Summer Progress Update: Theory, Simulations, CAD Models, and more

Published 19 July 2021

Since our last blog post, we have made significant progress in preparing our experiment - particularly over the past few weeks, as the end of our exams allowed us to refocus our efforts on this project.

For instance, we have reinforced our understanding of the subject by collecting more journal articles and summarising key concepts into a document (Fig. 1). As of writing, we have managed to compile 27 pages worth of knowledge, providing us with further insights into our experiment design and allowing us to better analyse our results better later on.

Fig. 1. Key concepts we managed to compile into one ‘theory’ document.

In addition, we have also been actively modelling the various theories we encountered using COMSOL, as shown in Fig. 2. This allows us to simultaneously test our designs while also building up a working hypothesis for NFAL to compare with our results in the future.

Fig. 2. A transducer design being tested using COMSOL.

From a more practical standpoint, we have managed to write the pseudo-code to allow our setup to collect data remotely once activated inside the LDC gondola. This code currently spans ten pages, as shown in Fig. 3, and has been written with the support of our ELGRA mentor, Dr. Salgado, and our friendly resident engineer, Mr. Shaw.

Fig. 3. The pseudo-code that will be used to automatically collect data during the experiment.

With the help of some more friends from the physics department, we have also received news that our experimental frame, which we designed using CAD models (Fig. 4), is almost complete and will soon be ready for testing.

Fig. 4. The CAD model that we designed for one of our setups.

As we prepare to move into the building and testing stage of our project, we are happy to announce that we have secured exciting sponsorships from Althen Sensors, Digikey, the European Space Agency, and the UK Space Agency. Thanks to their generosity, we are now ready to begin ordering our equipment and expect to do so immediately after obtaining the go-ahead from our university's finance department. So stay tuned in the weeks ahead as we provide more regular updates as our project develops!