Related papers: Nanosatellite Design Considerations for a Mission …
This paper presents a study for the realization of a space mission which employs nanosatellites driven by an external laser source impinging on an optimized lightsail, as a valuable technology to launch swarms of spacecrafts into the Solar…
This paper addresses the lack of a general methodology for the controller synthesis of an optical instrument on-board a stratospheric balloon-borne platform, such as a telescope or siderostat, to meet pointing requirements that are becoming…
Sensitive computation often has to be performed in a trusted execution environment (TEE), which, in turn, requires tamper-proof hardware. If the computational fabric can be tampered with, we may no longer be able to trust the correctness of…
Since the early 2000' years, the CubeSats have been growing and getting more and more "space" in the Space industry. Their short development schedule, low cost equipment and piggyback launches create a new way to access the space, provide…
This paper addresses testing of compressed structures, such as shells, that exhibit catastrophic buckling and notorious imperfection sensitivity. The central concept is the probing of a loaded structural specimen by a controlled lateral…
Designing a controllable airship for non-expert users or preemptively evaluating the performance of desired airships has always been a very challenging problem. This paper explores the blimp design parameter space from the aspect of the…
The exponential rise in small-satellites and CubeSats in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) poses important challenges for future space traffic management. At altitudes of 600 km and lower, aerodynamic drag accelerates de-orbiting of satellites.…
Learning and reasoning about physical phenomena is still a challenge in robotics development, and computational sciences play a capital role in the search for accurate methods able to provide explanations for past events and rigorous…
As miniaturized spacecraft (e.g., cubesats and smallsats) and instrumentation become an increasingly indispensable part of space exploration and scientific investigations, it is important to understand their potential susceptibility to…
In this paper, a fluid-structure interaction (FSI) framework based on the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method is employed to investigate the forces and deformations experienced by LNG tanks during liquid sloshing. As a Lagrangian…
The autonomous operation of flexible-wing aircraft is technically challenging and has never been presented within literature. The lack of an exact modeling framework is due to the complex nonlinear aerodynamic relationships governed by the…
We perform experiments on the sloshing dynamics of liquids in a rectangular container submitted to an impulse. We show that when foam is placed on top of the liquid the oscillations of the free interface are significantly damped. The…
This paper presents an end-to-end framework for robust structure/control optimization of an industrial benchmark. When dealing with space structures, a reduction of the spacecraft mass is paramount to minimize the mission cost and maximize…
This paper presents a method to control a manipulator system grasping a rigid-body payload so that the motion of the combined system in consequence of externally applied forces to be the same as another free-floating rigid-body (with…
The growing interest in creating a parametric representation of liquid sloshing inside a container stems from its practical applications in modern engineering systems. The resonant excitation, on the other hand, can cause unstable and…
The residual atmospheric drag on satellites in Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) has been recognized as a limiting factor for satellite lifetimes. This work focuses on one component of the drag, i.e., the ionospheric drag from charged particles,…
The testing of atmosphere-breathing electric propulsion intakes is an important step in the development of functional propulsion systems which provide sustained drag compensation in very low Earth orbits. To make satellite operations more…
The payload of communications satellites must go through a series of tests to assert their ability to survive in space. Each test involves some equipment of the payload to be active, which has an impact on the temperature of the payload.…
Space debris has become a critical issue, with debris in orbit surpassing active satellites, posing significant risks to space sustainability. Payloads or rocket bodies discarded post-mission in LEO without orbital control are major…
Microgravity rendezvous and close proximity operations (RPO) is a growing area of interest for applications spanning in-space assembly and manufacturing (ISAM), orbital debris remediation, and small body exploration. Microgravity…