NASA R&D Intern

June, 2020

Many satelites (Kepler, FUSE, Dawn, Hayabusa) have suffered failure of reaction wheels due to bearing failures. The Correlated Electromagnetic Levitation Actuator (CELA) replaces conventional reaction wheels with an electromagnetically levitating actuator.

I worked on advancing the current prototype for CELA, including determining and documenting design goals, conducting research, and designing parts.

For the manufacturing of the actuator, I designed a custom end effector for a 6 DOF robotic arm capable of selectively magnetizing a plate. This manufacturing process creates custom correlated magnets, allowing for discrete magnetic regions controllable by external electromagnets.

I worked across subteams to assist with project management and documentation tasks, including an overall project report and video for grant funding submission.