During the development of the Claymore 6p Pocketqube deployer, I received a recommendation about the mechanical interfaces with launch vehicles. While it was a recommendation it would have been a new requirement in future therefore there would be some major…
Some recent developments on the Claymore 6p pocketqube deployer front as the Hold Down Release Mechanism (HDRM) and pocketqube deployment mechanism was successfully tested. Three dummy 2p pocketqube satellites were used during this test. The HDRM is a nD3PP Nano…
When developing satellites there are going to be faults that can cause a mission to fail. Thankfully there are tools such as the Ishikawa analysis that can help us solve these faults for future missions. Since there could be a…
While you are doing projects whether for a company, startup or a hobby scope creep can lead to delaying projects or poor quality of a product. In the extreme cases the project or product could risk getting scrapped due to…
What is PDR and CDR? As someone who doesn’t like red tape there is no doubt that Preliminary design reviews (PDR) and Critical design review (CDR) have its uses and taking some of its aspects can be suitable for small…
During the concept generation process it can be difficult to come up with initial design ideas at the beginning of the project as you may not have all the required information available. In some cases with the requirements you are…
It is important to understand your environment as sometimes things that you can and can’t control will have an impact on your success. These factors can aid or hinder you and using environmental analysis tools such as PESTEL, SWOT &…
In engineering we are faced with contradictions all the time when we are tasked to come up with solutions to solve issues. For example aircraft require to be lightweight to keep fuel consumption to a minimal, improve handling and safety…
An investigation was carried out to test the influence of the microswitches locations on spin rates of the satellites as they are ejected out of the deployer. This is the working paper of the findings which has been submitted for…
Following the successes of our 1P & 1.5P VibePODs, we are pleased to showcase the designs for the 2P and 3P VibePODs which can be used to qualify 2P and 3P Pocketqube satellites. We are looking for volunteers to test…
The Great Auk (GA) was a flightless bird which is a fitting name for the new dummy 3P pocketqube satellites. They have been developed to replace the dummy pocketqubes that were damaged during the initial functional testing of the Claymore…
1.5P VibePOD can be used to pass 1.5P Pocketqubes during random vibration testing. Has been qualified to NASA GEVS7000 in 2020 where it enabled AMSAT’s EASAT-2 1.5P and Hades satellites to pass random vibration. Dimensions w/o plate: 98mm x 96mm…
I am excited to showcase the MK1 engineering model of the Claymore 6P POD which aims to decoratise the pocketqube launch services by providing PQ teams an alternative launch service. The only things that are missing are the hold down…
Back in December 2019 I was excited to showcase the 1p VibePOD which was used to qualify the FOSSA 1P for the Rocketlab “Running out of fingers” mission in Q4 2019. The deployer was tested to NASA GEVS7000 standards. I…
Developing a set of requirements before you dive into CAD is not only good practice but necessary as you can’t determine whether your design will meet your needs if you haven’t defined them. Poor or vague requirements are also useless…
Ok the title is a bit click bait but in all seriousness I don’t see pocketqubes (PQ) replacing cubesats. I know this sounds a bit crazy from someone who is developing the “Claymore” a 6P pocketqube deployer. But hear me…
When developing the Claymore 6P Pocketqube deployer on a budget I have had to make some decisions such as whether to make everything for scratch or to buy consumable of the shelf (COTS) components. I am sure people, SME, universities…
Currently I have almost completed the finishing touches to the 2nd iteration of my 6p POD and should have the FEA complete during the week. I have been learning how to carry out tolerance stack analysis and thought it would…
So my 3d printed version of my 6p pocketqube deployer (need to give it a creative name) had arrived last week. While I was putting it all together I was making mental notes on how easy it was to put…
I thought I would write a short blog that could help various pocketqube teams in developing their own pocketqube satellites. While space projects are generally expensive, and most teams won’t have zany millionaires willing to splash the cash I thought…