Kaiser Tam

Space Systems: FINCH

I am currently working with UTAT Space Systems on their newest satellite project: FINCH. FINCH stands for Field Imaging Nanosatellite for Crop residue Hyperspectral mapping. I have joined the FINCH team at an opportune time, where we are currently in a detailed design phase that consists of prototyping and simulations. I myself am working in the payload mechanical team, where we work to ensure that the optomechanical system of the satellite is secure and operates as intended. For more information, you can check out the Space Systems website, where you will also see some of the previous satellites UTAT has launched!

Optomechanical Payload V5 Prototype

One of the first tasks I have been a part of as part of the payload mechanical team is working on the Payload V5 prototype for the optomechanical system. When I joined the team at the start of the school year, the drawings and design for this project were already pretty much complete. I got to machine a couple of the parts for this project, going into the machine shop whenever I had free time to finish working on whatever parts were required for the prototype. Working with this team is always a blast, as I get to learn a lot about aerospace and advance my skills in CAD, machining, and simulation!

One of the CAD drawings for a part to machine. This is the nut, which will screw on to the top of the prototype. Although there are no threads in this drawing, the actual prototype part will have threads. Machining this was a good refresher.
Just some threads done in the MC78 shop. These threads were slightly difficult to do because I had already parted off the piece, so I had to create a fixture for these threads to sit on beforehand. This part is the nut that screws on to the top of the lens barrel. Jeeth did the actual threads himself because the threads have a specific timing to follow when machining.
The lens barrel. This part was machined by Mario in MC78 as well, and it is brilliant.
Assembling the optomechanical prototype. This required a lot of teamwork because it involved a lot of tiny parts coming together.
The finished prototype, with the lens attached.

Additionally, I got to do some research on vibration damping and thermal isolation for the fore-optic mounting system. The purpose of this research is to better understand what safety precautions we must take to reduce vibrations in the fore-optic, which needs to be still to take accurate images, and to keep the fore-optic system at its operating temperature to prevent damages. Learning about the different standards and materials available to prevent vibrations was nice as it was something different from the machining and CAD work that I normally do.

Coming soon!