Hardware Design
By Eric Hanna (Design and Manufacturing)
I discuss and walk through the hardware design of the overall cube satellite, including an exploded view of the payload and of the entire chassis.
Table of Contents
Introduction
The purpose of this blog post is to discuss the hardware design of the cube satellite (cubesat). Because the SPARCCS CubeSat Project is an ongoing project with the CSULB club named after it, some aspects are already designed. The main hardware for the satellite is the chassis, which has been built. The important feature for the following groups to consider is how their boards fit into the chassis.
The Chassis
The chassis of the cubesat was designed and built by the Fall 2015 team. The cubesat is a 3U design, meaning it is 30 x 10 x 10 cm. For our project, we were asked to design and create the payload (or sensor suite) that will be mounted in the top cube of the satellite. Our main focus with respect to hardware design is to make sure our PCB is capable of mounting inside the existing chassis.
Exploded View of Cube Satellite (Fall 2015 Design)
The Rail System
In order to make sure it is able to mount inside the chassis, we had to analyze the Fall 2015 team’s 3D models of the satellite. They designed three individual cubes, with the plan to stack them on top of one another. Their plan for mounting boards inside was to utilize a rail system using 3M rod running through the chassis and use nuts to position the boards in place. A model showing the top cube with just our PCB is shown below. The critical dimensions for our board are the mounting hole size and locations which are also shown in an image below.
Exploded View of Top Cube with PCB
Spring 2016 Sensor PCB with Dimensions Shown
PC/104 Bus
The other new hardware feature that we are implementing is a method for connecting the boards in the satellite. The new feature is the use of a PC/104 stack-through bus connector. PC/104 is a standardized form factor often used in cubesats. Although we aren’t following the PC/104 specifications fully (due to our mounting requirements coming from last semester’s chassis), we are using just the bus and its specifications for its 64 pin definitions.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the main hardware of the cubesat is the chassis. The chassis has been designed and created by the Fall 2015 team. All boards created to go into the chassis must match with their design in order to mount in the rail system. The main feature we added to the hardware design is the utilization of the PC/104 bus which will allow boards to connect with each other.