VIKTOR DOYCHINOV, LECTURER. UNIVERSITY OF BRADFORD
Viktor joined the University of Bradford in August 2022 as a Lecturer in Electronics and Software Engineering, a post affiliated with the newly established Bradford-Renduchintala Centre for Space AI.
Viktor holds an MSc in Spacecraft Technology and Satellite Communications from University College London and a PhD in Electronic and Electrical Engineering from the University of Leeds. He has worked on a wide range of RF/microwave engineering projects such as wireless power transfer and wireless communications for infrastructure robotics.
His current research interests are in wireless communication hardware development for small satellites, and the use of open source-tools and frameworks for space mission design.
Presentation Synopsis:
“END-TO- END OPEN-SOURCE DEVELOPMENT OF A POCKETQUBE MISSION”
The PocketQube platform has established itself as an excellent choice for space-related research, teaching, and outreach. Thanks to open-source PocketQube designs the field is developing quickly while remaining accessible.
The Bradford-Renduchintala Centre for Space AI is a newly established group with research interests in communications, imaging, navigation, and distributed computing. We are keen on using PocketQubes as an enabler for high-quality teaching, research, and business innovation. We are currently in Phase A of developing our first satellite, which will be a technology demonstration mission. Current plans for the payload include measuring the magnetosphere, on-board distributed computing and control, and a turnstile omnidirectional antenna.
We are fully embracing the open-source philosophy and want to contribute to the development of the field. In addition to using established EDA software like KiCAD and FreeCAD for the electronics and mechanical design, respectively, we are using alternatives to commercial solutions for the overall mission design.
To this end, we use GMAT for orbit propagation and to estimate contact times and durations with our ground station. We combine this with the ITURpy package and in-house developed custom templates to derive full link budget calculations and run what-if scenarios. Additionally, we use Modelio and Capella for overall project management and tracking, pulling all relevant documentation, like ECSS, CCSDS standards, into one central repository.
Future work and interests include the use of functional mock-up interfaces (FMI) and their application to testing the hardware and firmware of a PocketQube and linking that to the what-if scenarios simulated in GMAT/ITURpy.
We are open to and would welcome collaborations.
CO-AUTHORS: : Muhammad Ali, Roger Clarke, Raed Abd-Alhameed, Fun Hu.