Space Debris: Characterising and Capturing a Deadly Threat
Engineering, IT, Mathematics and Statistics
PLEASE NOTE
- This internship may be eligible for funding through the Australian Government Women in STEM and Entrepreneurship (WiSE) grant. Female STEM HDR students are encouraged to apply.
- The ideal candidate will be able to travel to the industry partner’s premises in Adelaide for part of or for the full duration of the project
ABOUT THE INDUSTRY PARTNER
Paladin Space is building the world’s first satellite payload with a reusable method of capturing and removing space debris – think Wall-E for space. We plan to host a technology demonstration wherein space debris will be imaged, characterised, and captured in a lab environment. Paladin Space has designed and built the proprietary mechanism using affordable COTS materials, but requires suitable image processing capability to better characterise the debris.
WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU?
- Building relationships with major space industry players such as international government space agencies, and leading space operators. This will develop stakeholder/customer management skills.
- Application of technical theory to real-world applications in a lab environment. Being able to apply ML algorithms and test the performance against physical lab demonstrations.
- Deeper understanding of the space environment and the design challenges/limitations that are associated with it. By designing suitable image processing capability in a variety of ‘simulated’ environments such as pure darkness, blinding lights, hot/cold, and with varying spin-rates of the debris targets, it will be an opportunity to develop a resilient codebase that will be internationally recognised.
- Opportunity to have a mix of working from home and to be hands in the lab.
- Subject to performance, there will be an opportunity to extend the internship into a fully paid member of the Paladin Space team, and/or offer of employment once the applicant’s university degree concludes.
RESEARCH TO BE CONDUCTED
The objectives include the generation of suitable ML pipeline(s) from a combination of sensors to determine spin-rate, shape, and size of a moving object. Questions for the relevant applicant should include whether previous experience in satellite pose estimation has been demonstrated during university/extra-curricular studies.All of the necessary equipment for the project will be provided by Paladin Space, including the relevant hardware and sensor suite. The applicant will be expected to use their own computer for the research.
SKILLS WISH LIST
If you’re a postgraduate research student and meet some or all the below we want to hear from you. We strongly encourage women, indigenous and disadvantaged candidates to apply:
Essential:
- Computer Science degree or equivalent
- Expertise in Computer Vision engineering
- Previous experience of developing ML algorithms
- Flexible to an agile startup working environment
- Mechatronics/robotics knowledge to understand the sensor hardware integration
- Ability to travel to Adelaide for partial/full duration of the internship to perform the testing
RESEARCH OUTCOMES
The expected outcome from the technology demonstration will be the world’s first system that can capture multiple items of ‘space debris’ in a lab environment. The AI image processing capability will be a novel contribution to ensure that the debris will be safe/suitable to capture. Note that over 99% of all space debris are small items such as particles, fragments, and other small mission-related debris, however, a fragmented piece of debris has never before been imaged from space. This research could enable a in-orbit demonstration of this capability which will mark the world’s first capture/imaging of fragmented debris.
ADDITIONAL DETAILS
The intern will receive $3,000 per month of the internship, usually in the form of scholarship payments.
It is expected that the intern will primarily undertake this research project during regular business hours and maintain contact with their academic mentor throughout the internship either through face-to-face or phone meetings as appropriate.
The intern and their academic mentor will have the opportunity to negotiate the project’s scope, milestones and timeline during the project planning stage.
Please note, applications are reviewed regularly and this internship may be filled prior to the advertised closing date if a suitable applicant is identified. Early submissions are encouraged.
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