 |
 |
 |
In summer 1995, LASP turned to NCAR, specifically to ATD and our Design and Fabrication Services (DFS), for help in machining key components of the spacecraft structure. Mike McGrath, Director of Mechanical Engineering at LASP, asked that DFS staff support the SNOE initiative by providing guidance to the LASP students and access to DFS' computerized, numerically controlled (CNC) machining capability for SNOE parts. ATD and LASP reached an agreement that went beyond simple guidance: DFS staff would instruct and guide the high school, undergraduate, and graduate students involved in SNOE in general machine-shop practices and procedures, in CNC capabilities and design requirements, and in CNC software. Further, DFS staff would work directly with the SNOE students to teach them how to convert their designs to machine instructions, to produce and evaluate prototype parts, and then to fabricate final spacecraft components. The agreement covered 24 individual designs involving more than 150 parts, essentially the entire mechanical backbone of the spacecraft.
As agreed, DFS provided extensive expert assistance to the CU students in designing and constructing the small, low-cost SNOE spacecraft. DFS staff instructed the students in the fundamentals of materials and design for computer-aided machining, worked with the students to refine the students' designs into machine-compatible drawings, gave the students first-hand experience with machine instruction requirements and with automatically machined products, and guided the students through the many steps from first test part to a completed spacecraft structure. In doing so, DFS added unique real-world experience with state-of-the-art machining to the education of mechanical and aerospace engineering students, and contributed to the successful completion of the research satellite.
Overall more than a dozen students received training from the ATD staff. Seven key students performed the bulk of the SNOE design work and received the bulk of instruction from DFS. From these interactions, the CU students got a hands-on supplement to their classroom instruction that expanded the value of their education and allowed them the unique experience of seeing a classroom design become a real product.
Several photos taken during this project are available at the ATD SNOE Website.
|
|
|
|