Two projects from the HRVIP lab will go weightless in parabolic flight this December aboard Zero-G’s G-Force One aircraft. The CHANGES and Hard Disk Drive (HDD) Reaction Wheels projects were two of 31 teams selected by NASA's Flight Opportunities Program to demonstrate novel technologies in reduced-gravity environment. Graduate student Casey Miller is the lead for the CHANGES project, while graduate students Kylie Cooper and Abhay Negi lead the HDD project.

Parabolic flight testing serves as a crucial stepping stone between ground testing and on-orbit use for space technologies. By flying through a series of parabolic maneuvers, the Zero-G aircraft simulates a zero-gravity environment for approximately 17 seconds at a time. The experience of people and objects inside the cabin during this zero-g period is identical to the floating sensation that astronauts or satellites observe in orbit. During the precious seconds of weightlessness in the Zero-G aircraft, the CHANGES and HDD teams will conduct meticulously planned tests of their technologies. 

The goal of the HDD project is to demonstrate the use of hard disk drives as reliable and low-cost reaction wheels for small satellites. The HDD team has developed a 1U CubeSat - a 10 cm cube satellite - to house three HDDs and test their capabilities in zero-g. The HDDs will stabilize and re-orient the free-floating CubeSat as they would in space.

A critical component of the HDD technology demonstration of attitude control is the attitude measurement system. An IMU on-board the CubeSat will measure the CubeSat’s relative attitude. To validate the IMU data, four external cameras will track Aruco markers on the faces of the CubeSat to measure its position and orientation.

Miranda Godinez and Ashna Reddy have led development on the Aruco system. Ashna Reddy also supports the design of a chamber to contain the CubeSat in flight and the computer vision camera system that will track the CubeSat. Chris Andrade leads structural analysis of the chamber and rapid prototyping of the CubeSat and camera system. Kylie Cooper and Abhay Negi lead technical development of the Zero-G HDD project and focus on developing the HDD reaction wheel technology.