Session
Technical Poster Session IV
Location
Utah State University, Logan, UT
Abstract
Exo-Space, Inc. has developed and tested a Cube Sat design utilizing a slotted architecture. The new CubeSat design allows for electronic boards to be easily inserted and removed by sliding them along rails and connecting them to a common electrical back plane called the Bus Connector Card (BCC). The BCC consists of multiple edge card connectors and sits on the back-face of the CubeSat acting as the shared electrical bus. Making each electronic board structurally independent of the boards above and below it, allows for a 1U CubeSat to be assembled in 15 minutes rather than ~3+ hours. Furthermore, the chassis steps away from the monoblock design and instead has six plates that are fastened together to form a cube. Two plates have six protruding rails along their faces that help guide the electronic boards into the structure and secure them in place. The structural design was tested and improved by iterating through multiple 3D printed models and electrical connectivity tests were conducted on the BCC. The tests and models helped verify and validate the structure as well as the electrical architecture of this new slotted CubeSat.
Paper for A Step-Change in CubeSat Architecture: Moving from Stacked to Slotted Design
A Step-Change in CubeSat Architecture: Moving from Stacked to Slotted Design
Utah State University, Logan, UT
Exo-Space, Inc. has developed and tested a Cube Sat design utilizing a slotted architecture. The new CubeSat design allows for electronic boards to be easily inserted and removed by sliding them along rails and connecting them to a common electrical back plane called the Bus Connector Card (BCC). The BCC consists of multiple edge card connectors and sits on the back-face of the CubeSat acting as the shared electrical bus. Making each electronic board structurally independent of the boards above and below it, allows for a 1U CubeSat to be assembled in 15 minutes rather than ~3+ hours. Furthermore, the chassis steps away from the monoblock design and instead has six plates that are fastened together to form a cube. Two plates have six protruding rails along their faces that help guide the electronic boards into the structure and secure them in place. The structural design was tested and improved by iterating through multiple 3D printed models and electrical connectivity tests were conducted on the BCC. The tests and models helped verify and validate the structure as well as the electrical architecture of this new slotted CubeSat.
