Akoya - BanditOrbitVision

Washington University in St. LouisSchool of Engineering and Applied

Science

Erin Beck Justin Char

Lane Haury Cash Carr

Goals:

•Simulate the complete Akoya-Bandit camera-to-radio system

•Photograph LED array as it would appear on Akoya in daylight

•Photograph the Earth as it would appear to the Akoya Earthside camera

Akoya - Bandit:

• Bandit is a 4 kg service vehicle housed within Akoya, a 25 kg parent satellite. On orbit, Bandit will undock from Akoya, navigate relative to it while completing simple to complex tasks, and redock.

• Bandit navigates by observing a pattern of LEDs on Akoya’s surface and calculating position.

• Two cameras aid navigation:

•BanditCam: b/w camera that photographs LEDs, from which software determines position

•AkoyaCam Dockside: color camera looking at Bandit from the dock, used for backup sighting of Bandit

• One additional camera:

•AkoyaCam Earthside: color camera to photograph Earth

SHOT II:

• BanditCam:

•Photographs sample LED array (b/w)

•Transmits locally over 900 MHz radios, simulating the link between Bandit and Akoya. Then transmits over 2.4 GHz radios to ground, simulating the link from Akoya to ground.

• AkoyaCam Earthside:

•Photographs Earth horizon (color)

•Transmits directly over 2.4 GHz radios to ground.

• Accelerometer:

•We hope to have an accelerometer as a secondary position sensor on Bandit. SHOT II includes one accelerometer; we are measuring its sensitivity.

Mass: 1.62 kg before tape

Power: 20 1.5V Li batteries (72 W-hr for components, 18 W-hr for heaters)

Radio frequencies: 900 MHz at 100 mW, 2.4 GHz at 1 W

Balloon attachment: 1/4 inch threaded brass rod through center, attached with washer and

nut on each end

• Drop Test

• Stair Pitch Test

• Whip Test

• Cooler Test

•Table Test:

•Photographs successfully downlinked across the table

•At 115200 baud, we receive one 360x240 b/w image in ~30 sec or one 360x240 color image in ~80 sec.

Demonstrate end-to-end feasibility and functionality of Akoya-Bandit OrbitVision system.

• Radios: Operate without interfering with each other

•Lab test showed no interference. We could use the exact same system at higher power on orbit.

• BanditCam: See LEDs. We may not be able to distinguish different shades as different colors, but we expect that the 100 millicandela Super Blue LEDs will be most visible.

• AkoyaCam Earthside: We receive clear long-distance images, currently in one color only.

• Accelerometer: The manufacturer claims extreme sensitivity, but it is unproven. We expect some readings, but have no prediction of magnitude.

• Internal layout of components

• Mobile Ground Station User Interface

• End-to-end demonstration of BanditCam

•Includes the following components and their connections:

•BanditCam

•900 MHz transmitter and receiver

•Frame Capture Board

•Atmel (ATmega128)

•2.4 GHz transmitter and receiver

•MGS computer