Direnc Atmaca

This project includes the modelling, path finding and localization for a rover on the Mars surface near the Jezero crater.

The complete design consists of the following steps:

• Kinematic modelling and simulation of the rover in order to move from an initial pose to a final pose to perform sampling operations
• Creating an A* algorithm that finds the most optimal path in order to move around the Jezero crater by avoiding the hazardous regions previously determined using a digital elevation model
• Estimating the quality of the onboard odometer by reconstructing the true paths that are generated in the prior steps through dead reckoning
• Reconstructing the same paths by using an Extended Kalman Filter that takes a combination of odometer and LIDAR readings as input. The LIDAR readings are obtained through the pre-located landmarks on the Mars surface and are used to increase the accuracy of the path reconstruction

This project includes the modeling of 5 quadrotors equipped with proper control systems to track a particular trajectory as well as control barrier enforcement to guarantee safe operation.

The complete design includes the following objectives:

• Modeling the system dynamics of each quadrotor on MATLAB/Simulink
• Generating reference trajectories for each quadrotor that are guaranteed to lead to collisions
• Designing a hierarchical proportional-derivative control system to track the generated trajectories
• Synthesizing Control Barrier Certificates by using Exponential Control Barrier Functions
• Enforcing the Control Barrier Certificates on pairwise quadrotors to prevent collisions through a quadratic program that generates a safe control action by taking the system dynamics, barrier functions and nominal control as input
• Validating that the quadratic program minimizes the difference between the nominal and safe control action while preventing collisions

A space manipulator is designed for a spacecraft in the Martian orbit to perform independent pointing of a stereo camera.

The complete design includes the following steps:

1. Fixed Base Assumption
   • Modelling of the manipulator using Denavit-Hartenberg formulation
   • Obtaining the Jacobian and the dynamical equations of motion
   • Trajectory generation in order to track a particular location on the martian surface
   • Design of a proper control system to obtain the desired trajectory and to reject the disturbances acting on the spacecraft

2. Free Base Assumption
   • Modelling of a virtual manipulator following the Denavit-Hartenberg formulation (S. Dubowski and Z. Vafa, 1987)
   • Trajectory generation for the virtual manipulator

• Tracked a spacecraft orbiting the moon by a using ground station located on Earth
• Implemented different sensors that measure distance and velocity at different accuracies
• Fused the sensor outputs using a Kalman Filter to obtain a new and more accurate time history of the state vector
• Replicated the results using the Weighted Least Squares (WLS) method to compare the results with the Kalman Filter
• Reproduced the results by assuming the ground station is located on the Moon instead of the Earth

This project has been developed as a multi-disciplinary senior design project. The goal was to design a package tracker that harnesses the vibrational energy available in the environment to power a tracking system without depending on an external power source. The project included three students from aerospace engineering, electrical and electronics engineering and mechanical engineering programs.

My responsibilities in this project were as follows:

•Dynamical modelling of the vibrational energy available inside a cargo vehicle
•Designing a electromagnetic transducer to harness the vibrational energy and to convert it to electrical energy
•Optimizing the transducer design to match the energy and power requirements of the tracking device

The objectives of this project were as follows:

•Modelling the vibrations of a cargo vehicle considering 7 degrees of freedom
•Designing a transducer to harness the vibrational energy and to convert it to electrical energy
•Generating RF signals from the electrical energy using power electronics