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Designing of a solar panel deployment mechanism for small satellite
In the last few years, there has been a considerable increase of low cost space mission. Almost every small satellite has appendages like Solar Panels OR Antennas. These appendages have large inertial forces with low structural rigidity and mass to size ratio. These appendages are in stowed position...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Electrical Engineering
2021
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| _version_ | 1867613206885695488 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Kabir, Saqib |
| author2 | Martinez, Peter |
| author_browse | Kabir, Saqib Martinez, Peter |
| author_facet | Martinez, Peter Kabir, Saqib |
| author_sort | Kabir, Saqib |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | In the last few years, there has been a considerable increase of low cost space mission. Almost every small satellite has appendages like Solar Panels OR Antennas. These appendages have large inertial forces with low structural rigidity and mass to size ratio. These appendages are in stowed position in launcher to accommodate the whole satellite in the Launcher. However after launching these appendages are deployed to obtain the required power and the pointing of antennas. Their power producing capability is directly related to their area of exposure to sun, that is why these panels are available in different sizes and configurations. The requirement for the deployment mechanism for these appendages need to be cost effective, compact, lighter in weight and simple. It is entirely dependent on the structural designer to create such a robust mechanism that conforms to the requirements of the mission. In order to deploy the solar panels, it is mandatory that some sort of actuating system is employed. In this regard, we are aiming to use the torsional spring to induce the required torque for the deployment. There has been a considerable amount of research work [1-4] for a robust deployment mechanism to deploy the solar panel reliably without compromising on the overall cost and strength of the system. To realize the practical utility of Torsion Springs [5] for solar panel deployment, with the deficiency of locking after deployment and hold down mechanism when stowed. We propose a simple actuation scheme of designing the mechanism using Spiral Torsional spring for small satellite with its Zero 'g' testing and mitigation of expected Risks. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/33822 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:32:27.580Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publishDateRange | 2021 |
| publishDateSort | 2021 |
| publisher | Department of Electrical Engineering |
| publisherStr | Department of Electrical Engineering |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/33822 Designing of a solar panel deployment mechanism for small satellite Kabir, Saqib Martinez, Peter Space Studies In the last few years, there has been a considerable increase of low cost space mission. Almost every small satellite has appendages like Solar Panels OR Antennas. These appendages have large inertial forces with low structural rigidity and mass to size ratio. These appendages are in stowed position in launcher to accommodate the whole satellite in the Launcher. However after launching these appendages are deployed to obtain the required power and the pointing of antennas. Their power producing capability is directly related to their area of exposure to sun, that is why these panels are available in different sizes and configurations. The requirement for the deployment mechanism for these appendages need to be cost effective, compact, lighter in weight and simple. It is entirely dependent on the structural designer to create such a robust mechanism that conforms to the requirements of the mission. In order to deploy the solar panels, it is mandatory that some sort of actuating system is employed. In this regard, we are aiming to use the torsional spring to induce the required torque for the deployment. There has been a considerable amount of research work [1-4] for a robust deployment mechanism to deploy the solar panel reliably without compromising on the overall cost and strength of the system. To realize the practical utility of Torsion Springs [5] for solar panel deployment, with the deficiency of locking after deployment and hold down mechanism when stowed. We propose a simple actuation scheme of designing the mechanism using Spiral Torsional spring for small satellite with its Zero 'g' testing and mitigation of expected Risks. 2021-08-24T01:51:04Z 2021-08-24T01:51:04Z 2021 2021-08-24T00:14:33Z Master Thesis Masters MPhil http://hdl.handle.net/11427/33822 eng application/pdf Department of Electrical Engineering Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment |
| spellingShingle | Space Studies Kabir, Saqib Designing of a solar panel deployment mechanism for small satellite |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Designing of a solar panel deployment mechanism for small satellite |
| title_full | Designing of a solar panel deployment mechanism for small satellite |
| title_fullStr | Designing of a solar panel deployment mechanism for small satellite |
| title_full_unstemmed | Designing of a solar panel deployment mechanism for small satellite |
| title_short | Designing of a solar panel deployment mechanism for small satellite |
| title_sort | designing of a solar panel deployment mechanism for small satellite |
| topic | Space Studies |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/33822 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kabirsaqib designingofasolarpaneldeploymentmechanismforsmallsatellite |