Auto-Tracking RF Ground Unit for S-Band Critical De Sign Re Vie W
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1 ASEN 40 18 Se nior Proje cts Fa ll 2 0 18 Critica l De sig n Re vie w Auto-Tracking RF Ground Unit for S-Band Team: Trevor Barth, Anahid Blaisdell, Adam Dodge, Geraldine Fuentes, Thomas Fulton, Adam Hess, Janell Lopez, Diana Mata, Tyler Murphy, Stuart Penkowsky, Michael Tzimourakas Advisor: Professor Dennis Akos Customer: 2 Purpose and Objective 3 Project Motivation ● Ground stations consist of a motorized antenna system used to communicate with satellites ● Current ground stations are expensive and stationary ● Mobile ground stations could be used to provide instantaneous communication with small satellites in remote locations ● Communication is real-time a nd dire ct to the user Current stationary S-Band ground station: $50,000 ≈ 4 Project Objective Mission Statement: The ARGUS ground station is designed to be able to track a LEO sa te llite a nd re ce ive a te le me try downlink using a pla tform tha t is both portable and more affordable than current S-Band ground stations. ● Commercial-off-the-she lf (COTS) whe re possible ● Interface with user laptop (monitor) ● Portable: 46.3 kg (102 lbs), able to be carried a distance of 100 meters by two people 5 CONOPS 6 Under 100 m 7 Under 100 m Within 60 min 8 Under 100 m Within 60 min 9 Under 100 m Within 60 min 10 Under 100 m Within 60 min 11 Under 100 m Within 60 min 12 Functional Requirements FR 1. 0 The ground station shall be capable of receiving signals from a Low Earth Orbit satellite between 2.2 - 2.3 GHz, in Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) modulation with a Bit Error Rate (BER) of 10-5, a bit rate of 2 Mbit/s, and a G/T of 3 dB/K. 2.0 The ground station shall mechanically steer a dish/antenna system to follow a LEO satellite between 200 km to 600 km between 10 ° and 170° local elevation. 3.0 The ground station shall be reconfigurable to be used for different RF bands. 4.0 ARGUS shall weigh less than 46.3 kg (102 lbs) and be capable of being carried a distance of 100 meters by two people. 5.0 The ground station onboard computer shall interface with a laptop using a Cat-5 ethernet ca b le . 13 Design Solution 14 He lica l Ante nna Feed 1.5m Parabolic Reflector Azimuth/Ele va tion Motors Transportable Case Tripod 15 Functional Block Diagram 16 Software Flow Chart 17 Antenna Unit Subsystem 18 ● Antenna Feed ○ Purpose: Colle ct incoming signa l ○ Model: RFHa m De s ig n H-13 XL ○ Specs: LCHP a t 2 . 1 - 2.6 GHz, 110 ° beamwidth ● Antenna Dish ○ Purpose: Magnify and focus incoming signal ○ Model: RFHa m De s ig n 1. 5 m ○ Specs: Metal mesh, aluminum struts, 6 kg ● Antenna Base ○ Purpose: Support antenna system and motors 1.5 m ○ Model: RFHa m De s ig n ○ Specs: 670mm – 830mm he ight, 30 kg max load 19 Motor System SPX-01: az/el motors + position sensors + controller ● $655.78 ● 0 .5 deg resolution ● Interfaces with onboard computer ● Manual/auto control ● Designed for continuous tra cking Az/El motors + position sensors Motor controller Signal Conditioning and Processing 20 21 ● Low Noise Amplifie r (LNA) ○ Purpose: Incre a se signa l ga in ○ Model: Minicircuits ZX60-P33ULN+ ○ Specs: 14 . 8 dB Ga in, 0 .38 dB Noise ● Software Defined Radio (SDR) ○ Purpose: Process incoming RF data ○ Model: Ada lm Pluto ○ Specs: 325 MHz to 3.8 GHz Fre que ncy Range , 12 bit ADC, 20 MHz max RX data rate ● Onboard Computer ○ Purpose: Process incoming RF data and control tracking ○ Model: Inte l NUC Kit NUC7I7DNKE ○ Specs: i7 Processor, 16 gb RAM, 5 12 gb SSD 22 Critical Project Elements 23 24 Design Requirements and Sa tisfa ction 25 Antenna Subsystem F R 1. 0 The ground station shall be capable of receiving signals from a Low Earth Orbit satellite between 2.2 - 2.3 GHz, in Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) modulation with a Bit Error Rate (BER) of 10-5, a bit rate of 2 Mbit/s, and a G/T of 3 dB/K. FR 4.0 ARGUS shall weigh less than 46.3 kg (102 lbs) and be capable of being carried a distance of 100 meters by two people. 26 RF Ham Design Reflector Mesh Feed Hub Ribs Feed Support Hardware 1. 5 m ● Meets specified 27 dB at 2.3 GHz requirement; however, fails to meet mobility requirement 27 Modification of Reflector Current RFHam dish: ● Asse mb ly time 6 + hours ● Single continuous mesh ● Multiple tools Mod ifica tions: ● Assembly time less than 1 hour ● Split into 12 conne cta b le pieces ● Fewer than 4 tools Mod ula rity: ● 22 gauge aluminum sheet attaches to ribs ● Petals attach to central hub 28 Modification of Reflector ✔️Meets mobility requirements (FR.4) 29 Antenna Gain Calculation Pasternack SMA Male to N Male Adapter ZX60-P33ULN+ MiniCircuits LNA Pasternack SMA to SMA Cable Adalm-Pluto SDR 30 Estimated Efficiency Optima l ARGUS a nte nna is 53.7 % efficient Gain at 53.7% e fficie ncy 28.08 dBi Gain at 35% e fficie ncy 26.22 dBi Required gain 26.2 dBi ✔️Meets bandwidth and gain requirements (FR.1) 31 Tracking Hardware Subsystem FR 2 .0 The ground station shall mechanically steer a dish/antenna system to follow a LEO satellite between 200 km to 600 km between 10° e le va tio n a nd 170 ° e le va tio n. 32 STK: Tracking Rate Verification DR 2.3 The antenna motor shall be able to move the antenna at a slew rate of 5.0 °/s ● Worst case pass ○ Elliptica l orbit Max of 4.41 °/s ○ Pass directly overhead ○ Retrograde ● Max Rate: 4.41 °/s Angular Rate (deg/sec) Azimuth Rate (deg/sec) Elevation Rate (deg/sec) 33 Worst Case Pointing Error Pointing Error HP= 6.5° Pointing Error = TLE, Error + Motor, Error + Tracking, Error < 3.25° Motor, Error <3.25° - 1. 10° - 1. 4 3 ° TLE, Error, Max = 1. 4 3 ° Motor, Error < 0 .72° Tracking, Error, Max = 1. 10 ° 34 Antenna Motor System ● Specs: ○ Azimuth ■ Ra ng e : 0 ° to 360° ■ Speed: 7.2°/sec ○ Ele va tion ■ Ra ng e : ± 90° ■ Speed: 7.2°/sec ○ Maximum Load: 30 kg ○ Position sensors with accuracy: 0.5° ✔ DR 2.3 The antenna motor shall be able to move the antenna at a slew rate of 5.0 °/s ️ ✔ DR 2.4 The antenna motor shall have a pointing accuracy greater than 0.72° ️ 35 Tracking Overview Az/El angular command SPX-01 Motor system External Controller: Az motor Sensor power: Rot2Prog 12V DC El motor Sensor 36 Software Interface Ena ble se ria l communica tion Input la t/long Ca libra te Se le ct ta rge t Enga ge 37 Tracking Software Subsystem FR 2.0 The ground station shall mechanically steer a dish/antenna system to follow a LEO satellite between 200 km to 600 km between 10° e le va tio n a nd 170 ° e le va tio n. 38 Tracking Software Demonstration FR 2 .0 The ground station shall mechanically steer a dish/antenna system to follow a LEO satellite between 200 km to 600 km between 10° e le va tion a n d 17 0 ° e le va tion. 39 Calibration & Manual Control Frames 40 Azimuth and Elevation Calibration DR 2.2 The pointing control accuracy must be within 3.25° to ma inta in d o wnlink ca p a b ilitie s throughout the entire pass. ● Manual Control Frame - Dither around Sun, find strongest signal strength ● Ca lib ra tio n Fra me - Set current pointing angles to predicted Sun location Ground Station Sun Azimuth and Point in Predicted Latitude/Longitude ARGUS GUI Elevation Location and Dither (GPS) 41 Upcoming Pass Frame 42 STK: Upcoming Pass Verification DR 2.2 The pointing control accuracy must be within 3.25° to ma inta in downlink capabilities throughout the entire pass. ARGUS (Mountain Time) STK (UTC Time) ✔️Ve rifie d 43 Az/El Plot Frame 44 STK: Azimuth/Elevation Verification DR 2.2 The pointing control accuracy must be within 3.25° to ma inta in downlink capabilities throughout the entire pass. ARGUS STK 45 Signal Conditioning & Processing F R 1. 0 The ground station shall be capable of receiving signals from a Low Earth Orbit satellite between 2.2 - 2.3 GHz, in Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) modulation with a Bit Error Rate (BER) of 10 -5, a bit rate of 2 Mbit/s, and a G/T of 3 dB/K. 46 GNURadio Software Diagram Adalm Pluto SDR Digita l Filte ring Demodulation GUI ● Frequency: ● Lo w P a s s ● QPSK ● FFT Plot 2.2-2.3 GHz ● Bit Plot ● Bit Rate: 2 MHz ● Mixing ● Amplify F R 1. 0 The ground station shall be capable of receiving signals from a ● ADC Low Earth Orbit satellite between 2.2 - 2.3 GHz, in Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) modulation with a Bit Error Rate (BER) o f 10 -5, a bit rate of 2 Mbit/s , and a G/T of 3 dB/K. 47 GNURadio Software Demonstration DR 1.4 The ground station shall be capable of demodulating a signal using the QPSK modulation scheme. D R 1. 10 The ground station shall be able to receive a data rate of at least 2 million bits per second.