High-Level Project Summary
Due to the growing quantity of space debris in space, Bioastronautics and Space Mechatronics Research Group in collaboration with professionals from Peru and U.S., developed a project called CLUSBRIS LATAM, which is a CubeSat, that will be orbit at LEO. It has 6 robotic arms of 2 Degrees of Freedom each coupled with a gripper mechanism using a magnetic system. It will track the space debris and be controlled using an App. The main objective is to be used by the Agencia Espacial Latinoamericana y del Caribe (ALCE) and perform the firsts validation tests. Then that, for further work CLUSBRIS-Sat will be proposed to be accessed by other Space Agencies, in order to be open source worldwide.
Link to Project "Demo"
Link to Final Project
Detailed Project Description
The great growth of aerospace sciences conducts that the universe is still unknown and complex. Human explorations to outerspace have emerged the space debris problem creating of a Debris Belt [1], due to the high quantity, risks, and danger, so this is a threat to both, the safety of our astronauts and the safety of our assets in space. Therefore, there are mitigation standard practices for Disposal for final mission orbits, where 1 of 3 methods are recommended: Atmospheric Reentry Option, Maneuvering to a Storage Orbit, or Direct Retrieval [2].
Regarding the last method, the CLUSBRIS - LATAM (Clean Up Space Debris) project is leading by Bioastronautics and Space Mechatronics Research Group (BIO&SM, Website: https://sites.google.com/view/bio-sm), working in collaboration with professionals from Peruvian Institutions (Universidad Nacional Pedro Ruiz Gallo, Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola, and Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería) and North American Organization (Hub Designers).
The study proposes the mitigation and remediation of the space debris environment. The analysis was developed taking into account 2 critical subject areas: i) characterization of the debris environment, ii) assessment of the active debris removal methods proposed in the literature.
The research consists of the design of a mechatronic system of a Cubesat (Name: CLUSBRIS-Sat), which according to the classification made by Minghe Shan et al [4], this technology will perform Contact-capturing method, it has a Flexible Connection using a Tether-Gripper Mechanism. The Cubesat will orbit at Low Earth Orbit (LEO) [5], it has 3-Unit structure.
The mechatronic system requirements of the Cubesat (CLUSBRIS-Sat) [6] consists of 3 main areas:
-Mechanical Design:
SolidWorks and Ansys for 3D Design and Simulation. Materials Selection. FEM Analysis (Vibrations, Statics and Dynamics), Kinematic and Dynamic Robotic Modelling using MatLab, Coppelia Sim and ROS. Manufacturing Techniques.
Shape: rectangular block, divided into 3-units, with measurements of 10cm, 10cm, 30cm each unit, and 6 kg weight total [7]. This means that CLUSBRIS-Sat would collect other CubeSat that does not exceed the aforementioned dimensions.
Debris Capture Process: It has 2 robotic arms with 2 Degrees of Freedom each, the base of the arm has a gripper, and the elbow of the arm will be activated by two tendons that allow the extension and contraction of the arm, at each end it will have a corrugated surface, to ensure capturing and holding of debris. In total has 6 robotic arms, equally distributed on each side of the CubeSat, positioned along the longest length of the structure [8], [9].
Avoid the Collision during Debris Capturing: It has 3 plates at the base, with a spring located in the center of the arms, the plates have a controlled magnetic system, these plates will also help safely eject the debris into the collection container.
-Electrical and Electronics Design:
Microcontroller: STM32F4.
Communication Technologies: Modules with UHF and S-Band.
Localization and Debris Monitoring: GPS. Sensors: LIDAR with i2C protocol.
Source: Batteries (12V for Power Electronics, 3.3V-1.8V for microcontrollers, inputs, and outputs), also Solar Panels.
-Programming and Control Systems:
The orbital parameters of each debris orbiting the Earth were collected from Celestrack[10], then these parameters were filtered using Python's SGP4 library to obtain the geographic position (altitude, latitude and longitude) of each. Once the geographic position was calculated, the orbital trajectory was visualized using NASA's WorldWind 3D virtual globe [11]. For the simulation of the CLUSBRIS mission and to perform the Hohmann Transfer maneuvers, the NASA GMAT software [12] was used, obtaining the visualization of the orbital mechanics required to rescue the Payload. After a PID Control [13] of the CLUBRIS-Sat with the Payload, the Hofmann orbital transfer maneuver will be performed again to return to the CLUBRIS-Station. With the data obtained, a prototype of the user interface (App) of the CLUSBRIS project was developed using the Figma.com page [14].
In conclusion, the main objective of this project is to be a proposal for being used by the Agencia Espacial Latinoamericana y del Caribe (ALCE) [15] and perform the firsts validation tests. Then that, for further work CLUSBRIS-Sat will be proposed to be accessed by other Space Agencies, in order to be open source worldwide.
3D Sketch of CLUSBRIS-Sat:
1. CLUSBRIS-Sat
2. Robotic Arms Mechanisms Working
3. Robotic Arms Details and Materials
4. CubeSat(debris) Captured
CLUSBRIS-Sat App:
CLUSBRIS-Sat App Workflow:
Space Agency Data
CLUSBRIS LATAM project used data from NASA Resources provided by Space App Challenge 2021.
a)“CelesTrak,” Celestrak.com. [Online]. Available: https://celestrak.com/. [Accessed: 04-Oct-2021].
b)“Web WorldWind/NASA WorldWind,” Nasa.gov. [Online]. Available: https://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/web/. [Accessed: 04-Oct-2021].
c)“General Mission Analysis Tool (GMAT) v.R2016a(GSC-17177-1),” Nasa.gov. [Online]. Available: https://software.nasa.gov/software/GSC-17177-1. [Accessed: 04-Oct-2021].
Hackathon Journey
Answering the following Questions:
How would you describe your Space Apps experience?
This is an amazing multidisciplinary experience, where, with a limited time to work, the ideas started to shinning in our minds.
What did you learn?
We learned to use some data from Challenge Resources, and apply it to our project.
What inspired your team to choose this challenge?
We decided to work in Mapping Space Trash in Real-Time Challenge because there is a lot of debris orbiting our planet, and it could be a problem because of the imminent collision with the future spacecraft going to space.
What was your approach to developing this project?
Design a CubeSat to Space Debris Removal, which has robotic arms with a magnetic system. It is controlled by App where the system could track debris at LEO.
How did your team resolve setbacks and challenges?
We planned the project in 3 steps: a) Mechatronics Design, b) Programming and Control System Design, c) App Developing.
Is there anyone you'd like to thank and why?
We would like to thank you the Organizers of the NASA Space Challenge 2021. Also, thanks to Universidad Nacional Pedro Ruiz Gallo, Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola, Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería and Hub Designers.
References
[1] D. J. Kessler and B. G. Cour-Palais, “Collision frequency of artificial satellites: The creation of a debris belt,” J. Geophys. Res., vol. 83, no. A6, p. 2637, 1978.
[2]Nasa.gov. “U.S. Government Orbital Debris Mitigation Standard Practices”. [Online]. Available: https://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/library/usg_od_standard_practices.pdf. [Accessed: 03-Oct-2021].
[3] J.-C. Liou, “Active debris removal and the challenges for environment remediation,” NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server. [Online]. Available: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20120013266/downloads/20120013266.pdf.
[4] M. Shan, J. Guo, and E. Gill, “Review and comparison of active space debris capturing and removal methods,” Prog. Aerosp. Sci., vol. 80, pp. 18–32, 2016.
[5] J.-C. Liou, “An active debris removal parametric study for LEO environment remediation,” Adv. Space Res., vol. 47, no. 11, pp. 1865–1876, 2011.
[6] H. Hakima, “A new approach to active removal of space debris,” University of Toronto. 2020.
[7] California Polytechnic State University. 6U CubeSat Design Specification Rev. PROVISIONAL. Nasa.gov. [Online]. Available: https://explorers.larc.nasa.gov/APMIDEX2016/MO/pdf_files/12-6U_CDS_2016-05-19_Provisional.pdf. [Accessed: 04-Oct-2021].
[8] Ellery, “Tutorial review on space manipulators for space debris mitigation,” Robotics, vol. 8, no. 2, p. 34, 2019.
[9] P. Zhao, J. Liu, and C. Wu, “Survey on research and development of on-orbit active debris removal methods,” Sci. China Technol. Sci., vol. 63, no. 11, pp. 2188–2210, 2020.
[10]“CelesTrak,” Celestrak.com. [Online]. Available: https://celestrak.com/. [Accessed: 04-Oct-2021].
[11]“Web WorldWind/NASA WorldWind,” Nasa.gov. [Online]. Available: https://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/web/. [Accessed: 04-Oct-2021].
[12]“General Mission Analysis Tool (GMAT) v.R2016a(GSC-17177-1),” Nasa.gov. [Online]. Available: https://software.nasa.gov/software/GSC-17177-1. [Accessed: 04-Oct-2021].
[13] V. Dubanchet, D. Saussié, D. Alazard, C. Bérard, and C. L. Peuvédic, “Modeling and control of a space robot for active debris removal,” CEAS Space J., vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 203–218, 2015.
[14] “Figma: the collaborative interface design tool,” Figma.com. [Online]. Available: http://Figma.com. [Accessed: 04-Oct-2021].
[15] S. de Relaciones Exteriores, “Firma del Convenio Constitutivo de la Agencia Latinoamericana y Caribeña del Espacio,” Gob.mx. [Online]. Available: https://www.gob.mx/sre/prensa/firma-del-convenio-constitutivo-de-la-agencia-latinoamericana-y-caribena-del-espacio?idiom=es. [Accessed: 03-Oct-2021].
Tags
#spacedebris #spaceengineering #satellites #cubesat #LEO #NASA #CLUSBRIS
Global Judging
This project has been submitted for consideration during the Judging process.