Momentum - April 2021 - 21

BRIEFS
U MICHIGAN STUDIES NEW PROPULSION METHOD FOR CUBESATS

AUBURN OPENS AUTONOMOUS
VEHICLE RESEARCH FACILITY

Auburn University's new autonomous vehicle research facility
Auburn University recently opened the doors to a
sophisticated new autonomous vehicle research facility at
Auburn's National Center for Asphalt Technology test track -
one of the few facilities of its kind in the nation attached to a
test track. The addition will aid researchers in Auburn
University's GPS and Vehicle Dynamics Laboratory, whose work
is frequently conducted outdoors. The facility provides a
garage with multiple bays and lifts for commercial trucks and
passenger vehicles, office space for researchers, a conference
room and an observation area overlooking NCAT's 1.7-mile oval
test track.

MOMENTUM

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magnetic field exerts a force on the wire. The team plans to use
the force from the Earth's magnetic field to climb higher in
orbit, compensating for the drag of the atmosphere.

ENGINEERING A SAFER BATTERY
Lithium-ion batteries have
enabled the use of
numerous technologies,
from electric vehicles to
smartphones to tablets.
But their convenience and
versatility come at a cost:
the potential for
flammability. A team at
the J. Mike Walker '66
Department of
Engineering at Texas A&M
University is working to
alleviate these concerns
and reduce the risk of fire
with the support of a
GM is projecting that its secondthree-year National
Science Foundation grant. generation Ultium packs, expected middecade, will cost 60 percent less than the
General Motors in 2020
batteries in use today, with twice the
recalled more than
energy density expected.
50,000 Bolt electric cars
over battery fire concerns during charging. " To find fire
suppressants that are efficient at the chemical level, it is
important to understand first the detailed combustion
chemistry of the electrolyte, " said one of the researchers.
" Therefore, our approach consists of studying experimentally
the combustion chemistry of the various constituents of the
electrolyte, developing and validating detailed kinetics models,
and finally to using this knowledge to identify the best fire
suppressants and their ideal concentration. " n

April 2021 21

Photo by Steve Fecht for General Motors

The feasibility of a new propulsion method that could enable
very small satellites (cubesats) to move around Earth's orbit
without carrying fuel is being studied at the University of
Michigan. One largely built by undergraduate students and
scheduled to have launched in January could pave the way for
tiny satellites that stay in orbit for long periods and operate in
swarms, monitoring storms and natural disasters, for example. A
cubesat is about the size of a loaf of bread, designed to hitch a
ride into space with a major mission. Cubesats are low-cost
ways to test out new technologies or enable students to get
hands-on experience with space exploration. The U Michigan
unit, called MiTEE, was scheduled to fly from the Mojave Air and
Space Port on Virgin Orbit's Launch Demo 2 in January. The
team is studying the idea of tethering two cell phone-sized
small satellites with a wire 10 to 30 meters long that is able to
drive current in either direction using power from solar panels
and closing the electrical circuit through the Earth's ionosphere.
When a wire conducts a current in a magnetic field, that

http://gavlab.auburn.edu/

Momentum - April 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Momentum - April 2021