Howdy Again! It’s finals week and we’re still pushing strong. We got our results back from testing, and there’s good news and bad news (but a silver lining). The Bad News: The testing team ran a color change test on two WO slides and did not see a change in color when a voltage ran across it. Disappointing results indeed, …
Hello everyone! The Solar Tracking team at UCI has been working on developing plans for creating our first iteration of our prototype for next quarter. During one of our weekly meetings, we went over the design for our solar sensors and parts that need to be purchased for us to create the first iteration. For our sensing mechanism, we decided …
As the end of Fall Quarter quickly approaches, our CanSat’s development continues to progress. During our Week 9 Biweekly General Meeting, we discussed the four different mechanical designs that team members individually proposed: 1. Umbrella Shape 2. Electromagnetic Release 3. Inflatable Heat Shield 4. Small Air Tank (Solenoid) As each team member presented their ideas and SolidWorks designs for the …
And so, our brave heros of the UCI Cansat team trek onward through the treacherous week 9 with sights on finalizing the sensors to be implemented. The looming pressure from the Fall Design Review on the horizon has only strengthen our protagonists team bond. A messenger from the house of telemetry has arrived with the following news: Some developments for …
Howdy! See that above? It’s called a variable emmissive device (VED for short). Used in satellites and CubeSats, this little thing costs hundreds and hundreds of dollars. Here’s where we come in. Our team is seeking to develop a cost effective VEDs at 1/10th the price. As you may know, it’s been a wild and fast few weeks. Let’s tell …
Hello Everyone, DBF 2017 to 2018 has some updates for all of you regarding the direction of the team’s design process. The previous flight test has informed us of the lowest possible span that allows for pilot control. Moving onward, the team is now exploring two short-spanned configurations and developing aircraft to understand flight characteristics and decide on a specific …
In this week, we have studied type K thermocouples. Normally, when we say a type K thermocouple, it refers to a thermocouple consists of Nickel-Chromium or Nickel-Alumel wires. In fact, based on their different diameter, insulator materials, a hot junction, and a measurement junction (where it connects to the thermometer), the thermocouples are named differently. Moreover, because of those difference, …
Hello Everyone! We at DBF are checking back in to update the MAE 189 community of what we have been up to. This past week we were working on repairs of aircraft following crashes during last week’s flight test. In addition to making repairs, we had the chance to complete our initial flight test and obtain information about short wingspans. …
This week, the controls subsystem took three big steps forward. First, we proved that we can read the voltage of our battery accurately and with utmost precision with a simple 15-line code and a design that weighs 0.8g. All my fellow team members thought that the weight was too much, but I won them over when I told them to …
While still in the design phase, the project has produced significant progress towards the goal of having a design for the UAV established by the end of the quarter. However, this progress has not been without its own set of issues. The most immediate and prevalent issue that has arisen is the handling of budget. Due to a few small …
