Treffer: A Novel CubeSat Education Model and Emulation Tool

This paper introduces the Illinois Educational Development Unit (iEDU), a platform kit enabling middle and high school students to develop CubeSat mission payload concepts. Through interactive lessons prepared by graduate and undergraduate students at the Laboratory for Advanced Space Systems at Illinois (LASSI) for the University's 4-H/Extension unit, students learn the basics of CubeSat systems, programming control software, and executing payload operations. With these skills in hand, students are coached in designing their own experiments for interfacing with the iEDU. The iEDU kit is based on a 3D-printed frame holding laser-cut 20 cm x 20 cm x 20 cm polycarbonate side panels that transparently encapsulate an avionics stack emulating a CubeSat. The satellite's command and data handling system is based on a standard Raspberry Pi interfaced to a custom LASSI-designed board hosting a commercial microcontroller (an STM32 or an RP2040) to interface with the payload. The four sockets on the interface board are configured to MIKROE's mikroBUS™ standard. Over 1000 off-the-shelf mikroBUS™ compatible Click Boards™ are available for taking measurements (e.g., attitude determination, temperature, magnetic field, lux, etc.) and generating various outputs (e.g., data, servo control, etc.). Using Click BoardsTM allows for the rapid prototyping and integration of payload components without soldering. The selected payload interface microcontroller communicates to the boards over a serial interface and can be programmed in one of three languages: MicroPython, C, or Rust. LASSI students initially created four experiment lesson plans. Thermal management, attitude and position determination, solar power generation, and magnetic field measurement are available to familiarize students with the iEDU's capabilities. Each experiment includes background information and code development guidance for students to learn about the critical functions CubeSats perform in accommodating payloads. After a student has gone through the four ...