Moon Landing Simulation
Moon Landing Simulation
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Write a 1-2 sentence description of your project
Write a 1-2 sentence description of your project
Spring of 2019
The moon landing simulation was a project I completed for the class Advanced Dynamics taught by professor Ruina at Cornell. The project was open ended, but had to be something that demonstrated all of the core concepts learned in the class. Simulating the moon landing was a perfect candidate for this as it showed my mastery of linear and rotational dynamics, practically implemented them via MATLAB, and used the principles learned in the class in a new way by including mass dynamics. Unfortunately the files for the project were stored on an old computer that got wiped before I could save them, and all that remains of the project are some low quality screenshots like the one above.
The moon landing simulation was a project I completed for the class Advanced Dynamics taught by professor Ruina at Cornell. The project was open ended, but had to be something that demonstrated all of the core concepts learned in the class. Simulating the moon landing was a perfect candidate for this as it showed my mastery of linear and rotational dynamics, practically implemented them via MATLAB, and used the principles learned in the class in a new way by including mass dynamics. Unfortunately the files for the project were stored on an old computer that got wiped before I could save them, and all that remains of the project are some low quality screenshots like the one above.
The final product was a fun simulation game in which you piloted the lunar module from its orbital state above the moon down to the lunar surface. In order to be successful the player had to watch their fuel consumption, altitude, and speed. The player could loose in one of two ways, they could either fail to land on the moon, using their fuel poorly and escaping the moons gravitational pull, or they could try to land at too high a speed crashing into the moons surface and destroying the landing craft.
The final product was a fun simulation game in which you piloted the lunar module from its orbital state above the moon down to the lunar surface. In order to be successful the player had to watch their fuel consumption, altitude, and speed. The player could loose in one of two ways, they could either fail to land on the moon, using their fuel poorly and escaping the moons gravitational pull, or they could try to land at too high a speed crashing into the moons surface and destroying the landing craft.
There were multiple dynamic forces governing the movement of the craft at any given time, all of which were properly scaled using the data from the actual apollo 11 moon mission. This data was found on NASA's webpage and is publicly available. The dynamic forces of the capsule were broken down into 2 groups the thrusters and gravity, both had mass considerations.
There were multiple dynamic forces governing the movement of the craft at any given time, all of which were properly scaled using the data from the actual apollo 11 moon mission. This data was found on NASA's webpage and is publicly available. The dynamic forces of the capsule were broken down into 2 groups the thrusters and gravity, both had mass considerations.
The capsule had 2 main thruster types, the main thruster which is used to control the descent, and the 4 sets of maneuvering thrusters which are used to orient the capsule in 3D space. Since the simulation was simplified to 2D this resulted in 3 total thrusters, the main thruster as well as 2 sets of maneuvering thrusters. Mathematically the main thruster worked solely in the +y direction of the reference frame, while the maneuvering thrusters rotated the reference frame, simulating the rotation of the space craft. To simplify the rotational dynamics I treated the entire capsule as a point mass and the thrusters as applying a constant moment. In addition, I was able to obtain and implement the mass flow rate of the thrusters, so as the thrusters were fired the total mass of the spacecraft would decrease, this will be covered in more depth a little later. I simplified the fuel storage by having all the fuel shared between the thrusters, realistically each thruster group had its own fuel tank, however this does not impact the overall dynamics of the system, and thus could be omitted.
The capsule had 2 main thruster types, the main thruster which is used to control the descent, and the 4 sets of maneuvering thrusters which are used to orient the capsule in 3D space. Since the simulation was simplified to 2D this resulted in 3 total thrusters, the main thruster as well as 2 sets of maneuvering thrusters. Mathematically the main thruster worked solely in the +y direction of the reference frame, while the maneuvering thrusters rotated the reference frame, simulating the rotation of the space craft. To simplify the rotational dynamics I treated the entire capsule as a point mass and the thrusters as applying a constant moment. In addition, I was able to obtain and implement the mass flow rate of the thrusters, so as the thrusters were fired the total mass of the spacecraft would decrease, this will be covered in more depth a little later. I simplified the fuel storage by having all the fuel shared between the thrusters, realistically each thruster group had its own fuel tank, however this does not impact the overall dynamics of the system, and thus could be omitted.
The force of gravity on the capsule varied based on the mass of the capsule and its distance from the center of the moon. The force of gravity was calculated using Newtons law of Universal Gravitation, as a result its total force varied based on the position and mass of the capsule. Since the mass and position of the capsule was constantly changing, so were the acting forces and inertia of the capsule making it hard to control and the game very challenging but accurate to real life space flight. All of the dynamics were applied in MATLAB, and control was achieved using listeners, and the whole thing was displayed using some basic graphics I designed myself.
The force of gravity on the capsule varied based on the mass of the capsule and its distance from the center of the moon. The force of gravity was calculated using Newtons law of Universal Gravitation, as a result its total force varied based on the position and mass of the capsule. Since the mass and position of the capsule was constantly changing, so were the acting forces and inertia of the capsule making it hard to control and the game very challenging but accurate to real life space flight. All of the dynamics were applied in MATLAB, and control was achieved using listeners, and the whole thing was displayed using some basic graphics I designed myself.
This Project was completely individual, I worked alone and did all aspects of it myself. I would say the project was a success, I accomplished everything I wanted to with it and received an excellent grade on the project. since this project was rather complex and required a good eye for detail, I think this project is a good showcase of my analytical approach as well as my mathematical skills coming out of undergrad.
This Project was completely individual, I worked alone and did all aspects of it myself. I would say the project was a success, I accomplished everything I wanted to with it and received an excellent grade on the project. since this project was rather complex and required a good eye for detail, I think this project is a good showcase of my analytical approach as well as my mathematical skills coming out of undergrad.
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