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Jeffrey A. Hoffman. Cañizales Díaz, Jorge (Jorge Luis) Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics 2013-01-07T21:29:23Z 2013-01-07T21:29:23Z 2012 2012 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/76164 820457095 Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, September 2012. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (p. 87-93). This thesis describes a Systems Engineering tool for automatic design, presents the results of its application to the problem of designing Earth-based reduced-gravity simulators, and compares the performance of the found optimal design solutions with that of the MIT TALARIS Hopper Testbed. Earth-based reduced-gravity simulators are platforms that allow hosted vehicles to experience a dynamic environment -from a guidance, navigation, and control perspective- analog to other planetary surfaces. Simulators are used for system development and operator training purposes. Specifically, reduced-gravity simulators produce a constant vertical thrust equal to a fraction of the weight of the studied vehicle, this yielding a perceived gravity equal to the gravity of the celestial body of interest. Planetary hoppers explore planetary surfaces through hopping, i.e. low altitude and short-duration flying. Recently, these systems have gained popularity as cost-effective means for planetary exploration due to their larger operational flexibility compared to other exploration systems. The tool developed as part of this thesis eases the compilation and use of parts catalogs in the design task, includes real-time visualization of the search process, supports the output of multiple solutions that optimize conflicting goals, efficiently calculates Pareto frontiers of solutions, and can integrate external solvers and simulators seamlessly. Chapter 1 overviews the engineering challenges associated with Earth-based reduced-gravity simulators applied to planetary hoppers. Chapter 2 provides the context knowledge required for the development of the individual tasks in this thesis. Chapter 3 discusses the engineering literature covering relevant previous work. Chapter 4 describes the selected approach and the tool that has been developed for the design of the propulsion system of the simulator. Chapter 5 discusses the applicability of the approach and design tool to the case of the MIT TALARIS Hopper Testbed. Chapter 6 summarizes the results and outlines avenues for future research in this field. by Jorge Cañizales Díaz. S.M. 103 p. eng Massachusetts Institute of Technology CD-ROM contains files in .xlst, .m. and .rete file formats. M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 Aeronautics and Astronautics. Automatic design of the gravity-reducing propulsion system of the TALARIS Hopper Testbed Thesis application/pdf false Publication unknown unknown <Publication xmlns="https://www.openaire.eu/cerif-profile/1.1/" id="ddca6f5a-350b-47e4-a999-74feba16a921"> <Type xmlns="https://www.openaire.eu/cerif-profile/vocab/COAR_Publication_Types">http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_1843</Type> <Language>eng</Language> <Title>Automatic design of the gravity-reducing propulsion system of the TALARIS Hopper Testbed</Title> <PublishedIn> <Publication> </Publication> </PublishedIn> <PublicationDate>2012</PublicationDate> <Authors> <Author> <DisplayName>Cañizales Díaz, Jorge (Jorge Luis)</DisplayName> <Affiliation> <OrgUnit> </OrgUnit> </Affiliation> </Author> </Authors> <Editors> </Editors> <Publishers> <Publisher> <DisplayName>Massachusetts Institute of Technology</DisplayName> <OrgUnit /> </Publisher> </Publishers> <License>http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582</License> <Keyword>Aeronautics and Astronautics.</Keyword> <Abstract>This thesis describes a Systems Engineering tool for automatic design, presents the results of its application to the problem of designing Earth-based reduced-gravity simulators, and compares the performance of the found optimal design solutions with that of the MIT TALARIS Hopper Testbed. Earth-based reduced-gravity simulators are platforms that allow hosted vehicles to experience a dynamic environment -from a guidance, navigation, and control perspective- analog to other planetary surfaces. Simulators are used for system development and operator training purposes. Specifically, reduced-gravity simulators produce a constant vertical thrust equal to a fraction of the weight of the studied vehicle, this yielding a perceived gravity equal to the gravity of the celestial body of interest. Planetary hoppers explore planetary surfaces through hopping, i.e. low altitude and short-duration flying. Recently, these systems have gained popularity as cost-effective means for planetary exploration due to their larger operational flexibility compared to other exploration systems. The tool developed as part of this thesis eases the compilation and use of parts catalogs in the design task, includes real-time visualization of the search process, supports the output of multiple solutions that optimize conflicting goals, efficiently calculates Pareto frontiers of solutions, and can integrate external solvers and simulators seamlessly. Chapter 1 overviews the engineering challenges associated with Earth-based reduced-gravity simulators applied to planetary hoppers. Chapter 2 provides the context knowledge required for the development of the individual tasks in this thesis. Chapter 3 discusses the engineering literature covering relevant previous work. Chapter 4 describes the selected approach and the tool that has been developed for the design of the propulsion system of the simulator. Chapter 5 discusses the applicability of the approach and design tool to the case of the MIT TALARIS Hopper Testbed. 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