DZH ZG ESA V2 Prototype
European Space Agency – Fly Your Thesis! 2021
For more than a decade, the European Space Agency has given, through the 8 different Fly Your Thesis! editions, the oportunity to Master and PhD students of testing their scientific experiment or technological research in microgravity conditions. Those projects can be related to a very wide variety of areas.
The parabolic flight campaign takes place on the Airbus A310 Zero-G, which is operated by Novespace from Bordeaux, France. Each campaign consists of a series of three flights of 31 parabolas, which individually provide about 22 seconds of microgravity.
If you want to know more of the programme click here.
If you want to know more of the programme click here.
About the prototype & Project
DZH ZG ESA V2 prototype contains an inertia morphing (IM) strategy of two moving masses, acting symmetrically in the structure, and a 3-axis attitude control system using Reaction Wheels (RWs).
DZH ZG ESA V2 Prototype triggers the DZH effect with a period of less than 4 seconds to be within the constraints of the parabolic flight of ESA-FYT using RWs for faster manoeuvres and less energy consumption.
Properties
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
|
Mass |
2.9Kg |
|
Dimensions |
140 x 210 x 310 mm |
|
DZH Period |
3.75s |
|
Inertia DZH ON |
[17598, 19120, 4155] kg mm2 |
|
Inertia DZH OFF |
[19627, 19120, 6184] kg mm2 |
|
2 Axis Attitude Controlled |
Reaction Wheels Ref. RW_ESA_FYT_V1 |
|
Inertia Morphing [Moving Masses] |
2 x 240g |
The Challenge
On the FYT! 2019 edition DZH Dynamics was seen as one of the most promising projects.
Despite its potential, the jury had some concept uncertainties, so gave the team some feedback on how to improve the proposal in order to be chosen to participate in a future ESA Academy parabolic flight campaign.
Roll forward one year, like many other meetings that occurred throughout 2020, this assessment was also conducted virtually (which was an added complication as we had to rehearse the timing and delivery from separate locations) we submitted a proposal that addressed all the concerns of the panel the year before, thus opening up the doors to enter the programme in 2021.
The Outcome
During the different flights we ran an array of test types aiming to confirm the theoretical premises on different scenarios.
Here you can see some of them:
Pioneers in the development of Transformable Spacecraft