− | Optical Communications is a student-led project aiming to develop the capability to establish high-bandwidth data links over free space. The group began work at the beginning of the 2014-2015 academic year, under the leadership of Thomas Teisberg and Logan Herrera. It was initially formed to investigate the possibility of space-based optical communications, with the intent to participate in the NASA [[CubeQuest Challenge]], a competition for small satellite design. Since its inception, the Optical Communications group has evolved to focus on the establishment of long-distance optical links, with the eventual goal of integrating this technology into a CubeSat form-factor satellite for the purposes of space-based communication. In its first year of existence, the group developed a system involving mechanized altitude/azimuth mounts, an original receiver device consisting of a Fresnel lens and photodetector, and a MATLAB pointing algorithm based on reference point alignment. The group’s final test resulted in the successful establishment of an optical link over [[OpComms System III|10 kilometers]]. | + | Optical Communications was a student-led project that aimed to develop the capability to establish high-bandwidth data links over free space. The group began work at the beginning of the 2014-2015 academic year, under the leadership of Thomas Teisberg and Logan Herrera. It was initially formed to investigate the possibility of space-based optical communications, with the intent to participate in the NASA [[CubeQuest Challenge]], a competition for small satellite design, but later moved away from the competition design constraints. |
− | The current team leads are [[User:Smaldonado|Sasha Maldonado]] and [[User:Ehillstrom|Elizabeth Hillstrom]]. | + | The Optical Communications group evolved to focus on the establishment of long-distance optical links, with the eventual goal of integrating this technology into a CubeSat form-factor satellite for the purposes of space-based communication. In its first year of existence, the group developed a system involving mechanized altitude/azimuth mounts, an original receiver device consisting of a Fresnel lens and photodetector, and a MATLAB pointing algorithm based on reference point alignment. The group’s final test of the 2014-15 year resulted in the successful establishment of an optical lock over [[SSI-1E4|10 kilometers]]. The group was able to successfully transmit encoded data over 10 kilometers in August 2015. |