Additive Manufacturing of Wireless Sensor for Micro-Meteoroids and Orbital Debris Detection
Is this project an undergraduate, graduate, or faculty project?
Graduate
Project Type
group
Authors' Class Standing
Carlos Mejias, Graduate Student Eduardo Rojas, Faculty
Lead Presenter's Name
Carlos Mejias
Faculty Mentor Name
Eduardo Rojas
Abstract
Over the last decade, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has been exploring the concept of inflatable structures to safely house astronauts during the next space exploration missions. Since 2016, an inflatable habitat called Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) has been docked at the International Space Station (ISS) to test the shielding over different hazards of the space environment such as space debris. The module provides micro-meteoroids and orbital debris (MMOD) protection, which is monitored by a distributed impact detection system (DIDS) module. Due to the weight spacecraft constraints, wireless DIDS modules present a feasible lightweight option, which avoids wiring among the devices located at different points of the spacecraft. Since the space habitat will be exposed to space debris for long periods, the wireless DIDS modules should present a long service life by using low-power technology. Technologies such as radio-frequency identification (RFID) and power harvesting provides a low-power consumption platform to implement a wireless DIDS. The research presented in this poster is focused on additive manufacturing (AM or 3D-printing) of a wireless sensor node for impact detection using a piezo-resistive nano-composite and a UHF RFID sensor tag powered by a power harvester. UHF sensor tag integration is made by fused deposition modeling (FDM) of polymers and micro-dispensing of conductive ink to interconnect the different components (RFID tag, power harvester, and antenna) on a monolithic platform.The poster includes details on the progress in the fabrication and testing of the device.
Did this research project receive funding support (Spark, SURF, Research Abroad, Student Internal Grants, Collaborative, Climbing, or Ignite Grants) from the Office of Undergraduate Research?
No
Additive Manufacturing of Wireless Sensor for Micro-Meteoroids and Orbital Debris Detection
Over the last decade, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has been exploring the concept of inflatable structures to safely house astronauts during the next space exploration missions. Since 2016, an inflatable habitat called Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) has been docked at the International Space Station (ISS) to test the shielding over different hazards of the space environment such as space debris. The module provides micro-meteoroids and orbital debris (MMOD) protection, which is monitored by a distributed impact detection system (DIDS) module. Due to the weight spacecraft constraints, wireless DIDS modules present a feasible lightweight option, which avoids wiring among the devices located at different points of the spacecraft. Since the space habitat will be exposed to space debris for long periods, the wireless DIDS modules should present a long service life by using low-power technology. Technologies such as radio-frequency identification (RFID) and power harvesting provides a low-power consumption platform to implement a wireless DIDS. The research presented in this poster is focused on additive manufacturing (AM or 3D-printing) of a wireless sensor node for impact detection using a piezo-resistive nano-composite and a UHF RFID sensor tag powered by a power harvester. UHF sensor tag integration is made by fused deposition modeling (FDM) of polymers and micro-dispensing of conductive ink to interconnect the different components (RFID tag, power harvester, and antenna) on a monolithic platform.The poster includes details on the progress in the fabrication and testing of the device.