Mr. Gabriel Finneran Profile

Gabriel Finneran

at Univ College Dublin

SPIE Involvement:

Author

Publications (6)

SPIE Journal Paper | 1 August 2023 Open Access

Development, description, and validation of the operations manual for EIRSAT-1, a 2U CubeSat with a gamma-ray burst detector

Rachel Dunwoody, Maeve Doyle, David Murphy, Gabriel Finneran, Derek O'Callaghan, Jack Reilly, Joseph Thompson, Sai Krishna Reddy Akarapu, Cuán de Barra, Laura Cotter, Aaron Empey, Joseph Fisher, Joseph Mangan, Caimin McKenna, Bas Stijnen, Lorraine Hanlon, David McKeown, William O’Connor, Alexey Uliyanov, Ronan Wall, Brian Shortt, Sheila McBreen

JATIS, Vol. 9, Issue 03, 037001, (August 2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.10.1117/1.JATIS.9.3.037001

KEYWORDS: Space operations, Gamma radiation, Data communications, Satellites, Frequency modulation, Fermium, Data storage, Education and training, Equipment, Windows

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CubeSats provide opportunities for science and technology demonstration missions with low-cost solutions and short project timescales, in particular, for studying gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) in the multi-messenger era. A robust operations strategy for scientific CubeSat projects is key to optimizing the results obtained from the experimental instruments. The Educational Irish Research Satellite-1 (EIRSAT-1) is a 2U CubeSat with three payloads, including a bespoke gamma-ray detector, gamma-ray module (GMOD), developed in-house for the detection of GRBs. The detection and reporting of GRB triggers to the scientific community complicates and drives the mission operational strategy. The operational procedures developed for commissioning and operating GMOD are detailed. The successful operation of EIRSAT-1 will facilitate the detection of ∼15 GRBs / year in low Earth orbit. To increase the likelihood of mission success, the project is following a prototype model philosophy, building, and testing, both an engineering qualification model (EQM) and flight model. The EIRSAT-1 operations manual is the document that will instruct operators in commanding the spacecraft correctly and efficiently throughout the mission lifetime. The operations manual must be refined in parallel to payload development. This two-model philosophy has provided time for the early development of the EIRSAT-1 operations manual with the EQM. The EIRSAT-1 operations manual has undergone incremental updates based on feedback from operational development tests (ODTs), and a version with 35 procedures was frozen prior to the month-long EQM mission test (MT). Specifically, the objective of our work is to validate and refine the operations manual using the EQM MT process. Although the ODTs were effective preparation, the MT process highlighted issues, such as procedures operators found convoluted, and scenarios not yet considered during the initial development stages. Two new procedures were identified, 8 procedures required major updates, 15 required minor updates, and the remaining 12 required no improvements after the MT. The validation process facilitated operator training in mission representative conditions, such as GRB triggering data downlink with GMOD, and the major lessons learned during the development and validation process are presented.

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SPIE Journal Paper | 19 March 2023 Open Access

Design, development and testing of flight software for EIRSAT-1: a university-class CubeSat enabling astronomical research

Maeve Doyle, Andrew Gloster, Meadhbh Griffin, Mike Hibbett, Jack Kyle, Conor O’Toole, Joseph Mangan, David Murphy, Nicholas Wong, Sai Krishna Reddy Akarapu, Rachel Dunwoody, Jessica Erkal, Gabriel Finneran, Jack Reilly, Lána Salmon, Joseph Thompson, Sarah Walsh, Brian Shortt, Antonio Martin-Carrillo, Sheila McBreen, David McKeown, William O’Connor, Alexey Uliyanov, Ronan Wall, Lorraine Hanlon

JATIS, Vol. 9, Issue 01, 017002, (March 2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.10.1117/1.JATIS.9.1.017002

KEYWORDS: Software development, Design and modelling, Space operations, Satellites, Antennas, Windows, Gamma radiation, Commercial off the shelf technology, Analog to digital converters, Astronomy

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Proceedings Article | 31 August 2022 Poster + Paper

Performance analysis of embedded firmware for the detection of gamma-ray bursts on a 2U CubeSat

Joseph Mangan, David Murphy, Rachel Dunwoody, Maeve Doyle, Alexey Uliyanov, Mike Hibbett, Sai Krishna Reddy Akarapu, Jessica Erkal, Gabriel Finneran, Fergal Marshall, Jack Reilly, Lána Salmon, Eoghan Somers, Joseph Thompson, Sarah Walsh, Lorraine Hanlon, David McKeown, William O'Connor, Brian Shortt, Ronan Wall, Sheila McBreen

Proceedings Volume 12181, 121815A (2022) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2627064

KEYWORDS: Pulse generators, Sensors, Gamma radiation, Logic, Data storage, Space operations, Photons, Device simulation, Scintillators, Satellites

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Proceedings Article | 29 August 2022 Presentation + Paper

Design, development, and testing of flight software for EIRSAT-1: a university-class CubeSat enabling astronomical research

Maeve Doyle, Andrew Gloster, Meadhbh Griffin, Mike Hibbett, Jack Kyle, Conor O'Toole, Joseph Mangan, David Murphy, Nicholas Wong, Sai Krishna Reddy Akarapu, Rachel Dunwoody, Jessica Erkal, Gabriel Finneran, Jack Reilly, Lána Salmon, Joseph Thompson, Sarah Walsh, Brian Shortt, Antonio Martin-Carrillo, Sheila McBreen, David McKeown, William O'Connor, Alexei Ulyanov, Ronan Wall, Lorraine Hanlon

Proceedings Volume 12189, 1218915 (2022) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2627464

KEYWORDS: Software development, Space operations, Satellites, Gamma radiation, Commercial off the shelf technology, Data processing, Astronomy

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Proceedings Article | 25 August 2022 Presentation + Paper

Validation of the operations manual for EIRSAT-1, a 2U CubeSat with a novel gamma-ray burst detector

Rachel Dunwoody, Maeve Doyle, David Murphy, Gabriel Finneran, Derek O'Callaghan, Jack Reilly, Joseph Thompson, Sai Krishna Reddy Akarapu, Jessica Erkal, Joseph Mangan, Lána Salmon, Sarah Walsh, Lorraine Hanlon, David McKeown, William O'Connor, Alexey Uliyanov, Ronan Wall, Brian Shortt, Sheila McBreen

Proceedings Volume 12186, 121861B (2022) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2631695

KEYWORDS: Space operations, Gamma radiation, Sensors, Data storage, Data communications, Satellites, Antennas, Signal processing, Satellite communications

Read Abstract +

CubeSats provide opportunities for science and technology demonstration missions with low-cost solutions and short project timescales, in particular, for studying gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) in the multi-messenger era. A robust operations strategy for scientific CubeSat projects is key to optimising the results obtained from the experimental instruments. The Educational Irish Research Satellite (EIRSAT-1) is a 2U CubeSat with three novel payloads, including a bespoke gamma-ray detector, GMOD, developed in-house for the detection of GRBs. The detection and reporting of GRB triggers to the scientific community complicates and drives the mission operational strategy. The operational procedures developed for commissioning and operating GMOD are detailed. The successful operation of EIRSAT-1 will facilitate the detection of ∼15 GRBs/year in low earth orbit. To increase the likelihood of mission success, the project is following a prototype model philosophy, building and testing, both an Engineering Qualification Model (EQM) and Flight Model (FM). The EIRSAT-1 operations manual is the document that will instruct operators in commanding the spacecraft correctly and efficiently throughout the mission lifetime. The operations manual must be refined in parallel to payload development. This two-model philosophy has provided time for the early development of the EIRSAT-1 operations manual with the EQM. The EIRSAT-1 operations manual has undergone incremental updates based on feedback from Operational Development Tests (ODTs) and a version with 35 procedures was frozen prior to the month-long EQM mission test (MT). Specifically, the objective of this work is to validate and refine the operations manual using the EQM MT process. Although the ODTs were effective preparation, the MT process highlighted issues such as procedures operators found convoluted, and scenarios not yet considered during the initial development stages. Two new procedures were identified, eight procedures required major updates, fifteen required minor updates and the remaining twelve required no improvements after the MT. The validation process facilitated operator training in mission representative conditions, such as GRB triggering data downlink with GMOD, and the major lessons learned during the development and validation process are presented.

Proceedings Article | 11 June 2021 Open Access

Mission testing for improved reliability of CubeSats

Maeve Doyle, Rachel Dunwoody, Gabriel Finneran, David Murphy, Jack Reilly, Joseph Thompson, Sarah Walsh, Jessica Erkal, Gianluca Fontanesi, Joseph Mangan, Fergal Marshall, Lána Salmon, Lily Ha, Aldous Mills, David Palma, Daithí de Faoite, Derek Greene, Antonio Martin-Carrillo, Sheila McBreen, David McKeown, William O'Connor, Kenneth Stanton, Alexei Ulyanov, Ronan Wall, Lorraine Hanlon

Proceedings Volume 11852, 118526M (2021) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2600305

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CubeSats are a small satellite technology that ﬁrst emerged in the space sector in the early 2000s. Their low-cost, fast-delivery design has made space more accessible, leading to a signiﬁcant increase in the number of satellites launched per year as well as the number of nations launching satellites. As an example, the Educational Irish Research Satellite, EIRSAT-1, is a CubeSat being developed by a student-led team at University College Dublin, aiming to launch Ireland’s ﬁrst satellite. Originally viewed as educational tools, the capabilities of CubeSats to satisfy a wide range of aims, from technology demonstration to Earth observation and scientiﬁc aims, is growing as these satellite platforms advance. However, following two decades of launches, an issue still facing their success as a disruptive technology is the high failure rate of CubeSats. This is a result of the CubeSat design philosophy where, in lieu of challenging resource demands, higher levels of risk are more acceptable compared to conventional space missions. In an eﬀort to reduce these risks, this work presents an overview and highlights the beneﬁts of a testing technique, known as Mission Testing. Mission Testing diﬀers from other satellite testing in that ﬂight representative conditions are simulated during the test. This aspect of the test mitigates risks not addressed elsewhere, such as risks related to the order and duration of operations, and also oﬀers a number of unique beneﬁts, such as operations training for the Mission Control Team. As part of this work, results of a survey disseminated to CubeSat teams are presented, where the aspects of Mission Testing considered most valuable and lessons learned in light of on-orbit operations are identiﬁed. How these results have helped shape the Mission Test plans for the EIRSAT-1 mission are also discussed and overview of the test plans are presented. In addition to the beneﬁts for EIRSAT-1, this study aims to provide a resource for CubeSat teams in general, wanting to improve mission reliability through comprehensive Mission Testing.

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