Julian Rene Alvarez
Ultralight Bushplane
Part 103 Ultralight
278 pounds of airplane with 300cc of 2-stroke power to take me to the skies
GeoSat 1
Astranis MircoGeo Satellite
Delivering internet to Alaska at a gross mass of only 410 kg.
FoamMill
DIY CNC for Large Projects
Router based CNC for surfboards, wings, and anything that fits in its 72" x 26" x 10" volume.
MicroGeo Concept
400kg Satellite
Conceptual design and analysis of the primary structure of a notional micro-satellite bus.
Super Dove
Planet Labs
Highly integrated earth imaging cubesat with new features and capabilities.
RC1
All in one UAV Controller
Combining a number of UAV communications & control equipment in one elegant package.
Eaglet
MAV without a Tail
Design and prototype phase of an ultraportable, tailless MAV to autonomously search for waves.
Quicky
V-Tail UAV
25 hour design exercise to develop a fixed wing UAV that can carry a variety of payloads.
Eve
Natilus: Unmanned Cargo
By relying on the existing infrastructure of harbors, unmanned seaplanes offer expedited shipping at low cost.
Light Utility Vehicle
Humanitarian Delivery UAV
Design and build of a long range delivery aircraft to provide an affordable alternative to large scale airdrops.
Cygnet
Airware: Commercial Drones
Solving aeromechanical problems through design and prototyping in a R&D setting.
Aerobo
Storytelling from New Perspectives
Design, analysis, prototyping, and testing of multirotors for film, news, and TV.
CubeSat Solar Array
Micro-Scale Power Generation
Conceptual design of the mechanisms necessary to deploy steerable solar panels from within a1U Cubesat.
Solo
3DR Developing the SOLO
Designed assembly line fixtures for the Solo as well as performed extensive flight testing and tuning during the product's development in late 2014.
Falcon 9
Spacex: Reusable Rockets
Designing components with extreme environmental load conditions for the hyper-sonic gridfin system on the Falcon v1.1 and v1.2
TerraSoar
Electric Air-Ground Vehicle
Conceptual design, development and prototype of an original and novel LSA with folding wings.
MicroQuad
Exposed Strength
Design exercise of a mass optimized microquad capable of carrying a GoPro.
Fliegel
Simple Wing
Summer project to build a compact flying wing for lazy FPV flying on the weekends.
IR Avoidance Quad
Folding & Smart
Custom designed folding frame and integration of IR obstacle avoidance into the Arducopter flight stack.
Aeolus MAV
Perch & Stare
Design of VTOL MAV to compete in the DARPA UAVSourceForge.net competition.
Research Quadrotor
Reconfigurable Lifter
First attempt at building a multirotor UAV, intended to carry research payloads.
Guardian 2
Rocket Launched UAV
Revised G80 Rocket launched UAV with autopilot and streaming video.
Guardian 1
Rocket Launched UAV
G80 Rocket launched UAV for rapid response surveillance and reconnaissance.
Phantom 2
EDF VTOL
Streamlined revision of the Phantom 1 with increased hovering stability and updated outer mold line.
Phantom 1
EDF VTOL
Electric ducted fan VTOL UAV for surveillance and reconnaissance.
Ultralight Bush Plane
A composite ultralight airplane with light adventure capability
A modern homebuilt Ultralight
- Tricycle gear configuration come standard
- Optional trail dragger configuration
- Strut braced high wing aircraft
Folding wings
- Reduces the airplanes width for storage and transport
- Simple conversion that only takes a matter of minutes
- Strut braced wing to allow for wing folding
Astranis
Arcturus and Block 2 MircoGeo Satellite
Compact and Capable
410kg satellite to deliver internet service to Alaska
- 2+kW of solar power
- Complete ownership of primary structure
- Multiple secondary structure
FoamMill
DIY Backyard CNC Mill
Large and Repeatable
With a need to cut various large parts made of low density materials I decided it was time to build a CNC machine.
Planned projects that will rely on this machine include numerous surfboard, various composite components like fuel tanks, and parts for an ultralight aircraft.
Finished images of the first surfboard made on the CNC mill can be found here.
MicroGeo Concept Design
Notional 350kg Satellite Bus Structure
Structure Design Challenge
Design internal brackets to accomplish the following while remaining within an allocated volume:
- React 10 G launch loads in a stiff and strong manner
- Structural isolation for the Nadir panel during on-orbit operations
- Minimize mass
- Allow straightforward assembly and disassembly of the satellite without any destructive cutting of welds or bonds
- Reduce bolt interface load peaking to the degree possible.
- Minimize volume used by structure to the degree possible
Full Presentation: here
Planet Labs
Earth Imaging Cubesats
Global Ambitions
With a constellation of 100+ satellites, Planet images the entire world every day. This is accomplished with only 3UXL cubesats that weigh less than 7 kg.
Deployable Solar Wings
As a former member of the Planet Labs hardware team, I spent a majority of my time focused on mechanisms and deployment strategies to take the most advantage of the limited spacecraft volume alotted by the CubeSat standard. My projects included:
- 3 panel deployable solar wing with metallic components, as shown above via Planet Labs.
- Proposed and implementing a new solar array configuration
- Primary/Secondary Structures
- Cameras
- Star Trackers
- Reaction Wheels
- Deployable telescope baffles
- Assembly/Test fixtures
Satellites for Good
Planet Labs "Super Dove" Satellite hanging in the Guggenheim Museum in NYC 2020 as part of the Countryside, The Future Exhibit
RC1
All in one UAV Controller
After spending years carrying a tangle of equipment to the field on fly days with my UAVs, I decided to finally consolidate the following into one device:
- 2.4 Ghz direct RC Control Transmitter
- 900 Mhz Autopilot Data radio
- 5.8 Ghz Video Receiver
Designed to interface with my Nokia 6 via a built in USB hub, the controller simultaneously sends realtime control inputs, receives video, and allows for complete control over autopilot functionality.
Internal components for the RC portion of the functionality were taken from the Turnigy 9X that I was previously using as a standalone controller.
Powered by 18650 batteries with a simple 2 piece enclosure housing all components.
3D Printed front and rear housing.
Eaglet
Micro UAV
When going to surf in foreign lands, it can sometimes be a challenge to find the right break for the current conditions. My proposed solution is to scout the shoreline with an autonomous, fixed wing, micro-UAV.
Eaglet was designed in ~60 hours from initial concept to hitting print. Aerodynamic qualities were estimated with XFLR5 and range was estimated in Matlab. Mechanical design was completed in Solidworks. To keep the system portable, a primary design requirement was to have pack-out smaller than a carry on bag.
Specifications:
- 1.3 m Wingspan
- 1.2 kg MTOW
- 20 m/s Vcruise
- 150 km Range
- Plastic Laminated Composite Flying Surfaces
- 3D Printed Structural Components
- COTS Electronics
Drop a line
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