US Egypt Cooperative Research: Design and Implementation of Experimental High Resolution Imaging Payload System for Nano Satellites

1103969本项目支持路易斯安那大学拉斐特高级计算机研究中心（CACS） Magdy Bayoumi博士和埃及开罗国家遥感和空间科学管理局（NARSS） Amal Zaki博士的合作研究项目。他们计划研究纳米卫星实验高分辨率成像有效载荷系统的设计与实现。目前，进入太空仅限于某些实体；发射一颗卫星进入轨道是非常昂贵的。通过设计和制造立方体卫星等纳米卫星，可以最大限度地减少这一成本，并使科学和研究团体能够进入空间。立方体卫星是一种用于空间研究的小型化卫星，体积通常为10cm x10cm x10cm，总质量约为1Kg。立方体卫星是由现成的组件COTS制成的，与传统卫星开发相比，这被认为是一个优势，使开发更容易。另一方面，这将最终规格限制在市场上可用的组件。例如，最终的地面样本距离（GSD）受到现有商业成像系统的限制，这些系统通常不能同时满足尺寸和分辨率要求。如果采用定制的光学设计而不是从现成的组件中选择，则可以实现更好的GSD。智力优势：该项目将解决在设计微纳卫星时尚未有效解决的几个挑战，如有限的空间，有限的性能，以及对超低能量的严格要求。几个技术问题的解决方案将是设备首次，如；低功耗系统的软硬件协同设计，其中低功耗将是主要的性能衡量标准。不同技术集成的技术问题；微电子，光学和机械将被解决。嵌入式软件的挑战将得到解决。超高频/甚高频通信系统的低功耗设计将会发展，而不是直接设计。成像载荷模块将解决图像光学、图像传感器和IP单元的具体应用问题。这两个机构的合作伙伴在拟议的研究领域都有非常好的记录。目标是明确的，并且是可行的。更广泛的影响：合作的主要目标是专注于创新技术的交流，涉及纳米卫星和空间应用（如地球观测）的光学、电子和嵌入式系统的设计和制造。这将有助于美国和埃及在各自的研究所建立空间技术及其应用。美国团队将获得一个应用平台，在那里他们可以实验所有新开发的技术、算法、架构、电路和嵌入式软件。埃及团队将获得光学、微电子、UHF/VHF通信系统方面的最新研究成果。将低成本卫星技术引入埃及是一项有益的努力。在这次国际合作中，将为美国和埃及的学生提供培训。该提议得到了美国-埃及联合基金项目的支持，其中美国国家科学基金会支持美方，埃及政府资助埃及方面。

1103969 This project supports a cooperative research project by Dr. Magdy Bayoumi, The Center for Advanced Computer Studies (CACS) at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, LA and Dr. Amal Zaki, National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences (NARSS), Cairo, Egypt. They plan to study the Design and Implementation of Experimental High Resolution Imaging Payload System for Nanosatelite. At present, access to Space is limited to some entities; and launching a satellite into orbit is very expensive. Minimizing this cost and making space accessible to scientific and research societies could be reached by design and fabrication of Nano satellite such as the Cubesats. A Cubesat is a type of miniaturized satellite for space research that usually has a volume of exactly of 10cm x10cm x10cm, with a total mass in the order of 1Kg. CubeSat is made from off the shelf components COTS, which is considered as an advantage that makes development much easier, compared to classical satellite development. On the other hand, this limits the final specifications to those of the components available in market. For instance, the final Ground Sample Distance (GSD) is limited by the available commercial imaging systems, which usually do not meet dimensions and resolution requirements simultaneously. A better GSD can be achieved if a costumed optical design is adopted rather than choosing from off the shelf components. Intellectual Merits: This project will address several challenges that have not been solved efficiently, yet, in designing Micro and Nano satellites, such as limited space, limited performance, and strict requirements of ultra low energy. Solutions to several technical issues will be devices for the first time such as; hardware-software co-design for very low power systems where low power will be the major performance measure. The Technical issues of integrating different technologies; microelectronics, optics, and mechanical will be addressed. Embedded software challenges will be solved. Low power design for UHF/VHF communication systems will be developed which is not straight forward design. The specific application problems of image optics, image sensor, and IP unit will be solved for the imaging payload module. The partners in both institutions have a very strong track record in the proposed field of study. The objectives are clearly stated and are feasible to achieve.Broader Impacts: The main goal of the collaboration is to focus on the exchange of innovative technologies, which involves design and fabrication of optical, electronics and embedded systems for Nano satellite and space application such as earth observation. This will help both U.S and Egypt in establishing space technology and its applications in our respective institutes. The US team will have an access to an application platform where they can experiment all the novel developed technologies, algorithms, architectures, circuits, and embedded software. The Egyptian team will have an access to the latest research results in optics, microelectronics, UHF/VHF communication systems. Bringing low cost satellite technology to Egypt is a useful effort. There will be training for US and Egyptian students in this international cooperation. This proposal is supported under the US-Egypt Joint Fund Program where NSF supports the US side and the Government of Egypt funds the Egyptian side.