Groupe aérospatial de l’Université Laval (GAUL) is a multidisciplinary group of students at Université Laval, in Québec Canada, well known for their innovative science and technology projects. Every year since its inception in 1993, GAUL brings together students with interests in engineering, math, and science, to apply their academic knowledge and skills in real world applications. This year, supported by the science and engineering faculty of Laval University and partnerships with companies like Ultra Librarian, the group plans to participate in the Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition (IREC) an event held during the Spaceport America Cup in June 2018. From mechanical structure to electronic systems the team will be tasked with designing, building, and testing a high-powered rocket. This exciting project will put our library of verified parts to the ultimate test in the hopes of accelerating and perfecting their PCB design.
It Really Is Rocket Science
The Spaceport America Cup is the world’s largest intercollegiate rocket engineering conference and competition. Students from over 70 institutions across the world competed in the 2017 Spaceport America cup. In order to effectively achieve their main goal, the students are dividing into four teams, the aerostructure team, the propulsion team, the avionics team, and the payload team. Collectively these teams must work together to build all facets of the rocket from airframe to the hybrid rocket engine, and all the electrical circuits in between. The main goal for the IREC competition is to launch a rocket to reach as precisely as possible an altitude of 10,000 feet carrying a scientific payload of 8.8 pounds. In order to achieve such a specific goal, a well-rounded understanding of engineering with a specific focus in electronic design is necessary.
Ultra Librarian Helps Students Soar in to Space
As the competition heats up, the avionic and payload divisions are heavily relied on for the development and implementation of the rockets PCB design. Marc-André Vigneault, a member of the rocket division, reached out to us for a sponsorship. After doing some research, Vigneault concluded Ultra Librarian would be the “best bridge between circuit design and building the circuit in an ECAD software”. Vigneault felt access to our library of component models was just the tool they needed to save time building symbols and footprints and accelerate their design processes. As part of the partnership we are providing GAUL students with unlimited access to our database of parts, allowing them the freedom to search and download free ECAD models which can be easily implemented into their schematic and PCB design. Additionally, we have offered the GAUL students the Silver desktop subscription to fulfill any additional part creation needs.
Although the competition is still a couple months out, we will actively follow their progress as the students work to design, develop, manufacturer, and test the properties of their high-power rocket. We are excited to be a part of such an innovative project and look forward to hearing their feedback along the way. Stay tuned on our social media pages (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+) for updates on the GAUL students on how they are utilizing Ultra Librarian to help them reach great heights.