For the past two years, Florida Tech students have advanced their engineering skills through the FITSat projects. These projects involve the design and construction of a rocket, deployable vehicles, and a control and wireless communications system. The rocket will carry the vehicles in its internal cargo bay and release them at a predetermined altitude. The vehicles will collect data, which then will be transmitted to a ground station for storage and analysis.

Two previous FITSat projects have laid a strong foundation for the coming year’s project, which will build on the knowledge gained in the FITSat I and FITSat II projects. A group of students analyzed the successes and failures of these two FITSat projects. The group now proposes to develop the most ambitious FITSat project to date.

One vital lesson learned in the earlier FITSat projects has been the need for a true interdisciplinary team. Projects as complex at FITSat require the skills of more than just aerospace engineering students. As in industry, the integration of different engineering (and related) disciplines must exist for a project to succeed in its entirety. Aware of this, the FITSat III group has evolved into a team that includes students from six different disciplines at Florida Tech. The team includes one computer engineering, four mechanical engineering, four aerospace engineering and four electrical engineering seniors; an electrical engineering junior and an aerospace engineering junior; a Master’s degree student in each of physics and electrical engineering; and a mathematics doctoral student. FITSat III also is supported by the North Eastern Florida Association of Rocketry (NEFAR) through the exchange of ideas and proposals for the project.

FITSat III brings together an enormous amount of manpower and enthusiasm, combined with school and outside support. The team has defined a project that will bring both pride and recognition to Florida Tech and to the team members. FITSat III will simulate a complete ground and air exploration mission to Mars.

 

Objectives

The project is divided into five sections:

1. Design and construction of a rocket capable of following a prescribed flight trajectory. This rocket must carry an Aerial Exploration Vehicle (AEV). It must deploy both these vehicles once it reaches an altitude of ten thousand feet.

2. Design and construction of the AEV. The AEV must be capable of fulfilling the mission goals stated by the NASA Mars Airplane Package (MAP) project. It also must maintain constant bi-directional communications with the ground station to receive flight control commands and to send data such as video, telemetry, temperature, pressure, and flight characteristics.

3. Design and construction of a ground station that will receive, decode, display, and transmit data to and from the rocket and AEV.The AEV will be controlled from the ground station.

4. Design and construction of a wireless communications system capable of bi-directionally communicating with all the vehicles in the mission from the ground station. A wireless link from the launch site to the conference room in the F.W. Olin Engineering Building at Florida Tech will be created so that students and visitors on campus can view the development of the mission in real time.

After researching all the different hardware components necessary to accomplish FITSatIII’s goals, the design phase began. Initial designs were made and preliminary calculations compiled on the weight and dimensions of the rocket, AEV, and ground station. The rocket will be 18 feet tall and 16 inches in diameter to accommodate the payload. The AEV will have an six-foot wingspan and a weight of twenty pounds, including electrical equipment. The ground station will accommodate three portable computers, different sets of antennae, and the necessary electrical equipment for the launch.

Because this is one of the most ambitious engineering student projects ever attempted at Florida Tech, an aggressive approach to time management must be taken to assure that the project will be finished on time. With this in mind, many team members have volunteered to remain in school during the summer term to get an early start on the project. Strict timelines have been set for all of the different development stages.

Each member of the team has committed himself to the project from beginning to end, knowing that the experience gained and the skills developed will be immensely beneficial upon graduation and entry into the workforce. The ability to work well on a team, particularly an interdisciplinary team, as well as the capability to carry out a project from start to finish, are traits essential to future employers. We believe that this project will simulate a real-world working environment challenge in any engineering field and that the experience, therefore, will prove to be invaluable.