Remote Imaging System Acquisition (RISA) Space Environment Multispectral Imager

Abstract

The RISA imaging team is tasked to research, develop, implement, and test a multispectral imaging system capable of supporting multiple NASA exploration objectives. This year's NASA team is responsible for characterizing the newly implemented liquid lens, implementing a charging circuit complete with rechargeable batteries and a solar panel array, and redesigning the already developed wireless data transmission system. The charging circuit will be fully designed by our electrical engineering team using Gallium Arsenide solar panels provided by AZUR SPACE Solar Power. The implementation of this solar panel array will enable the final system to be completely independent of any power consumption from the spacecraft. The wireless data transmission system will be redesigned to utilize a compression technique as opposed to entire-image compression, as the previous system had implemented. This edit, in conjunction with an interfacing bypass through hardwiring of the image sensor to the Gumstix COM, will drastically increase the data transmission rate. These modifications will therefore increase the rate at which NASA can send and receive data and/or the communication of rate of the camera commands through the designed GUI. As a result of new mission objectives and requirements associated with new age space vehicles, little physical capacity is available, especially compared to past NASA Space Shuttles. Employing a multi-purpose imaging system alleviates the need of manifesting multiple individual imagers by incorporating the numerous desired functions into one system. The final version of the imager, which is expected to be completed in follow-up work, is intended to be flight ready and will be used in the crew cabin, on the exterior of NASA vehicles, and on Lunar and other planetary surfaces. For this year's imager, the preliminary design review was broken down into four sections: the battery, the solar panel, the charging circuit, and wireless hardware. In each of these sections, multiple designs were considered, but the charging circuit and wireless system were decided to be custom designed by the team.