Session
Pre-Conference Posters Session I
Location
Utah State University, Logan, UT
Abstract
A standardized interface for different CubeSat missions is one of the keys to reduce costs and delivery time. A backplane interface approach, proposed by the University of Wuerzburg in Germany as UWE-3, was implemented in three CubeSat projects at the Kyushu Institute of Technology (Kyutech) in Japan to shorten the development and assembly times. The backplane approach also helped to reduce the risk of workmanship errors associated with the harness. The proposed standard interface board, however, needed changes in every CubeSat project to comply with the mission requirements. To obtain more flexibility especially for data connections, this work introduces a novel idea of a software-configurable bus interface with the backplane board. A Complex Programmable Logic Device (CPLD) was used instead of the hardware routing so that we can reconfigure the bus interface by reprogramming the CPLD. The concept was validated by a functional test with a breadboard module. A radiation test verified that the selected CPLD has enough strength to survive total ionization dozes of more than 2 years in low Earth orbit. A new backplane board with CPLD have been integrated with Engineering Model and Flight Model of the fourth CubeSat project at Kyutech, BIRDS-3 project, and system level verification was conducted. The flight model is now ready for delivery to JAXA in February 2019 for a planned launch to International Space Station in April 2019. The initial on-orbit data will be obtained by the time of the conference in August 2019 and will be presented to the audience.
Programmable CubeSat Interface Board to Reduce Costs and Delivery Time
Utah State University, Logan, UT
A standardized interface for different CubeSat missions is one of the keys to reduce costs and delivery time. A backplane interface approach, proposed by the University of Wuerzburg in Germany as UWE-3, was implemented in three CubeSat projects at the Kyushu Institute of Technology (Kyutech) in Japan to shorten the development and assembly times. The backplane approach also helped to reduce the risk of workmanship errors associated with the harness. The proposed standard interface board, however, needed changes in every CubeSat project to comply with the mission requirements. To obtain more flexibility especially for data connections, this work introduces a novel idea of a software-configurable bus interface with the backplane board. A Complex Programmable Logic Device (CPLD) was used instead of the hardware routing so that we can reconfigure the bus interface by reprogramming the CPLD. The concept was validated by a functional test with a breadboard module. A radiation test verified that the selected CPLD has enough strength to survive total ionization dozes of more than 2 years in low Earth orbit. A new backplane board with CPLD have been integrated with Engineering Model and Flight Model of the fourth CubeSat project at Kyutech, BIRDS-3 project, and system level verification was conducted. The flight model is now ready for delivery to JAXA in February 2019 for a planned launch to International Space Station in April 2019. The initial on-orbit data will be obtained by the time of the conference in August 2019 and will be presented to the audience.
