StratoNeers: Mitigating Single Event Upsets Caused by Ionizing Cosmic Radiation with Various Computer Cell Architecture bouldering-through-the-blues-my-tool-against-seasonal-depression-and-anxiety

Summary:

In 2021, I started and captained a team called the UBCO StratoNeers to take part in the CAN-SBX competition. We designed, manufactured, tested, and iterated an experimental payload for launch aboard a Canadian Space Agency stratospheric balloon launch under the STRATOS Campaign. After several project-scope changes, we successfully launched the experiment in August 2022 and recovered our payload for data analysis.

Skills Practiced and Learned

Category	Skill	Details
Project Management	Project Tracking	Gantt Chart: critical path, float, lead and lag times, early/late start, early/late finish. Risk Mitigation: risk exposure calculations, critical path risk assessment, risk registers, progress tracking. Resource Allocation and Optimization: workload balance, capacity planning, resource levelling.
High Altitude Payload Design	Technical Design, Iteration, Manufacturing	Selecting light and thermal insulating materials for housing unit. Implementing thermal regulation techniques to protect hardware in the stratosphere. Adhering to safety regulations for flight certifications, including power and weight limitations.
Payload Testing	Testing and Analysis	Vibrational testing: Conducting frequency sweep analysis to identify resonant frequencies and ensure structural integrity. Pressure testing: Simulating reduced atmospheric pressure to assess payload functionality and electrical equipment in near-vacuum conditions. Temperature testing: Thermal cycling tests to verify equipment functionality, (-80 deg Celsius to 10 deg Celsius). Drop Testing: Ensuring payload durability and shock absorption during recovery. Data acquisition: Utilizing sensors to capture test data for post-analysis. Documentation: Preparing procedures for teammates to follow, creating detailed testing protocals and results summaries.
Software Experience	Data Analysis, Hardware Coding	Data parsing: Extracting and organizing binary data pre and post-flight campaign. Binary analysis: Using custom algorithms to detect bit-flip events to indicate ionizing cosmic radiation interference. Programming languages: Verifying data integrity using Python for data analysis. Powering, coding, soldering, and working with Raspberry Pis.

My Role:

As the Team Captain and Project Manager, my roles varied from organizing and delegating team tasks, to outreach, to leading the testing of our payload.

After bringing together a team of 11 students, we developed and wrote our competition proposal within the span of 1 week due to time constraints. The team was comprised of all second-year students, with little to no experience in computer hardware engineering, let alone for space-science applications. It was my responsibility to become a jack of all trades and to guide and motivate my team under these stressful conditions.

Upon being selected through the competition, I guided my teammates in the procurement of funds through professional activities funds through the university. Ultimately, we procured close to CAD 15,000 for the entire project lifecycle, which proved to be more than enough despite having small contingency.

Using Gantt chart and Excel, I organized the team's time and finances to meet competition deadlines, including our Preliminary Design Report (PDR) and Critical Design Report (CDR). I also was the primary point of contact in our collaboration with professors around campus when utilizing their resources and lab space for testing and validation.

Alongside contributing to the manufacturing and design of the payload, I produced the testing processes for temperature, vibrational, pressure, and drop testing of the payload.