Louisiana Workforce Development

LSU v9/08/05 LA ACES Overview 1

Louisiana Workforce Development

• For a Phase 2 state, the Workforce Supplement provided an opportunity to start something new.

• Based upon the good experience of several in Colorado for the “Getting Started” workshop

• Based as well upon the LSU group’s expertise in large scale scientific ballooning

• LA opted to start a Student Ballooning Project: Aerospace Catalyst Experiences for Students

LA ACES


Overview of the LA ACES Program

A summary of the motivation, components and expectations of this Louisiana-wide student

ballooning program


Two Extremes• The Aerospace engineer / scientist

– Expert in practical skills– Familiar with team work– Write numerous proposals, reports, documents – Daily management of people, money and time

• The entering undergraduate student– Few practical skills

• No “Heathkits”, or High School auto or wood shops

– Many have problems with writing and presentations• Grammar, spelling, organization, argument presentation

– Somewhat computer “literate” (web capable)• Little programming, CAD or data analysis experience


How do we go from one to the other?

• Need to provide “hands-on” practical experience• Need to integrate classroom “theory” with real

applications• Need to improve communication skills• Need knowledge about and experience with, team

work, organization, and project management• Some Engineering Departments address such issues

– “Capstone” or Design courses in last year

• Most Science Departments have no organized method for handling this situation– Students pickup whatever they can along the way


The ACES Pilot Project (2002-2003)

• Goals included the following– Attract new students to aerospace related programs– Provide background on how to develop programs– Practical experience with sensors, electronics & systems– Retain students in science by exciting their imagination

• Implemented pilot version with LaSPACE Workforce funding during 2002-2003 academic year– Test bed program concepts– Use LSU expertise in scientific ballooning– Build upon “Crawl, Walk, Run, Fly” program

• http://ssp.arizona.edu/sgsatellites/programs.shtml

http://ssp.arizona.edu/sgsatellites/programs.shtml

http://ssp.arizona.edu/sgsatellites/programs.shtml


The ACES Basic Concept• Use a latex sounding balloon as the vehicle

– Up to 12 lbs payload without FAA waiver– Altitude up to ~100,000 feet

• Trained students to use knowledge about the project life cycle and project management

• Guide students to “think the problem through”.

• Students were exposed to skills not normally available in conventional classrooms.


ACES Structure• Involved students from LSU and SU

– About 15 students organized in teams of 3-4– Students committed to 4 hours / week (took attendance)– Paid student wage for up to 10 hours / week

• Weekly contact Tuesday & Thursday evening– One or two 1 hr lectures and 3+ hrs of activities– Talks on electronics, programming, payload design, project

management & life cycle, technical aspects of high powered model rocket, radio telemetry & communication

– Activities include CricketSat, CanSat and BalloonSat

• Launch trip to NSBF (May 2003) resulted in the successful flight of three student built payloads


ACES Evolved into LA ACES

• The “lessons learned” from the pilot ACES program are incorporated into the current LA ACES program– Involve student teams from institutions across state– Formalize the training aspect of the program with a series of

lectures and hands-on activities (Student Ballooning Course)– Balloon support activities centered at LSU-BR

• NASA approved LA ACES Workforce funding mid-2004– Develop Student Ballooning Course (Spring & Summer 2004)– Re-design Cricketsat ===>>> SkeeterSat– Re-engineer Cansat board ===>>> BalloonSat board– Involve Technical staff in Physics at LSU

• Make available to other University groups in the state


LaACES History and Status

• Activities at UNO, LaTech, ULL, SUBR & LSU-BR began fall 2004 & payloads were launched May 2005

• Began 2005-06 session with LSU, SUBR, LaTech, UNO & McNeese– Hurricanes hit

– UNO team dispersed and SUBR unable to continue

– McNeese continued in ‘borrowed’ quarters

– Had successful ‘double’ launch in May 2006

• Current 2006-07 program involves LSU, SUBR, McNeese, UNO and LaTECH – launch projected for May, 2007


Fall semester builds basic skills

• Proceed through the Student Balloon Course (SBC) lectures and activities

• Develop circuit building skills• Learn about microprocessor

programming• Understand how to use sensors• Develop knowledge of project

management techniques• Understand the ballooning environment,

payload constraints and design• Exposure to various science topics

appropriate for balloon payloads


Motivation for the SBC

• There has been little development of classroom materials to support the student built aerospace payload program.

• No materials for an integrated course– Need to cover diverse topics– Need to complete in academic year

• Focus on younger undergraduates– Work with ~2nd year students

• Available “CanSat” electronics needed improvements

• Provide basis for an advanced programLaunch of the ACES-01 vehicle during May, 2003


SBC Contents• A course syllabus

– Provides a summary of the Student Ballooning Course– Can be modified to fit institution needs

• Lectures– 33 PowerPoint presentations covering the primary topics relevant to

the program

• Activities– 30 descriptions of hand-on activities that complement the lectures and

build skills relevant to payload development

• List of materials necessary for the activities• A hardware kit with the PCBs, microcomputer and other core

components required to support the activities• Evaluation forms

– Feedback from both students and instructors is important


The SBC Units

The lectures and activities are divided into five major units

1. Electronics – Basic knowledge about circuits, sensor interfacing & data acquisition

2. Programming – How to control the BASIC Stamp, read & store data, interfacing to devices

3. Project Management – How to plan, manage and track the progress of a project

4. Balloon Payload Design – Facts and skills relevant to the successful development of a payload

5. Science – Collection of a few presentations on science topics relevant to balloon payloads


This Year a “New Wrinkle” is added

• Plan to do a Tethered Balloon “Flight” just after Christmas Break.– Each student ‘flies’ a simple sensor interfaced to

BalloonSat board– Provides an intermediate goal for the students – Puts new skills into practice and demonstrates the factors

needed to be successful in real flight– Provides practice on documentation writing and

presentation– Demonstrates GPS flight systems used in tracking


Spring semester is focused on payload

• Apply skills learned in the fall to develop a small balloon payload• Proceed through a project life cycle and apply project manage-ment

techniques• Written documents & presentation required for Preliminary Design

Review (PDR), Critical Design Review (CDR) & Flight Readiness Review (FRR)

Groups fabricating payloads Programming the controller


The Project Phases• All projects complete roughly the same phases from inception to

completion

OPERATION

DESIGN PDR

DEVELOPMENT CDR

FABRICATION

INTEGRATION

TESTINGFRR


The National Scientific Balloon Facility hosts the LaACES launches.

• May 03,05,06: Next launch planned for May, 2007• Must successfully complete FRR prior to flight• Operations improve each year from ACES in May 03

ACES-01 was assembled and tested in this NSBF hanger Students preparing for their FRR


ACES-01 Launch Preparation

• Payloads in final configuration and checkout all flight systems.


ACES-01 Launch Day

• Payload string consisted of several radio beacons– Location “chirper” at top– Primary GPS radio next– Secondary GPS at bottom

• Three student payloads– TIC, StuMURD, FRED

• A 60” Skyangle parachute• Radar reflector at bottom• Total Weight was 11.8

pounds.


Payloads were set for flight


The Balloon was inflated


And we had launch!


Then the Chase began


An easy recovery --- this time


Initial results followed the flight


Conclusions• LaACES builds upon the previous ACES experience• The new Student Ballooning Course provides a formal

structure that will enhance the skill learning process• During payload development the student teams follow

a typical project life-cycle and need to pass three reviews

• Flight operations will take place at NSBF in Palestine, TX during May each year

• Communication and feedback is important– Evaluation forms are included in the SBC– Not much use of the LaACES Yahoo discussion group at

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/la-aces/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/la-aces/


Many Thanks ……• NASA for Workforce Development Support• J. Giammanco, Instructor in Dept. of Physics and Ham radio operator for GPS and

Radio systems and for getting the amateur radio clubs out to help with chase and recovery

• B. Ellison, Head of Electronics Development Group in Physics for board re-works, Ham radio support, de-bugging the ‘mess ups’ and student support

• T. G. Guzik, Research Professor, for managing the overall program, providing the interfaces, shepherding the development of the SBC and critiquing the PDR, CDR, and FRR reports and leading the flight expedition

• Many Amateur Radio enthusiasts who have come out to help• J. G. Stacy of SUBR for his support and help through the Pilot and into LaACES• The ‘Leads’ for the programs at the other institutions in LA for being willing to

‘take a chance’ as well as providing the evaluation and feed-back needed to evolve the program

• The staff at the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility for their hospitality, help and forbearance.

• The LaACES students, most still in school, but some in a variety of jobs.


Documents

Louisiana Workforce Development