In this video, members from our Attitude Determination and Control Systems (ADCS) team present their research "Environmental and Performance Testing of Hard Disk Drives as Low-Cost CubeSat Reaction Wheels" for the UC Davis Undergraduate Research Conference 2020. Can a hard disk drive be used as a reaction wheel? Typically reaction wheels cost thousands to tens of thousands of dollars to buy. Missions that can't afford reaction wheels typically turn to building their own, which historically has a high failure rate. One of REALOP's missions is to prove HDDs as reaction wheels and provide CubeSat developers with a cheap and reliable reaction wheel technology. In this presentation, the HDD team discusses the development of the control board for the HDD reaction wheel as well as results from preliminary environmental tests.

In this video, members of our Attitude Determination and Control Systems (ADCS) team present on their research "Mathematical Modeling, Automated Manufacturing, and Verification Testing of Low Cost Magnetorquers for 3 Axis Control for UC Davis CubeSat Mission" for the UC Davis Undergraduate Research Conference 2020. How will REALOP withstand disturbance torques, such as solar pressure and aerodynamic drag, while on orbit? The coils team is developing magnetorquers, which will produce magnetic dipoles to orient the satellite like a compass. In this presentation, the team will discuss their extensive optimization work, mechanical design, and low-cost coil winder development.

In this video, members of our Attitude Determination and Control Systems (ADCS) team present their research "Development of Low-Cost and Reliable Reaction Wheel for CubeSat Attitude Control" for the UC Davis Undergraduate Research Conference 2020. How do you build a space component from scratch and make sure it won’t break during launch? The reaction wheel team is developing a method to precisely machine a flywheel and carefully place it on the motor shaft such that it is tight enough to withstand rocket vibrations but not so tight that its fitting damages the delicate motor. In this presentation, the reaction wheel team discusses how they are manufacturing the reaction wheel, the considerations that go into its machining and assembly, as well as how the reaction wheel is controlled.

In this video, members of our Attitude Determination and Control Systems (ADCS) team present their research "Single Axis Rotation Testing to Determine Camera Performance Thresholds for UC Davis’ CubeSat Mission" for the UC Davis Undergraduate Research Conference 2020. What's the maximum rotation rate where REALOP's Raspberry Pi camera can take clear images of the Earth? The ADCS Testing team has been working on answering that question to determine system performance requirements. In this presentation, the team discusses two types of testbeds they have developed and their results so far.

In this video, members of our Attitude Determination and Control Systems (ADCS) team present their research "Development of Low-Cost Photodiode Sun Sensors for CubeSat Attitude Determination" for the UC Davis Undergraduate Research Conference 2020. How does REALOP's CubeSat know which way it's pointing? The sun sensors team uses an array of photodiodes that cost just one dollar each to calculate the direction of the sun. In this presentation, the team discusses the sun sensor design, testing methods, and their results so far.

In this video, members of our Attitude Determination and Control Systems (ADCS) team present their research "Development of Flight Software and Analysis Tools for CubeSat Attitude Determination and Control System" for the UC Davis Undergraduate Research Conference 2020. How does REALOP's CubeSat autonomously control its orientation? The ADCS Software team works on implementing determination and control algorithms and testing them in simulations to develop the CubeSat's autonomy. In this presentation, the team discusses their development of flight software and simulation tools.