UW Orbital

UW Orbital is a student-led design team at the University of Waterloo partipicating in the Canadian Satellite Design Challenge. Our primary payload is a “Selfie-Sat” camera which can take a picture at a given set of coordinates.

As an Altitude Determination and Control Systems (ADCS) subteam member, my role is to apply a collaborative and iterative design approach to develop lightweight and cost-effective orientation controls for the satellite.

I primarily work on magnetic torquers which provide useful torque for the satellite by creating a magnetic dipole that interacts with Earth’s magnetic field.

Solenoid Winding Mechanism

Problem:

Our in-house magnetorquers are manufactured by hand-wrapping a thin gauge copper wire around a stainless steel rod
This was an time-consuming and labour-intensive process, as the wire was extremely delicate and one would have to count an exact number of windings (in the thousands)

First Iteration:

Using an Arduino Uno, I developed a solenoid winding mechanism using a hall sensor and motor system which automatically wraps the wire around the rod
A potentiometer can be turned by the user to input the desired number of windings
The hall sensor detects the number of windings and the Arduino code controls the start and stop of the mechanism

Demo Video

Arduino Code

Future Iterations:

Fitting the mechanism into the scope of our project (ie for longer rod)

Research other methods to linearly move the rod, eg rack and pinion system

Developing a method which ensures the windings are evenly distributed along the length of the rod

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Magnetic Torquer Test Stand

Problem:

Design a stand to hold magnetic torquers while they are being tested

Constraints:

Fixture must support magnetic torquer with following specifications:

Blue = magnetic torquer stainless steel core

Orange = magnetic torquer stainless steel core

Section	Dimension
a	30 mm
b	70 mm
D	12.7 mm
L	130 mm

Design

Click below to access the model file!

3D printed magnetic torquer stand consists of 2 symmetrical arms which hold magnetic torquer in place during testing
Arms spaced at distance of 90 mm so wire coils of magnetic torquer placed in the centre do not touch stand

Iterating:

Problem	Solution
3D printing tolerance may affect dimensional accuracy of part.	Circular cutouts of arms enlarged (13.3 mm vs 12.7 mm) to ensure magnetic torquer fits.
Metal magnetic torquer may not be supported by plastic structure.	For added stability, arms are joined by long piece and bases are widened.

Additional Views & Dimensions

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