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The University of Toronto Institute of Aerospace Studies, Space Flight Laboratory uses Altium technology to launch the next generation of space engineers.

“Without Altium Designer, UTIAS/SFL would have greater difficulty in meeting the tight schedule and cost constraints that are typical of a low-cost space mission. In low-cost space missions, rapid build and test are essential to success. With Altium Designer, we can achieve our goal of rapid turnaround and fewer design cycles, and develop more satellites than we could otherwise in the same amount of time.”

- Robert Zee,
  Director, Space Flight Laboratory, University of Toronto

Nothing in electronics can be certain – except that designs will get smaller and more advanced. It’s a mantra that most engineers follow, and it is certainly one that fuels a group of students from the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies, Space Flight Laboratory (UTIAS/SFL). Their goal is to develop a series of small and sophisticated nanosatellites (satellites under 10kg) to promote novel space technologies, speed up development and reduce the cost of space exploration.

The program, named CanX for “Canadian Advanced Nanospace eXperiment,” aims to advance space research and exploration by creating innovative, yet cost effective satellites for high performance space missions. Students will dedicate up to three years to their satellites, involving themselves with all aspects of the design process. With such tight schedules and budgets, students at UTIAS/SFL are acutely aware of minimizing human error and reducing design cycles.

The latest project to be completed is CanX-2 – a 3.5kg satellite measuring 10 x 10 x 34cm. The satellite, which contains an impressive collection of electronics, will demonstrate important enabling technologies including a new propulsion system, custom radios, computers, altitude sensors and actuators, and a dual-band GPS receiver. However, these technologies not only carry out important space research, they will also help the students at UTIAS/SFL to refine the technologies used on future CanX missions.

In addition, CanX-2 has several different electronic subsystems that include a wide variety of digital, analog RF and mixed signal systems. Everything from instrumentation, computing (digital IO), radio (communications), power electronics and scientific instruments are designed and developed by the students at UTIAS Space Flight Laboratory. As an additional challenge, these sophisticated subsystems must also share the tight design constraints with several other University experiments that CanX-2 will carry onboard.

In training students for a future in space engineering, it is important that they learn the principles of electronics design rather than mastering a particular tool. Altium Designer is able to remove the learning barriers of disparate point tools by bringing together various design disciplines in one easy-to-use system. The students are able to easily navigate the system and exploit the several wizards and tools in Altium Designer. For example, the students can take advantage of the IPC footprint editor – a wizard that helps the users create their own IPC (Institute for Printed Circuits) standard component footprints. With this wizard, students can create new footprints in under 10 minutes, saving them from the hour-long process of creating the footprints manually.

Tight design requirements mean that students face considerable routing challenges and need to think creatively to optimize available board space. Altium Designer’s Interactive Routing feature combines rules-driven, versatile interactive routing modes, predictive track placement and optimized connectivity to automate the process. The students are free from the painstaking and sometimes erroneous task of manually routing the board. Without the concern of implementing basic functionality, the students can focus on designing innovatively and improving the performance of their final product.

CanX-2 is a challenging project and the students at UTIAS/SFL have been successful in pushing the cost and time limits of space design. Since employing Altium Designer, it’s not unusual for students to complete designs in just one or two design cycles, and the students continue to improve and quicken their electronic design process. By making use of the various tools that automate the process, such as Altium Designer’s Design Rule, students are able to maintain their budget and their schedule with a considerable reduction in board manufacturer problems. In short, the students at UTIAS have been able to maintain their goal of making space exploration more affordable and accessible.

CanX, which stands for Canadian Advanced Nanospace eXperiment, is a satellite program that aims to train the next generation of space engineers. A team of approximately 12 students spend 2-3 years designing and developing a nanosatellite as part of their graduate degree. Each satellite project will test new technologies for space research and open up high performance space missions for smaller and cheaper satellites. As part of the continuation of the CanX program, the BRITE satellites (CanX-3A,B,C,D) and CanX-4&5 will launch in 2009.

Founded in 1827, the University of Toronto is one of the world’s leading universities. The University of Toronto has an array of undergraduate and post graduate degrees that are supported through 17 professional facilities. The University is located in Ontario and has a student population of 70,143 and over 422,000 alumni.
For more information or the University of Toronto visit http://www.utoronto.ca/ or the CanX program visit http://www.utias-sfl.net/