Aerospace
Research Lab
Aerospace
Research Lab
Space is the NEXT BIG destination of humanity! With private players taking giant leaps in space travel, it is evident that the second space race is going on and aerospace has become one of the in-demand disciplines in today’s era.
Our aerospace research lab provides exposure to the basic and advanced concepts in aerospace as well as present and future challenges in the aerospace industry. Innovators at DiscoverSTEM gain great insights into the design and engineering of aircraft, spacecraft, and satellites and then indulge further in solving some real-world challenges in this field.
At our Aerospace Research Lab, we provide our students:
• Domain-specific
training.
• Activities to understand
domain concepts.
• One large project at
the end of the module.
• Domain-specific
training.
• Activities to understand
domain concepts.
• One large project at the end of the module.
• We leave our students by introducing them to some of the most pressing problems
in the aerospace domain, encouraging them to find solutions to these problems.
• We leave our students by introducing them to some of the most pressing problems in the aerospace domain, in the aerospace domain, encouraging them to find solutions to these problems.
Our Domain Research Lab Curriculum is inspired by the curriculums of some of the best universities in the world. These labs are designed with these three outcomes in mind:
- Introduce you to the basic and advanced topics of these domains through interesting and easy-to-understand modules.
- Introduce you to some of the challenges in these domains and encourage you to brainstorm ways to solve them.
- Enable you to find your passion early and empower you to make better and more informed career decisions later in your life.
Aerospace Research Lab Curriculum
- Early aircraft designs
- Classification of aircraft based on various factors of
their operations, design, propulsion, usage & wing type
Exercise: Design Analysis of Different Aircraft.
- Runways, Taxiways, Airport Signs, and Lighting
systems - Landing Aids at airports
- Lighting | Airport Beacons | Visual Approach Slope
Indicator (VASI) | Precision Approach Path Indicator
(PAPI) | VFR and IFR | Instrument Landing System
(ILS) - Airspace at a glance
- Classes of airspace
Exercise: Design crude attitude measurement equipment for an aircraft.
This curriculum is inspired from AA100 Introduction to Aeronautics and Astronautics – Stanford University BS Program in Aeronautics & Astronautics
- Introduction to the fundamental concepts of
Physics- Air Pressure | Mass, Volume and Weight | Force |
Density | Temperature | Fluid Friction | Drag
Altitude | Sea level conditions
- Air Pressure | Mass, Volume and Weight | Force |
Exercise: Analysis of an aircraft’s flight with respect to different flight parameters
This curriculum is inspired from AA141 Atmospheric Flight – Stanford University BS Program in Aeronautics & Astronautics
- Aerodynamics of flight
- Forces acting on an aircraft | How do wings generate lift?
- Newtonian Physics I Bernoulli’s principle I Coanda Effect
- Airfoil Design
- Introduction | Airfoil Terminology | Different types of an airfoil | Angle of attack and its impact on lift | Center of pressure & its impact on flight control | Wingtip vortex | Lift Coefficient
Exercise: Designing an Airfoil with Maximum Lift and Minimum Drag.
This curriculum is inspired from AA173 Flight Mechanics and Controls – Stanford University BS Program in Aeronautics & Astronautics
- Introduction to terminologies in Aeronautics
- Airplane axis and degree of freedom I Pitch, Yaw & Roll
- Control surfaces on an aircraft
- Vertical & Horizontal Stabilizer I Aileron I Flaps & Slats I Airbrake/Spoilers I Rudder
- Forces acting on an aircraft, Moment of Force
- Lift formula, Lift coefficient, and angle of attack
- Drag forces and their classification | Stall & Coffin Corner
- Principles of flight | Aspect Ratio | Angle of Attack
- How does an aircraft fly, climb, and turn?
- Load factor of an aircraft I How do helicopters fly?
Exercise: Designing & Building a Remote-controlled Aircraft.
This curriculum is inspired from AA131 Space Flight – Stanford University BS Program in Aeronautics & Astronautics
- What is the Space and Karman line?
- Satellites | A Day in the Life of a NASA Satellite Team
- A tour of the International Space Station (ISS)
- Can an airplane fly into space?
- Introduction to Orbital Dynamics —
- Part 1 (Going to the moon) I Part 2 (Hohmann Transfer) I
- Part 3 (Interplanetary Travel) I Part 4 (The Oberth Effect)
- Spacecraft Attitude determination
Exercise: Designing a ‘Hybrid’ Plane that has Propulsion to Fly in the Atmosphere as well as in Space.
This curriculum is inspired from AA103 Air and Space Propulsion — Stanford University BS Program in Aeronautics & Astronautics
- Rockets 101 | The rocket science — All about Rockets
- Rocket systems: Structural | Propulsion I Payload | Guidance I Brief history of rockets | Rocket staging
- Introduction to jet engine
- Rocket propulsion and types of rocket propulsion
- Liquid | Solid | Hybrid | Multistage | Air breathing
- Future of propulsion
- Electric Plasma Jet Engine | Nuclear Propulsion | Ion Engine | Plasma Thrust Experiment 1 & 2 | Solar sails | Laser-Assisted Propulsion
Exercise: Designing a futuristic propulsion system.
This curriculum is inspired from AA172 Guidance & Navigation – Stanford University BS Program in Aeronautics & Astronautics
- Introduction to Spacecraft Guidance, Navigation, and Control Systems (GN&C)
- Case study: Missile Guidance System
Exercise: Designing a Guidance and Navigation System for a Robot
This curriculum is inspired from AA279A Space Mechanics – Stanford University BS Program in Aeronautics & Astronautics
- Gravity and how it enables orbits | Orbit types
- Satellite orbit types & how satellites stay in the orbit
- Kepler’s Laws I Launch, Propulsion, and Re-entry
- Orbital Rendezvous and Launch Window
Exercise: Designing a satellite system for 24×7 connectivity
This curriculum is inspired from AA136A Spacecraft Design – Stanford University BS Program in Aeronautics & Astronautics
- Introduction to Spacecraft Subsystems
Exercise: Designing, Building, and Launching a Satellite to Monitor Forest Fire
This curriculum is inspired from AA136A Spacecraft Design – Stanford University BS Program in Aeronautics & Astronautics
- What is a CubeSat? | Space 2.0 and CubeSat
- Challenges in CubeSat Engineering — Propulsion
- An example of innovative CubeSat Propulsion
- Hardware and Software Design Challenges in a Spacecraft — a study with an example of SpaceX Falcon 9 & Dragon
Exercise: Designing a ‘Nano Satellite’ to Accomplish a Novel Application from Space.
This curriculum is inspired from AA146A Aircraft Design – Stanford University BS Program in Aeronautics & Astronautics
- A tour of aircraft structure, systems, and avionics
- Aircraft Fuselage | Structure Types | Frames
- Aircraft design process | Requirement | Function | Wings & other surface geometry | Dimensions | Engines
- Engineering Drawing and weight calculation
- Control Surface Finalization I Aircraft wing design
Exercise: Designing the Most Efficient Airplane in the World.
- Introduction to Avionics and Fly-By-Wire System:
- Principle drivers of avionics systems requirements
- Avionics systems on a multipurpose aircraft
- Cockpit Display Systems | Primary Flight Display (PFD) | Multi-Function Display (MFD) | Engine Instrument and Crew Alert System (EICAS) | Case study: Boeing 737 and Gulfstream 6550 Flight deck
- Future of Cockpit Display System
Exercise: Designing a Cockpit Display System to Prevent Human Error which could lead to Plane Crash.
- Flight Management System (FMS)
- Traffic Alert Collision Avoidance System (TCAS)
- Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS)
- Mode 1: Excessive descent rate
- Mode 2: Excessive closure to terrain
- Mode 3: Altitude loss after takeoff
- Mode 4: Unsafe terrain clearance
- Mode 5: Excessive glideslope deviation
- Mode 6: Advisory callout/bank angle
- Mode 7: Windshear Alerting
Exercise: Designing Avionics for Flying Bike for Urban Transportation
Some of the Innovations made by DiscoverSTEM Students
in this Research Lab are:
Relay based system to
launch a projectile
Patent Details:
Automated Aircraft Tray Table Disinfecting System Using Ultra-Violet light
(This innovation was ‘Alternate Finalist’ at Conrad Spirit of Innovation Challenge-2018, held at NASA Kennedy Space Center.)
Patent Details:
Deep sea pressure based projectile
launching system
Patent Details:
