Fred Leve
Researcher
Department
of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
fleve@ufl.edu
(352)-246-2411
Education
2005: B.S. Aerospace Engineering,University of Florida
2005: B.S. Mechanical Engineering, University of Florida
2008: M.S. Aerospace Engineering, University of Florida
Work Experience
AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate (Space Scholars Program)
Publications
Frederick Leve, "Analysis of a Passive Interface Platform Design for Autonomous Rendezvous and Docking,"
Presented at the 2004 AIAA Region II Student Conference
Kaveh Albekord, Theresia Jonsson, Gloria J. Wiens, Frederick Leve, Norman Fitz-Coy, "Pre-Capture Mode
Controller for In-Space Operations using Expert Space Robots," Presented at the 2005 FCRAR.
Frederick Leve, Andrew Tatsch, and Norman Fitz-Coy, "A Scalable Control Moment Gyro Design for Attitude
Control of Micro-, Nano-, and Pico-Class Satellites," Presented at the 2007 AAS GNC Conference
Frederick Leve, Dante Buckley, Norman Fitz-Coy, “Tactic-Turnkey Attitude Control Technology Inside Cubesat”,
Presented at the 2006-2007 FUNSAT Design competition
Frederick Leve, et al, “Astrec-I”, Presented at the 2007-2008 FUNSAT Design competition
Frederick Leve, Andrew Tatsch, and Norman Fitz-Coy, "Three-axis attitude control design for on-orbit robotics,"
Presented at the 2007 AIAA Infotech Conference
Awards Received
Recipient of the AIAA Abe Zarem Award for Distinguished Achievement in Astronautics 2006
Winner of the IAF Silver Herman Oberth Medal at the 2006 International Astronautical Congress Conference
Winner in graduate category for the best paper in the 2006 AIAA Regional Student Conference
DEI Academic Honor Society
Bright Futures Scholarship – Spring 2000
Research Interests
Attitude Determination and Control of Spacecraft
Relative Motion Control of Spacecraft
Astrodynamics
Satellite Pursuit Evasion
Small Satellite Design
The research I have performed for my masters is concerned with precision attitude of small satellites with use of single-gimbal control moment gyroscopes (SGCMG). These devices have been investigated for use on smaller more agile satellites due to their low power and property of torque amplification. As of now these devices are still in the experimental phase and have only been flown on one small satellite mission (e.g. Turkish Bilsat-1). There is a need to better understand the dynamics and mathematics of these objects before they can become a viable option. To accomplish this, an ACS consisting of a four SGCMG ACS in a pyramid configuration has been developed as part of a ground-based testbed to test the application of developed control algorithms and steering logic.
Another topic of research with which I am involved in is satellite pursuit-evasion with practical actuator constraints. Satellite pursuit-evasion is the study of methods to which one satellite may pursue or evade other satellites. It becomes complicated to come up with verifiable algorithms to accomplish this due to actuator and orbit constraints.
Currently literature of this problem does not include actuator constraints such as burn wait times due to overheated radiators and/or limited slew rates of an ACS. Most solutions to this problem use linear-quadratic differential game theory or optimal control that may prove to be too computationally intensive then what is able to be used onboard a satellite processor. Literature also tends to assume variable magnitude continuous thrust and perfect information which at this time is not realistic. Another constraint that needs to be considered in these problems is that there are large delays in satellite to satellite communication. These delays leave it impossible to know where the evading satellite is at all times therefore leaving it the ability to avoid the pursuer’s line of sight. This avoidance if for only a matter of time causes large propagation error in the pursuer’s knowledge of the evading satellites states. For these reasons new methods of solving this problem are being investigated.