Mechanical engineering student at UGA. I design ground support equipment for the Small Satellite Research Lab and write software on the side.
I designed this jig as my application to UGA’s Small Satellite Research Lab. Before drawing anything, I researched how CubeSats are handled during integration. Only the four corner rails can touch anything, and the fixtures most labs use either turn on one axis or don’t hold the satellite at all. This jig holds a 1U, 2U or 3U by its rails and turns it on two locking axes, so every face is reachable without lifting it. It got me onto the lab’s Lab Equipment Design team.
I’m now training on the lab’s Tormach 1100M CNC mill, so I can machine parts like these myself and keep the lab’s equipment running without waiting on an outside shop.
Only a CubeSat’s four corner rails are allowed to touch the launch deployer. Every other face carries solar cells, connectors or switches. Most labs rest them on foam or hold them by hand.
A Ø300 mm yaw plate spins on a stainless steel shaft over a plastic thrust washer. An M12 stud and a retainer washer stop it from lifting off.
Two 15 × 50 × 280 mm uprights carry the pitch shafts 220 mm above the plate. I put the satellite’s center exactly where the two axes cross. Its weight stays centered at any angle, so the cradle doesn’t swing when you pull the pin.
I checked the hub plates in bending, assuming the worst case:
That told me my first 130 × 150 mm plate was far bigger than it needed to be. I cut it down to a 50 mm strap, which saved 0.52 kg and blocks far less of the satellite.
Plates in 6061-T6 aluminum for a waterjet or mill. Shafts and pins in 304 stainless for the lathe. Commercial jigs that turn on only one axis start around $7,500.
The general assembly, an exploded view with parts list, and a dimensioned drawing for every part, ready for the machine shop. Plus the five-page design report behind the decisions above.
Design report (PDF)Drawing set · 17 sheets
DESIGNITUDLE · TRAINING LESSON T12
Wordle for engineers. Every day there’s a new engineering drawing. You model the part in your browser, and an inspection checks your geometry against the print. I built the CAD system, the drawing generator and the grading from scratch.
ROCKET 1 · OPENROCKET DESIGN + INVENTOR NOSE CONE
A 41.5-inch rocket with a 3.1-inch body, designed and simulated in OpenRocket for an AeroTech H195 motor. I modeled the Haack-series nose cone in Inventor for 3D printing. A Haack shape has the least drag for its length and diameter.
Satellites get tested in our lab’s thermal vacuum chamber (TVAC) before flight. Its door is heavy enough that it takes about three people to open it, hold it and bolt it shut. I’m designing a cart that lets one person do all three.
The tank, its lid and the hinged carry handle, modeled as one assembly.
A carriage driven along two guide rods by a lead screw between two end blocks.
Full motion constraints, with the cradle pitched and the yaw plate turned.
Played Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Kapustin and Chopin’s First Ballade. Earned a high school scholarship to the UGA Music Institute.
Several years cooking, including as a chef de partie at a fine-dining restaurant. That’s where I learned speed, precision and preparing before the rush.
Taught myself to run and have finished two half-marathons. I got some friends into it along the way.
Spent high school volunteering with the Tzofim Israeli Scouts, leading groups of sixth graders and managing other counselors.
Especially aerospace, space hardware and product design. I’d love to hear from you.