used for the slats and the screw; the linear actuator is made of brass, and the rest of the body is made of steel. With this configuration we estimated a total weight of about 120g.
We decided to compare the technology currently used, with the one we proposed. In particular, we focused on the release of debris, the low power used, but most importantly the reusability. Being a mechanism that is not destroyed, at each test and launch, it is possible to recover it, and then reuse it later.
Most of the motors work well for temperatures even higher than 100 °C, so the performance is maintained even in critical conditions.
Space Agency Data
YouTube initial video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ke45XZns4o&list=PL37Yhb2zout05pUjr7OoRFpTNroq_wd9f&index=16
The "Let it go (without a bang)" video presentation, in which we saw the actual reefing line cutter system, was a source of inspiration for our project.
Reefing line cutters - https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/CSM12_Earth_Landing_Subsystem_pp93-98.pdf
This resource was useful to understand how the actual solutions work. It was the starting point of our journey in which we worked on a new mechanical device able to cut the parachute reefing line.
Nasa titanium studies and usage- https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19720022814/downloads/19720022814.pdf
With these resourses we were able to calculate the weight of the device and the material traction resistance throught slats.
All the resources used in our project were primary sources for brainstorming, model planning and design of this reusable device.
Hackathon Journey
Let's start by saying that we are all college students. We are three aspiring electrical and telecommunications engineers and one computer science student, so perhaps the least suited for a purely mechanical challenge. However, we are all members of a student association, where we get together with other students from other university courses to share our knowledge and collaborate on projects together. Because of this, despite our electronics background, this is not the first time we have been faced with mechanical problems. The first day of the challenge was the hardest, in fact we were running out of ideas, or at least coming up with solutions to problems, but then more would come up. We got to the first night that we weren't able to present anything, so we seriously considered pulling out. After resting, we tried to put together the ideas we had and came up with an idea that we then moved forward with as it met all the requirements of the challenge (not easy!). We spent the second day working on technical drawings, CAD, 3D renders, researching the most suitable materials, until we shared our files with two minutes to go before the deadline for deliveries in the local challenge. At the moment we've been declared the winner of the first prize in the local phase, but we still don't know if we'll be able to access the global phase, so now we just have to wait for the results that will be released tomorrow. All in all, we're really happy to have participated, but mostly for putting ourselves out there and tackling a problem outside of our industry. However, I want to recall the words of the professor of Chemistry in the first year, who said that the figure of the engineer must be dynamic, versatile: it may happen that an electronic engineer happens in a project of a mechanical device, so the ability to adapt is essential, although it is not the natural environment. He was right and so it was for us.
References
Other resources
Video demonstration: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qRgP2B5-TebGGKYVePz8RmTJGhnTbj3Y/view?usp=sharing
Tools
Microsoft Office PowerPoint - Tool needed to build project's presentation.
Onshape - Online software for CAD, used for the device's design.
Cinema4D & Blender - Software for computer graphics animations.
Tags
#debris #parachute #cutter #space
Global Judging
This project has been submitted for consideration during the Judging process.