Development of an Automated Test Platform for Characterization and Performance Assessment of Electronic Modules in Electric Thrusters : The TESPEMET Project

There has been a sharp increase in the market for electric propulsion systems for small satellites in the recent years. Electric propulsion systems have become smaller, more efficient and cheaper, which made them ideal for small satellites because they have a low thrust requirement and benefit significantly from the high specific impulse (Isp) that is characteristic to electric thrusters. These thrusters are generally fabricated and tested manually and there is a low degree of automation in the process. As the demand for the thrusters increases, there is a need to improve the speed of the fabrication and testing process. The Test Platform for Electronics Modules in Electric Thrusters (TESPEMET) project at ThrustMe is an attempt to design a system that addresses this issue. The vision is to have a test platform that facilitates the testing of ThrustMe's Electric Thrusters by applying various source and load conditions, emulating events while performing instrumentation during the test process and generating a test report at the end of the test procedure. The development of such a test platform would enable and accelerate the test and qualification process of the thrusters significantly. This thesis presents the technical design of this test platform along with the results obtained, encountered problems and solutions. Future work and design changes have also been proposed based on the knowledge gained during the Research and Development process