Undergrad Project
Operations between Small Satellites and sUAS (small Unmanned Aircraft System), more commonly known as the
Drone Project, is one of many projects that has a focus in Aerospace Technologies. I was a part of a 5
person
VIP student team who contributed to the Hawaii Space Flight Laboratory by debugging Xbee communicators to
running and testing drone communications for demonstrations utilizing programs such as Dune and Cosmos. In
the next month, the Hawaii Space Flight Laboratory plans to launch a small satellite at the University of
Hawaii. This satellite is an essential part of this project, for it will give us the means of communication
between satellite and drone. The small satellite is being launched with the purpose of observing Earth. The
drone project has worked on establishing a working drone, and preparing it for flight. Many parts break down
so we have to replace and reprogram it. Most programs for flight control were already previously worked on,
so we are tasked to keep the software and parts up to date. We are also tasked with coming up with ways for
improving the flight characteristics of drone. We constantly think of new ways to accommodate for unexpected
conditions such as rainfall. One task that is being worked on is having a 3D print model box that will sit
on top of the drone, that can secure parts that previously sat on top of the drone with no protection such
as the Raspberry pi. Additionally, the box will prevent any damage sustained during flight and keep parts in
position (so it doesn't fall off).
Project Summary