This document provides guidelines for customers sponsoring senior design projects for aerospace engineering students at the University of Colorado Boulder. It outlines the course structure and content, expectations for customer participation and support, and deliverables that will be provided to customers. Customers are asked to commit a minimum of $20,000 for "Minimum Support" projects or $35,000 for "Customer Ownership" projects to cover project costs and department resources. In return, customers receive mentorship opportunities and all student work including final reports and presentations. The goal is to provide students with a meaningful, real-world design experience while obtaining valuable customer input and deliverables.
1. Aerospace Engineering Sciences University of Colorado at Boulder
Customer Guidelines AY 2012/13
Senior Projects (ASEN 4018 & 4028)
1.0 Document Scope
All undergraduates in Aerospace Engineering Sciences (AES) are required to take a two semester
capstone projects course sequence. This sequence includes ASEN
4018 Senior Projects I: Design Synthesis (Fall semester) and
ASEN 4028 Senior Projects II: Design Practicum (Spring
semester). The course is taught by a team consisting of 5 faculty Quality is never an accident; it
1 is always the result of high
members and two staff members, called the Project Advisory
intention, sincere effort,
Board (PAB). intelligent direction and skillful
execution; it represents the wise
This document provides guidelines for the scope of a typical choice of many alternatives
2
Aerospace Engineering Sciences Senior Design project and
customer expectations. A list of recently-sponsored projects by
faculty members or industry is given in Appendix #2. When defining
a project, customers understand that the purpose of the AES
Senior Projects curriculum is to provide undergraduate students with a mentored experience while
working on a requirements-based design project in self-directed teams. All project concepts and
aims must have a level of complexity which can be accomplished in the framework of a senior design
project equivalent to a workload of 4 credit hours per semester, equivalent to a 16-hour workweek.
Customers can view deliverables of projects from previous years at the Senior Design Projects
website: http://aeroprojects.colorado.edu .
2.0 Senior Projects Course Content
Projects are expected to provide an integrative design experience that includes topics from
aeronautics or astronautics, and that allows for creative latitude in arriving at a final design. All
projects must include components of a) mechanical, b) electrical and c) software subsystems.
Due to the systems engineering requirement for projects, each of these three components must
present at least 25% (estimated) of the project work. One reason for this requirement is that major
problems are usually linked to interface issues between subsystems and students must become
aware of those issues. The projects begin with a requirements definition phase and students will
make use of the technical and design skills developed throughout the undergraduate Aerospace
Engineering Science curriculum. All projects must include a hands-on component that is built and
tested, leading up to a validation of the initially-defined requirements.
Proposed projects should embody the objectives and expected content defined in the Course
Syllabus. The syllabus states that:
“The objectives of the ASEN 4018/28 Senior Projects course sequence are:
to teach standard professional aerospace engineering practices,
to teach the elements of conceptual and detail design,
to teach the elements of fabrication, integration, verification test and validation,
to provide an opportunity for students to develop expertise in their particular areas of technical
interest, and
1
Number depends on projects
2
http://aeroprojects.colorado.edu
AES-SRP-Customer Guidelines, 6/1/2012 1
2. Aerospace Engineering Sciences University of Colorado at Boulder
to integrate design analysis methods learned in prior courses.”
The syllabus also calls out the expected content for the projects:
“All projects are expected to:
Conceive, design, fabricate, integrate, test, verify, validate, and document a product, device, or
system.
Contain an element of mechanical, electrical and software subsystems.
Develop designs using quantitative engineering analysis of appropriate complexity, reflecting the
academic background expected of Aerospace Engineering seniors, with a foundation based in the
core Aerospace courses taught at the undergraduate level.
Use standard systems engineering practices, including the development of requirements,
specifications, drawings, schematics, verification plans, and test results.
Use an appropriate set of professional project management tools and practices to ensure project
progress, quality and timeliness.”
During the first few weeks, students attend lectures about project and team selection, project
requirements, functions, constraints, systems engineering and system architecture, project and risk
management, manufacturing and safety.
3.0 What is Expected from Project Customers?
Corporations, companies, small businesses, national laboratories, R&D organizations, and academic
faculty members may become project customers.
Within the framework of the Senior Design course, all projects are conducted on a best effort basis
by students and faculty. The customer shall understand that our primary goal is the education of
aerospace engineering students, and as such exploratory or proof-of-concept projects can be quite
successful as an undergraduate capstone senior project. Projects which are in the customer’s critical
path cannot be accepted as Senior Design projects unless customer takes full responsibilities for any
outcome. “Good-to-have” results and “off-ramp” studies are more likely to be suitable. Sponsoring a
project should also be seen as a “training-on-the-job” activity and a “9 month interview” for
potential future employees. The University of Colorado cannot take any responsibility for results
deemed by the customer as “insufficient.”
3.1 Customer Participation in the course
The customer provides a one to two page project idea description on the Project Proposal (PP) form
to the AES Senior Projects Coordinator and develops detailed Customer Project Requirements
Document (CPRD) or other named document with the students. During the two-semester senior
projects course, the sponsor has the opportunity and duty to mentor or provide on-the-job training to a
group of up to ten students. All customers are expected to become active participants in their
sponsored project. Customers should name a contact person for the project who dedicates at least
one hour per week to the project. Close contact with the teams during the project definition phase is
decisive in determining the success of the proposed project.
During the first week of the Fall semester (ASEN 4018, mid-August) students will select and finalize
teams around proposed project ideas. Once the team has been formed, students will meet with the
selected customer in order to gain full understanding of the project which in turn allows them to define
their set of top-level requirements. The task for the students is to transform the customer provided
PP and CPRD documents into the first deliverable, called a Project Definition Document (PDD)
(Figure 1). This process occurs during the second and third weeks of the fall semester and may
include meetings or teleconferences (Polycom™ or other) with the customer. Customer and team
AES-SRP-Customer Guidelines, 6/1/2012 2
3. Aerospace Engineering Sciences University of Colorado at Boulder
shall agree on the PDD in all details as the base document for the project. The period leading up to
PDD is considered the most intense learning stage for the students who are for the first time being
exposed to a rigorous requirements-based design project.
In review, project customers are expected to:
Complete a Project Proposal form (PP)
Assist students in the development of a set of project requirements based on a Customer Project
Requirements Document (CPRD).
Review and negotiate the Project Definition Document (PDD) and Conceptual Design Document
(CDD) with the students, faculty and staff.
Provide the project team with advice and feedback on submitted documents and presentations.
Participate in major project reviews (PDR, CDR, SPR) or, if possible organize separate reviews.
Provide input to the advising faculty who determine the grades for teams and individual students.
Capstone - Senior Projects
PDD – Project Definition Document
The PDD is the technical foundation for the project
– PDD defines the problem with background information and goals;
without specifying solutions
– The resources for the PDD are the specific Project Proposal (PP)
and the Customer Project Requirements Document (CPRD).
– PDD provides rudimentary information on:
• Purpose
• Objectives
• Top level project & systems requirements (minimum for success)
• Sub systems requirements
• Functional block diagram (concepts of operation)
• Verification and validation plans
• Deliverables
• Risk analysis
43
Figure 1: Expectations for the PDD
3.2 Project Resources available to customer
Customers are asked to provide adequate resources for their proposed project (section 3.3). In
return, AES facilities, students, staff, and faculty become resources for the customer.
The customer’s prime resources are the senior students. The customer has the opportunity to mentor
the students while they are in action -- solving requirements-based engineering problems while
learning systems engineering at the same time. Over the course of two semesters (28 weeks), a
3
student team averaging 8 members is required to spend 3600 man-hours working on their senior
project. In the past, students have spent even more time on average working on their project, as
documented in weekly timesheets.
Each team is assigned one faculty advisor from the PAB pool. The PAB faculty advisor spends about
110 man-hours working on each project. The remaining PAB faculty members each spend another
15-20 hours working on each project during reviews and evaluations.
All senior design teams have priority access to the Aerospace Engineering Sciences machine shop
and electronics lab. The students receive design and manufacturing guidance from a full-time
machinist and a full-time electronics technician. These two department staff members spend a
substantial number of hours (ranging from 60-100% of their time) with the teams to make their
3
8 students x 4 credits x 4 hours/credit/week x 28 weeks (2 semesters)
AES-SRP-Customer Guidelines, 6/1/2012 3
4. Aerospace Engineering Sciences University of Colorado at Boulder
projects successful; thus a portion of their salaries and those of auxiliary support staff must be
covered by the senior design projects.
Over the past decade of teaching senior projects, the AES department has committed a considerable
amount of general funds resources to offer a requirements-based projects course with industry-style
management. Expenditures include costs to operate an in-house machine shop, composite materials
shop and electronics lab with the required manpower as well as necessary computer hardware and
software. Budgetary constraints require that external funding be sought to supplement department
costs in order that our program is sustainable.
All 28 faculty members (2012) of the Aerospace Engineering Department formally agreed to support
senior design teams if approached with project-related questions.
If performed in an industry setting with entry level engineers, such a project may cost about $300,000
depending on overhead.
3.3 Project Resources committed by customer
Support (financial and/or in-kind) and Intellectual Property (IP) agreement must be negotiated with the
projects course coordinator when the Project Proposal (PP) is submitted. The agreement must be in
place by the time the Customer Project Requirements Document (CPRD) is presented or no later
than at the start of the Fall semester (mid-August). The customer shall clearly define their
expectations for deliverables. The life-cycle of in-kind support to the students shall be described in
the CPRD.
The department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences has established two preferred avenues for
customers who would like to support a two-semester senior design project. (AES faculty customers
may petition alternate support structure to the Department Chair.) The deliverables are described
below in section 3.4. The support alternatives including current (2012/13) fees are:
1) The Minimum Support Schedule (MSS) requires a total minimum investment of $20,000, which
is subdivided as follows:
Project-specific expenditures for project-specific materials, parts, software: $5000 minimum.
Amount varies by project at the discretion of the customer as well as project needs. The
customer may also provide additional in-kind contributions.
Department infrastructure and labor fees for the senior projects (shop staff salary,
maintenance for manufacturing shop, electronics shop, computer labs, materials, supplies,
disposables, other): $15,000.
According to the MSS agreement, any Intellectual Property (IP) rights resulting from the supported
senior design project remain with the inventor(s), i.e. the students.
Students may submit proposals to other funding sources in order to supplement their base funding.
These are for example the Engineering Excellence Fund of the College. Often other companies offer
in-kind donations, for example software packages or instruments.
The customer receives all pertinent project deliverables listed in section 3.4. Hardware will stay in the
department for possible future use in another project or in class. Projects are posted on the projects
website http://aeroprojects.colorado.edu.
Details may be included in a Senior Projects Customer Contract - MSS. Contracts are handled either
through the University of Colorado office of Contracts and Grants or through the CU Foundation.
AES-SRP-Customer Guidelines, 6/1/2012 4
5. Aerospace Engineering Sciences University of Colorado at Boulder
2) The Customer Ownership Schedule (COS) requires a total minimum investment of $35,000
divided as follows:
Project-specific expenditures for project-specific materials, parts, software: $5,000 minimum.
Amount varies by project at the discretion of the customer as well as project needs. The
customer may also provide additional in-kind contributions.
Discretionary use fee for the senior projects (shop staff salary, maintenance manufacturing
shop, electronics shop, computer labs, materials, supplies, disposables, other): $15,000.
Transfer of ownership of project-created Intellectual Property (IP) rights to the customer for
a non-negotiable fee of $15,000. That fee is applied to staff salary and equipment/lab
maintenance.
Only insensitive information, defined by the customer will be posted on the projects website
http://aeroprojects.colorado.edu .
Students may submit proposals to other funding sources in order to supplement their base funding
(only with approval by the project customer).
The customer receives all pertinent project deliverables listed in section 3.4.
Details will be included in the Senior Projects Customer Contract - COS. These contracts are handled
by the CU office of Contracts and Grants which also handles the IP transfer.
3) Special Arrangements. In exceptional cases other arrangements can be negotiated between a
customer and the Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences.
3.4 Deliverables to be Provided to the Customer
Customers are invited to join the Student Network, by simple sign up, where students regularly inform
the membership about their project progress: http://aesseniordesign.ning.com/ The website
membership includes more than 500 alumni who may be informed about job opportunities.
Customers can download an electronic copy (pdf-document) of each course assignment which is also
given to the students.
Customers receive the following deliverables from the sponsored student team:
1. Semester I Fall Final Report, FFR (hard copy and PDF-document. Mechanical/electronics/software
packages)
2. Semester II Final Report, PFR (hard copy and PDF-document)
If they wish, customers receive the following deliverables from the sponsored student team:
3. PDD Data Package (PDF-document)
4. CDD Data Package (PDF-document)
5. PDR Data Package (PDF-document)
6. CDR Data Package (PDF-document)
7. Interim Review I (PDF-document)
AES-SRP-Customer Guidelines, 6/1/2012 5
6. Aerospace Engineering Sciences University of Colorado at Boulder
8. Interim Review II (PDF-document)
9. SPR Data Package (PDF-document)
The content of the document packages are delineated in the course assignments.
Separate PDR, CDR, IR, SPR presentations (meeting or internet) may be arranged between the
customer and sponsored senior design team.
Additional conditional deliverables are based on the underlying agreement between customer and
AES department:
MSS-agreement: No additional deliverables. Only customer-provided hardware will be
returned to customer with the Semester II Spring Final Report Package, unless the customer,
in writing, donates the material to the Department.
COS-agreement: Transfer of all provided and created project hardware, software, and
intellectual property rights to the customer with the Semester II Spring Final Report Package.
Shipment of final material is planned within two weeks after official end of the semester.
Customers may visit the Senior Design Projects Website (http://aeroprojects.colorado.edu) to assess
the quality of select past senior design project deliverables and benchmark them according to their
own standards.
4.0 Senior Projects Course Structure
The Senior Projects course is a core course in the education of Aerospace Engineering Sciences
(AES) students at the University of Colorado at Boulder. While a capstone experience is required by
4
all accredited engineering programs the AES department offers a rigorous two-semester course
where students move through a requirements-based design process from concept to test and
validation. Students work in self-directed teams. A team typically consists of between 7 - 10
Aerospace Engineering students of senior standing (Figure 2). Each team is assigned two faculty
advisors from the Project Advisory Board (PAB) pool. These faculty members cover a wide range of
technical skills. The individual team advisors are generally chosen to satisfy critical needs of select
teams and will formally meet with their teams for at least one hour each week. The course document
“Faculty Guidelines” defines the roles and responsibilities of faculty and staff.
AES Senior Projects Structure
Course
Coordinator Machinist
Maximum 8-10 Teams Matt Rhode
Electronics
Trudy Schwartz
1 PAB 1 PAB 1 PAB
1 External 1 External 1 External
Advisors Advisors Advisors
Project Advisor Board (PAB)
TEAM 1 TEAM 2 TEAM 8
Total 5-6 faculty (1 course credit) and
Customer Customer Customer
1 2 2 staff members 8
7-10 7-10 7-10
Students Students 1 Course Coordinator Students
4-5 Faculty Team Advisors;
2 Staff advisors: M. Rhode, T. Schwartz
8-10 External/Industry Advisers
4
Figure 2: Project organizational structure
4
See http://www.abet.org for more information.
AES-SRP-Customer Guidelines, 6/1/2012 6
7. Aerospace Engineering Sciences University of Colorado at Boulder
At the beginning of the first semester (Fall) of the course (ASEN 4018) students receive a customer-
provided Project Proposal (PP) and a Customer Project Requirements Document (CPRD) or
other document from the customer (Figure 3). Customers are asked to prepare a short Elevator
Pitch (15 minutes with questions) about the project to be given on the first and second day of class in
Fall semester. Using this start-up package, students begin analyzing the design of the proposed
system, starting with design concepts and assessing design requirements. This work will be
documented in a Project Definition Document (PDD) and followed by a systems architecture
analysis documented in a Conceptual Design Document (CDD). The teams are required to defend
their designs at a Preliminary Design Review (PDR) and at the end of the semester in a Critical
Design Review (CDR). The one-hour (total) presentations with question-and-answer period are held
before the 7-member faculty and staff Project Advisory Board (PAB), and customer representatives,
who evaluate the project according to a set of predefined grading metrics. Course requirements state
that each student must present at one of the oral presentations. By the time of the PDR, teams are
required to have a team Organization Chart (Figure 4) which details the responsibilities of individual
students. Each student must assume one type of leadership position. Since the teams are small,
individual students must assume multiple technical functions. At PDR teams must select one critical
subsystem to perform some prototyping studies to be presented at the upcoming CDR. After the
PDR or CDR presentations each PAB member may submit a Request For Action (RFA) form to any
team detailing issues which require special attention. These RFAs must be formally addressed by a
defined date, e.g. at CDR or IR1. At CDR teams must present results from prototyping a critical
component of their design and fully understand and document all safety issues which were
encountered during the manufacturing and testing of their project. The fall semester is concluded with
a comprehensive Fall Final Report (FFR) which is a detailed version of the CDR.
Typical Senior Projects Team Structure
Typical Course Schedule Teams operate like small entrepreneurial businesses
Team Formation
PAB
Customer Advisor
PDD
CDD
CDR
PDR
Break
FFR
Fall
W01 W02 W03 W04 W05 W06 W06 W08 W09 W10 W11 W12 W13 W14 W15 W16 Project Systems
Manager Engineer
Preliminary Design Detailed Design
CFO Manufacturing Safety
Last Machining Day
Engineer Engineer
ITLL EXPO
Symposium
Common Subsystems:
Mechanical
IR #2
IR #1
Subsystem 1 Subsystem 2 Subsystem 3 Subsystem 4 Electrical
PFR
SPR
Break
Lead Engineer Lead Engineer Lead Engineer Lead Engineer Software
Aerodynamics
Spring
Structures
W01 W02 W03 W04 W05 W06 W06 W08 W09 W10 W11 W12 W13 W14 W15 W16
Thermal
Manufacturing Integration and Test
9 5
Figure 3: Project time line Figure 4: Suggested team organizational structure
The goal of the PAB is to lead every team to success. If the CDR is successful students will
manufacture, test, verify, validate and document the design of their system during the second
semester (ASEN 4028). Students must then validate the original requirements levied on the system.
Two Interim Reviews (IR1, IR2) are held during which students inform the PAB about the current
progress of their project. After testing is concluded, students report their verification and validation
results in a Spring Project Review (SPR) presentation to the PAB and customers, followed by a 2-
semester comprehensive Project Final Report (PFR), which is the final deliverable for the two-
semester course. A final course requirement is to present their project at a one day Symposium for
professional engineers and recruiters. The presentation to the general public at the Integrated
5
Teaching & Learning Laboratiory (ITLL) Design Exposition is optional.
5
http://itll.colorado.edu/ITLL/
AES-SRP-Customer Guidelines, 6/1/2012 7
8. Contacts:
Department Chair Prof. Penina Axelrad 303-492-6872 penina.axelrad@colorado.edu
CC 2008-13 Prof. Jean Koster 303-492-6945 Jean.koster@colorado.edu
Student adviser Claire Yang 303-492-2940 Claire.Yang@colorado.edu
Address:
University of Colorado
Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences
1111 Engineering Drive
429 UCB
Boulder, Colorado 80309-0429
http://www.colorado.edu/aerospace/
Dept. Phone: (303) 492-6417
Appendix 1: Acronyms
PP Project Proposal (form)
CPRD Customer Project Requirements Document
PDD Project Definition Document
CDD Conceptual Design Document
PDR Preliminary Design Review
CDR Critical Design Review
FFR Fall Final Report
IR1 Interim Review #1
IR2 Interim Review #2
SPR Spring Project Review
PFR Project Final Report
MSS Minimum Support Schedule
COS Customer Ownership Schedule
ITLL Integrated Teaching & Learning Laboratory
http://itll.colorado.edu/ITLL/
CC Course Coordinator
AES-SRP-Customer Guidelines, 6/1/2012 8
9. Appendix 2: History of Recent Projects
6
Potential customers are encouraged to visit the AES Senior Design course webpage and study some
of the posted non-proprietary project reports.
Project Explanatory Title Objectives
BIRDIE Biologically-Inspired low Reynolds number To create an experimental apparatus that can trace out a
Dynamic Imagery Experiment given wing motion similar to a hummingbird in hovering flight
DIABLO De-rotated Imager of the Aurora Borealis in Provide a spinning satellite with a de-rotated imaging system
Low-Earth Orbit
D-SUAVE Deployable Small UAV Explorer To design, fabricate, integrate and verify a RC controlled UAV
capable of being remotely deployed from the ARES aircraft
and flying a specific flight pattern
PRV Peregrine Return Vehicle To provide the Colorado Space Grant Consortium with a
reusable vehicle that can return student built science
payloads to a selected target
SOARS Self Organizing Aerial Reconnaissance System Design, build and test an autonomous aerial system (UAS)
capable of imaging multiple targets within a 1 km circle as
quickly as possible with 99% probability of object detection
(according to Johnson criteria)
SWIFT Supersonic Wind and Imaging Flow Tunnel Supersonic wind tunnel (Mach number 1.5 – 2.5) and flow
visualization system operable by undergraduate students
VITL Vehicle for Icy Terrain Locomotion Design and build a prototype for locomotion system of a
vehicle exploring a Europa-like surface capable of traversing 1
km of icy terrain in 7 days with characteristic obstacles
BREW Bolt-on Racecar Enhancing Wing Conceive, design, fabricate, integrate, test, and verify a device
that allows the measurement of the downforce and drag of
any rear wing for present and future CU FSAE cars
CALAMAR-E Cavity Actuated Low-speed Actively Conceptualize, design, fabricate, test, and verify synthetic jet
Maneuverable Aquatic Rover Experiment actuators for a highly maneuverable, low speed underwater
vehicle
FARS Flap and Aileron Replacement System Produce a wing that demonstrates roll control without
mechanical linkages by integration of smart materials as
actuators
MaCH-SR1 Multi-disciplinary university of Colorado Conceive, design, fabricate, integrate, and verify a self-
Hybrid Student Rocket sufficient hybrid rocket engine
MARS Meteorological Aerial Research Sonde Conceive, design, fabricate, and test a deployable dual-mode
sonde system that will provide multi-unit communications
ability capable of sustained flight times and controlled flight
PHOENIX Design a small, lightweight, hand-launched UAV marketed
toward research and rescue missions
SPEC Space Elevator Climber Design a model space elevator system to compete in the
Spaceward Foundation “Elevator 2010” competition.
STOW Short TakeOff Wing Design, fabricate , and characterize a FanWing device
HAVUC Heavy-lift Aerial Vehicle for the University of Conceive, design, fabricate, integrate, test, and verify an
Colorado uninhabited aerial vehicle (UAV) with a heavy-lift capability
that has an empty weight no greater than 10 lb; heavy-lift
being defined as the payload contributing a minimum of 60%
to the total takeoff weight
SHARC Stable Handling Aerial Radio-controlled Develop a low-cost, easy to operate, and reliable aerial
Cargo-testbed vehicle for testing of sensor payloads
6
http://aeroprojects.colorado.edu
AES-SRP-Customer Guidelines, 6/1/2012 9
10. Project Explanatory Title Objectives
CUDBF Colorado University Design-Build-Fly Design, build, fly a high-volume payload competitive
aircraft after AIAA competition guidelines.
HARRV High Altitude Research Return Vehicle Design, build, test a return vehicle for scientific payloads
released from high altitude balloons to proximity of
balloon launch site
APTERA Aero-Braking Project To Effectively Reduce Design, build, and test a deployable device which will increase
Altitude aerodynamic drag with the intent of changing the orbit of the
DANDE satellite from 600km to 350km within 300 days.
Mach-SR1 Multi-disciplinary University of Colorado Design, build, test, integrate feed, injection and ignition
Hybrid Student Rocket Project subsystems into a flight configuration for a hybrid rocket to
deliver a 0.5 kg payload to an altitude of 4,500 m.
KRAKEN Kinematically Roving Autonomously Design, build, and competitively test an unmanned
controlled Electro-Nautic underwater vehicle equipped with vortex ring thrusters
MARVLIS Micro Air Reconnaissance Vehicle Launch and Design, fabricate, and test a micro air vehicle capable of
Imaging System capturing an image and transmitting it with a time and
position stamp
ADAMSS Aerially Deployed Autonomously Monitored Design and build a system that can remotely place low-cost
Surface Sensors disposable sensors, collect science data, and then retrieve this
data all without on-site human interaction
ARCTIC Arctic Region Climate Tracking and The goal is to develop a payload that provides arctic climate
Instrumentation Cargo data measurements at otherwise inaccessible earth-fixed
locations. The payload will be constructed for an InSitu Insight
A-20 UAV.
MADS Miniature Aircraft Deployment System Goal is to develop a system that can attach to the radio-
controlled (RC) primary vehicle capable of in-flight
deployment of 4 secondary vehicles that are capable of self-
sustained flight.
ReMuS Re-deployable Multi-rover System The goal of this project is to provide a proof-of-concept for an
interacting multi-robot system. Two child robots will detach
from the mother, perform tasks and reattach to the mother.
SUAV Solar Unmanned Aerial Vehicle The goal is to modify a high performance sailplane by the
addition of a structurally integrated photovoltaic system in
order to extend the standard endurance of the aircraft by
250%.
SWARM Systematic Waypoint based Autonomous Design an autopilot, communication infrastructure, and
Reconnaissance MAVs coordination algorithm compatible with Micro Air Vehicles.
Integrate autonomous launch and flight in swarm with rigid
algorithm control.
VALASARAPTOR Vertical Ascent and Landinglanding Aircraft Design and build modifications that will outfit an existing
for the Study of Atmospherics in Recording remote controlled UAV with VTOL and hovering capabilities
Acoustic Propagation of Terrestrial and and carry a NOAA designed probe.
Oceanic Radiation
COSMOS Control and Operating System for Monitoring Design, fabricate, and implement a feedback control system
and Observing Space for a high gain antenna capable of tracking celestial objects
and satellites in Earth orbit.
DANTE Demonstration of an Afterburner and Nozzle Design, fabricate and integration of an afterburner with a
on a mini-Turbojet Engine variable area nozzle into a miniature turbojet engine resulting
in a 50% increase in thrust.
CTS CubeSat Tether System The mission of CTS is to develop a ground-based proof-of-
concept for a CubeSat tether system.
CUBOAT Colorado Underwater Buoyant Oceanic The objective of the CUBOAT project is to develop and
Acoustic neTwork demonstrate an acoustic network system capable of relaying
and executing mission plans from an operator to an
autonomous underwater vehicle via underwater transmission.
AES-SRP-Customer Guidelines, 6/1/2012 10
11. Project Explanatory Title Objectives
CUDBF The Buff Bambino 2009 The objective is to design, build, test, verify, and fly a portable
UAV that can transport high volume internal and external
payloads to complete the missions set out by the AIAA Design-
Build-Fly competition.
Dream Chaser A 15% scale model of Dream Chaser (SNC) Design a scale model capable of withstanding all expected
forces that would be imparted during flight test from 3800 ft.
HELIOS Hybrid Electric Integrated Optimized System Design, test, and build a hybrid diesel-solar-electric
(NASA) propulsion system for a small aircraft
LPLUS Langmuir Probes for the Lunar Surface (LASP) Design a terrestrial prototype instrument to deploy three
Langmuir probes for lunar dust measurements.
R3 Remote Reconnaissance Rovers (JPL) Design and develop a multi-rover system to acquire and
transmit an image of a predefined location of interest.
TREST Testbed for Responsive Experiments in Space Develop an EDU of a telescopic imaging system that mounts
Tracking to the TREADS-S platform and captures images and identifies
a moving object within the images.
HPMS Hydrazine Propulsion Management System Develop an experimental facilitate to validate a water
(BALL) hammer prediction software for hydrazine propulsion systems
in use at Ball Aerospace.
Biomite Biofueled Miniature Turbojet Engine Develop a competitive turbojet product for an expanding
UAV propulsion market.
EPIC Express Payload Integration CubeSat (LASP) Design, develop and test a fully functional CubeSat bus using
COTS parts.
HALO HySor Apparatus for Launch Operations (ULA) Design a portable, scalable, reusable launch system intended
to safely launch the HySoR rocket or a hybrid rocket of similar
design.
REDCROC Research and Development for the Capture Design, build, test, and evaluate Earth-based demonstration
and Removal of Orbital Clutter (LMCO) devices for the capture of orbital debris.
SOLSTICE Standalone-electric Optimized Lifting System, Design, build and operate a second generation hybrid gas-
Transitional Internal Combustion Engine electric dual torque propulsion system based on HELIOS.
THEIA Telescopic High-definition Earth Imaging Design and construct an optical payload engineering unit
Apparatus compatible with the ALL-STAR bus that images Earth in full
color.
XROVER Extended Range of Versatile Exploration Proof of concept development of a family of three rovers, a
Rovers (JPL) mother rover and two children rovers who are assigned tasks
by the mother rover.
PACRAT Progress and Advancement for the Capture & To design, build, test and evaluate an earth-based system to
Removal of Aerospace Trash (LMCO) de-orbit debris with diameters ranging from 5-15 cm from
Low Earth Orbit
STARR Sample Targeting And Retrieval Rover (JPL) To design, build, and test a Rover System that will identify and
retrieve a sample based on color.
CASTOR CubeSat for Atmospheric STudies in Orbit and CASTOR will design and build a CubeSat bus EDU to support
Re-entry (LASP) the QB50 mission.
DAYSTAR Diurnal Star Tracking for Balloon-borne The DayStar team will develop a prototype star tracking
Attitude Determination (SWRI) system capable of providing pointing knowledge to a diurnal,
lighter-than-air platform.
ICECUBE Investigation of Cryogenic Emissivity by CU ICECUBE will design, build and validate a testbed to determine
and Ball Engineers (BALL) the cryogenic emissivity for a given surface and determine the
uncertainty of the emissivity.
IMPULSE Investigation of Motor Performance Under The purpose of the IMPULSE project is to develop a test bed
Low-frequency Shock Environments that measures the effects of a force imparted by the test bed
(Pedalectric Inc.) on a hubmotor/wheel system.
FENIX Fluid Extraction for Nozzle Injection Design an experimental test bed to facilitate experiments for
eXperiment (EEF, UROP) thrust vectoring and supersonic throat constriction
AES-SRP-Customer Guidelines, 6/1/2012 11
12. SPEAR Sounding Payload Ejection And Recovery The goal of the SPEAR project is to design, build and validate a
(ULA) payload ejection and recovery system for the HySoR launch
vehicle.
AES-SRP-Customer Guidelines, 6/1/2012 12