Systems concurrent engineering of pico and nano satellites

Abstract

This Project aims to investigate how to develop university pico and nano-satellites using an approach to integrated product development, called systems concurrent engineering, developed by professor Geilson Loureiro. The University of Wurzburg, in Germany, develops its fourth pico-satellite based on the standard Cubesat platform. Since 2005, a series of three pico-satellites have been developed, the UWE-1, 2 and 3 satellites. Those satellites are developed by Master students, under the supervision of Professor Klaus Schilling and his PhD students. Initially, those satellites were developed without the systematic use of systems engineering and without the use of design techniques that would ease board manufacturing and testing, subsystems assembly and testing, and satellite integration and testing. Once carried out a given satellite assembly, any problem identified during tests and requiring disassembly, correction, re-testing and re-assembly, imposes a heavy burden on the Project, in terms of time and human resources effort. Professor Geilson Loureiro developed a method of systems concurrent engineering that takes into consideration from the beginning of a complex product development, the requirements from the product life cycle processes. Traditionally, systems are developed taking into consideration only their concept of operations (CONOPS). The systems concurrent engineering approach analyzes the systems, from the outset of its development process, in their vários life cycle process potential scenarios, not only in its operations scenarios. This allows for the anticipation of requirements and the reduction of changes, time and risk during development. This project will: 1) reverse engineer one of the three satellites in the UWE series, 2) model the satellite and subsystems along their life cycle processes using a systems engineering computer tool, 3) apply concurrent engineering principles and 4) propose modifications in the original satellite design so that it incorporates systems engineering and concurrent engineering concepts. The experience obtained in this project will be used for ITA's university pico and nanosatellite program, as part of the newly created course on Aerospace Engineering. The program is coordinated by Professor Geilson Loureiro who is collaborator professor at ITA (the Institute of Aeronautics Technology). (AU)