Development of deployable solar panel for 3Cat-8

Abstract

The following project documentation shows the development process of designing the deployable solar array for NanoSat Labs’ satellite ³Cat-8. It includes the design sketches, calculations and measurements from design process, but also the final design of deployable solar array, the documentation of sub-parts and finally, also the work that still needs to be done. The project was done under Research Assignment course at the ESTEIB, UPC. The work done consists of designing process of the whole structure in SolidWorks, doing the FEM analysis in Ansys and prototyping the developed design with 3D printed parts. This includes research about already existing designs, calculations for the array and springs so that they fit the given dimensions and requirements and also research of where the parts should be ordered from. The design consists of three hinges with torsion springs, two deployment mechanisms, PCB board on which the solar panels are mounted, PCB board that protects the satellite and five vibration dampers between the two PCBs