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A multi-objective methodology for spacecraft equipment layouts

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Abstract

One of the main tasks involving the development of a new spacecraft is how to distribute its electronic equipment over its structural panels. This problem is first addressed in the conception phase of the design and is traditionally carried out by a group of system engineers. It is a multidisciplinary task since structural, thermal, dynamics, and integration issues, must all be taken into account simultaneously. Usually, the initial positioning is done based on the engineers’ experience, followed by an analysis stage (thermal, structural, etc.) in which the design performance and constraints are verified. This process takes time and hence, as soon as a good feasible design is found, it is taken as the baseline. This precludes a broad exploration of the conceptual design space, which usually leads to a suboptimal layout design. In this paper the main features of a multi-objective methodology are presented which were developed to automatically find solutions for a three-dimensional layout of equipment in spacecraft. It includes mass, inertia, thermal and subsystem requirements and geometric constraints using a multi-objective approach that combines CAD and optimization tools in an integrated environment. As a case study, the methodology was applied to the layout optimization of the Brazilian Multi-Mission Space Platform (MMP) equipment. The main results are presented.

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Abbreviations

\( Ang_{XX\_calc} \), \( Ang_{YY\_calc} \), \( Ang_{ZZ\_calc} \) (°, °, °):

Angles between three principal satellite axes of inertia relating to the satellite’s Cartesian coordinate system

\( Ang_{XX\_{\it target}} \), \( Ang_{YY\_{\it target}} \), \( Ang_{ZZ\_{\it target}} \) (°, °, °):

Target angles between three principal satellite axes of inertia relating to the satellite’s Cartesian coordinate system

b (m):

Width of equipment

h (m):

Height of equipment

l (m):

Length of equipment

L (m):

Length of panel

N :

Number of pieces of equipment

N p :

Number of panels

N c :

Number of cells

P (W):

Thermal power dissipated by equipment

r (m):

Euclidean distance between the center of a piece of equipment and the center of the cell

q (m,m):

Point on a panel coincident to the center of a piece of equipment

V inter (m3):

Interference volume among pieces of equipment

XCG calc , YCG calc , ZCG calc (m, m, m):

Center of mass coordinates of a layout of the equipment

XCG target , YCG target , ZCG target (m, m, m):

Target center of mass coordinates of a layout of the equipment

i :

Index relative to equipments

j :

Index relative to cells

k :

Index relative to panels

m:

Index relative to objective functions

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank ESSS and ESTECO companies for providing the modeFrontier® license. The financial support provided by FAPERJ, Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, FAPESP, Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, and CNPq, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, are also gratefully.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais – INPE/DMC, Av. dos Astronautas, S.J. Campos, SP, 1758, Brazil

    Ana Paula Curty Cuco

  2. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais – INPE/DSE, Av. dos Astronautas, S.J. Campos, SP, 1758, Brazil

    Fabiano L. de Sousa

  3. Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, IPRJ/UERJ, Rua Alberto Rangel, s/n, Nova Friburgo, RJ, Brazil

    Antônio J. Silva Neto

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  1. Ana Paula Curty Cuco
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  2. Fabiano L. de Sousa
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  3. Antônio J. Silva Neto
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Correspondence to Ana Paula Curty Cuco.

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Cuco, A.P.C., de Sousa, F.L. & Silva Neto, A.J. A multi-objective methodology for spacecraft equipment layouts. Optim Eng 16, 165–181 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11081-014-9252-z

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