Environmentally Hardened Autonomous GPS Base Station
Sponsored Project by The Cultural Heritage Engineering Initiative (CHEI)
Embedded Files
University of California, San Diego
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
MAE 156B : Fundamental Principles of Mechanical Design II
Estefany Martinez, Karla Ballin, Omar Ramadan, Nathaniel Santana, Kylie Carmona
Project Background
Our sponsor CHEI is dedicated to preserving and studying of monuments. They conduct investigations of environmental and Archeological surveys that are non-destructive and are conducted to locate, map, and assess archeological sites, artifacts, and historical features.
Our project fully centers around a GPS base station that is designed to provide accurate positioning data in remote outdoor environments, where long-term reliability is critical. These systems are meant to operate continuously while exposed to dust, rain, and extreme temperatures which makes the enclosure design a key challenge.
This project focuses on developing an environmentally hardened enclosure that protects all internal electronics while managing heat generated during continuous operation.
The needs being addressed are to balance environmental sealing (IP54) with effective thermal performance as well as scalability for different electronic configurations that can generate up to 200w and a minimum of 20w.
Description of Design Solution
Current commercial systems fail under harsh conditions. They suffer from thermal overload, dust and water ingress ,and a lack of true portability.
Our solution is an environmentally hardened, autnomous GPS base station enclosure that aims to bridge the gap between high-precision surveying and environmental resilience.
The final design is built around a modified Pelican Storm Case IM2875, integrating a novel hybrid thermal management system. This system combines solar shading with active , forced air convection to dissipate a 20W internal heat load while maintaining temnpearture within 5°C of the ambient temperature. The enclosure achieves a rugged IP54 rating for dust and water protection, is fully transportable, and features a "universal" internal architecture that adapts to changing electronic configuratiosn without constant re-design.
Narrated Video Showing Design
narrated video draft.movKey Achievements
Validated performance: In 45°C ambient temperature testing, the system maintained an internal temperature of only 46.8°C, a rise just 1.8°C.
Environmental Resilience: Successfully passed IP5X (dust) and IPX4 (water splash) testing,
Portability: The system disassembles into two airline-checkable units, enabling CHEI researchers to deploy a standardized reliable geospatial reference point anywhere in the world.
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