M.Sc. Tobias Herbst

• Daedalus 2: Autorotation Entry, Descent and Landing Experiment on REXUS29. Bergmann, Philip; Riegler, Clemens; Klaschka, Zuri; Herbst, Tobias; Wolf, Jan M.; Reigl, Maximilian; Koch, Niels; Menninger, Sarah; von Pichowski, Jan; Bös, Cedric; Barthó, Bence; Dunschen, Frederik; Mehringer, Johanna; Richter, Ludwig; Werner, Lennart. In CoRR, abs/2406.11292. 2024.
  • [ BibTeX ]
  @article{journals/corr/abs-2406-11292, author = {Bergmann, Philip and Riegler, Clemens and Klaschka, Zuri and Herbst, Tobias and Wolf, Jan M. and Reigl, Maximilian and Koch, Niels and Menninger, Sarah and von Pichowski, Jan and Bös, Cedric and Barthó, Bence and Dunschen, Frederik and Mehringer, Johanna and Richter, Ludwig and Werner, Lennart}, journal = {CoRR}, keywords = {myown}, title = {Daedalus 2: Autorotation Entry, Descent and Landing Experiment on REXUS29.}, volume = {abs/2406.11292}, year = 2024 }
• Novel On-Board Data Processing Strategies on Nanosatellite SONATE-2. Andreas, Maurer; Oleksii, Balagurin; Tobias, Greiner; Tobias, Herbst; Tobias, Kaiser; Hakan, Kayal; Tobias, Schwarz. In Small Satellites, System & Services Symposium (4S). Palma de Mallorca, Spain, 2024.
  • [ Abstract ]
  • [ BibTeX ]
  Reliable on-board data handling is the backbone of every successful satellite mission. New scientific experiments can only be validated, and results obtained, if the recorded scientific data reaches the ground completely and correctly. For this, several special techniques were applied during the implementation of the SONATE-2 mission. Generic communication protocols were defined between all payloads, subsystems, and the On-board data handling (OBDH) of SONATE-2 to reduce the overall complexity of the data management system. With the help of these protocols, the development effort could be reduced, and the data transfers simplified. In addition, this allowed the communication interfaces to be simulated and quickly tested during development with a desktop computer using an OBDH-Simulator.

  @conference{maurerandreas2024novel, abstract = {Reliable on-board data handling is the backbone of every successful satellite mission. New scientific experiments can only be validated, and results obtained, if the recorded scientific data reaches the ground completely and correctly. For this, several special techniques were applied during the implementation of the SONATE-2 mission. Generic communication protocols were defined between all payloads, subsystems, and the On-board data handling (OBDH) of SONATE-2 to reduce the overall complexity of the data management system. With the help of these protocols, the development effort could be reduced, and the data transfers simplified. In addition, this allowed the communication interfaces to be simulated and quickly tested during development with a desktop computer using an OBDH-Simulator.}, address = {Palma de Mallorca, Spain}, author = {Andreas, Maurer and Oleksii, Balagurin and Tobias, Greiner and Tobias, Herbst and Tobias, Kaiser and Hakan, Kayal and Tobias, Schwarz}, booktitle = {Small Satellites, System & Services Symposium (4S)}, keywords = {myown}, title = {Novel On-Board Data Processing Strategies on Nanosatellite SONATE-2}, year = 2024 }

• SONATE-2 – A Technology Demonstration Mission of Artificial Intelligence for Image Processing and Anomaly Detection. Greiner, Tobias; Balagurin, Oleksii; Herbst, Tobias; Kaiser, Tobias; Kayal, Hakan; Maurer, Andreas; Schwarz, Tobias. In 16th Pico- and Nano-Satellite Workshop. Würzburg, Germany, 2023.
  • [ BibTeX ]
  @conference{greiner2023sonate2, address = {Würzburg, Germany}, author = {Greiner, Tobias and Balagurin, Oleksii and Herbst, Tobias and Kaiser, Tobias and Kayal, Hakan and Maurer, Andreas and Schwarz, Tobias}, booktitle = {16th Pico- and Nano-Satellite Workshop}, keywords = {myown}, title = {SONATE-2 – A Technology Demonstration Mission of Artificial Intelligence for Image Processing and Anomaly Detection}, year = 2023 }
• Attitude-independent calibration of magnetometers in orbit using Particle Swarm Optimization. Kaiser, Tobias; Thois, Dominik; Balagurin, Oleksii; Greiner, Tobias; Kayal, Hakan; Schwarz, Tobias; Maurer, Andreas; Herbst, Tobias; Riegler, Clemens. In 14th IAA Symposium on Small Satellites for Earth Observation. 2023.
  • [ Abstract ]
  • [ BibTeX ]
  SONATE-2 is an upcoming CubeSat for AI applications in space. The payload includes widefield and nearfield cameras to take images of the Earth and perform tasks like image segmentation and anomaly detection. The Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) is designed to provide accurate pointing for these tasks. In addition, a propulsion system and a star sensor will be validated in orbit. In normal operations, the magnetic field vector and the sun vector are measured to determine the CubeSat attitude via the TRIAD or QUEST method. The harsh space environment subjects the sensors to disturbances, and it is expected that the calibration parameters will change over time. The magnetometers will be recalibrated in orbit using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). The algorithm records the predicted and measured magnetic field vectors from hundreds of points in time and minimises the error between their magnitude by changing the calibration parameters. This calibration was tested at the JMU Würzburg on demonstrator hardware for the ADCS and a set of Helmholtz coils simulating the Earth Magnetic Field. The resulting calibration parameters were only slightly less accurate than those found by calibrating the magnetometer in the laboratory. The calibration algorithm will be optimized further and then implemented on SONATE-2.

  @inproceedings{noauthororeditorattitudeindependent, abstract = {SONATE-2 is an upcoming CubeSat for AI applications in space. The payload includes widefield and nearfield cameras to take images of the Earth and perform tasks like image segmentation and anomaly detection. The Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) is designed to provide accurate pointing for these tasks. In addition, a propulsion system and a star sensor will be validated in orbit. In normal operations, the magnetic field vector and the sun vector are measured to determine the CubeSat attitude via the TRIAD or QUEST method. The harsh space environment subjects the sensors to disturbances, and it is expected that the calibration parameters will change over time. The magnetometers will be recalibrated in orbit using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). The algorithm records the predicted and measured magnetic field vectors from hundreds of points in time and minimises the error between their magnitude by changing the calibration parameters. This calibration was tested at the JMU Würzburg on demonstrator hardware for the ADCS and a set of Helmholtz coils simulating the Earth Magnetic Field. The resulting calibration parameters were only slightly less accurate than those found by calibrating the magnetometer in the laboratory. The calibration algorithm will be optimized further and then implemented on SONATE-2.}, author = {Kaiser, Tobias and Thois, Dominik and Balagurin, Oleksii and Greiner, Tobias and Kayal, Hakan and Schwarz, Tobias and Maurer, Andreas and Herbst, Tobias and Riegler, Clemens}, booktitle = {14th IAA Symposium on Small Satellites for Earth Observation}, keywords = {myown}, title = {Attitude-independent calibration of magnetometers in orbit using Particle Swarm Optimization}, year = 2023 }
• SONATE-2 – Using Artificial Intelligence for In-Orbit Image Processing and Anomaly Detection. Greiner, Tobias; Balagurin, Oleksii; Herbst, Tobias; Kaiser, Tobias; Kayal, Hakan; Maurer, Andreas; Schwarz, Tobias. In 14th IAA Symposium on Small Satellites for Earth Observation. Berlin, 2023.
  • [ BibTeX ]
  @inproceedings{greiner2023sonate2, address = {Berlin}, author = {Greiner, Tobias and Balagurin, Oleksii and Herbst, Tobias and Kaiser, Tobias and Kayal, Hakan and Maurer, Andreas and Schwarz, Tobias}, booktitle = {14th IAA Symposium on Small Satellites for Earth Observation}, keywords = {myown}, title = {SONATE-2 – Using Artificial Intelligence for In-Orbit Image Processing and Anomaly Detection}, year = 2023 }

• SONATE-2 Nanosatellitenmission für Künstliche Intelligenz und Höhere Autonomie. Balagurin, Oleksii; Greiner, Tobias; Herbst, Tobias; Kaiser, Tobias; Kayal, Hakan; Maurer, Andreas; Riegler, Clemens; Schwarz, Tobias. In Proceedings DLRK 2022. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Luft- und Raumfahrt - Lilienthal-Oberth e.V., Bonn, 2022.
  • [ BibTeX ]
  @conference{balagurin2022sonate2, address = {Bonn}, author = {Balagurin, Oleksii and Greiner, Tobias and Herbst, Tobias and Kaiser, Tobias and Kayal, Hakan and Maurer, Andreas and Riegler, Clemens and Schwarz, Tobias}, booktitle = {Proceedings DLRK 2022}, keywords = {myown}, month = 11, publisher = {Deutsche Gesellschaft für Luft- und Raumfahrt - Lilienthal-Oberth e.V.}, title = {SONATE-2 Nanosatellitenmission für Künstliche Intelligenz und Höhere Autonomie}, year = 2022 }
• Hardware and Software Redundancy Concepts on-board of SONATE-2. Maurer, Andreas; Balagurin, Oleksii; Greiner, Tobias; Herbst, Tobias; Kaiser, Tobias; Kayal, Hakan; Riegler, Clemens; Schwarz, Tobias. Vol. IAC 2022 congress proceedings, p. 11. International Astronautical Federation (IAF), 100 Avenue de Suffren 75015 Paris, France, 2022.
  • [ Abstract ]
  • [ BibTeX ]
  SONATE-2 is a 6U-CubeSat, which main mission goal is the in-orbit demonstration of a newly developed AI processing platform. Experiments running on this platform include lightening detection, image segmentation and anomaly detection in images taken by the satellite. Thereby, on-board training of neural networks for AI based image processing applications will be demonstrated. Secondary mission objectives include the verification of AOCS components, tests of the ADCS’s target-pointing capabilities and the operation of an amateur radio payload. The SONATE-2 satellite is planned to be launched into a SSO in Q1 2024. par In satellites, redundancy plays a key role due to the lack of hardware-based maintenance availability, but also because of the harsh space environment. Therefore, SONATE-2 consists of two fully redundant 5V and 12V busses which supply the satellite’s subsystems and payloads with the required amount of power. Redundant subsystems are connected to one of the two power busses. In case of a power failure on one of the two busses, the redundant component supplied by the other bus is then still operational. par A key element of the design of SONATE-2 is hardware-based redundancy of the communication subsystem, the ADCS, the OBDH and the AI payload. Each of these subsystems is included multiple times on-board. SONATE-2’s communication subsystem consists of two VHF-, two UHF- and two S-Band transceivers and antennas. The ADCS includes two processing computers and a total of four three-axis magnetometers, four three-axis gyroscopes, six reaction wheel, six magnetorquer and 12 sun sensors. On-board data handling tasks are executed by one of four available OBDH computers. The decision which OBDH is executing the telecommand processing and housekeeping tasks is determined by a software-based role arbitration. Furthermore, the AI-payload which consists of a Nvidia Jetson Xavier NX and four cameras is integrated in the satellite twice. par Each of these subsystems have further built-in software-based redundancy concepts, including fault detection, isolation, and recovery algorithms as well as redundant saved configurations. This paper gives a brief overview of the SONATE-2 mission with the focus on the built-in hardware and software redundancy concepts of the satellite bus and the payloads on SONATE-2.

  @conference{maurer2022hardware, abstract = {SONATE-2 is a 6U-CubeSat, which main mission goal is the in-orbit demonstration of a newly developed AI processing platform. Experiments running on this platform include lightening detection, image segmentation and anomaly detection in images taken by the satellite. Thereby, on-board training of neural networks for AI based image processing applications will be demonstrated. Secondary mission objectives include the verification of AOCS components, tests of the ADCS’s target-pointing capabilities and the operation of an amateur radio payload. The SONATE-2 satellite is planned to be launched into a SSO in Q1 2024. \par In satellites, redundancy plays a key role due to the lack of hardware-based maintenance availability, but also because of the harsh space environment. Therefore, SONATE-2 consists of two fully redundant 5V and 12V busses which supply the satellite’s subsystems and payloads with the required amount of power. Redundant subsystems are connected to one of the two power busses. In case of a power failure on one of the two busses, the redundant component supplied by the other bus is then still operational. \par A key element of the design of SONATE-2 is hardware-based redundancy of the communication subsystem, the ADCS, the OBDH and the AI payload. Each of these subsystems is included multiple times on-board. SONATE-2’s communication subsystem consists of two VHF-, two UHF- and two S-Band transceivers and antennas. The ADCS includes two processing computers and a total of four three-axis magnetometers, four three-axis gyroscopes, six reaction wheel, six magnetorquer and 12 sun sensors. On-board data handling tasks are executed by one of four available OBDH computers. The decision which OBDH is executing the telecommand processing and housekeeping tasks is determined by a software-based role arbitration. Furthermore, the AI-payload which consists of a Nvidia Jetson Xavier NX and four cameras is integrated in the satellite twice. \par Each of these subsystems have further built-in software-based redundancy concepts, including fault detection, isolation, and recovery algorithms as well as redundant saved configurations. This paper gives a brief overview of the SONATE-2 mission with the focus on the built-in hardware and software redundancy concepts of the satellite bus and the payloads on SONATE-2.}, address = {100 Avenue de Suffren 75015 Paris, France}, author = {Maurer, Andreas and Balagurin, Oleksii and Greiner, Tobias and Herbst, Tobias and Kaiser, Tobias and Kayal, Hakan and Riegler, Clemens and Schwarz, Tobias}, keywords = {myown}, month = {09}, pages = 11, publisher = {International Astronautical Federation (IAF)}, title = {Hardware and Software Redundancy Concepts on-board of SONATE-2}, volume = {IAC 2022 congress proceedings}, year = 2022 }
• Testing the NVIDIA Jetson Xavier NX Module for the SONATE-2 Nano Satellite Mission. Herbst, Tobias; Balagurin, Oleksii; Greiner, Tobias; Kaiser, Tobias; Kayal, Hakan; Maurer, Andreas; Riegler, Clemens; Schwarz, Tobias. Vol. IAC 2022 congress proceedings, p. 7. International Astronautical Federation (IAF), 100 Avenue de Suffren 75015 Paris, France, 2022.
  • [ Abstract ]
  • [ BibTeX ]
  SONATE-2 is a 6U+, LEO CubeSat mission, which will demonstrate the feasibility of in-orbit image processing using neural networks. These networks shall also be trained on-board. Therefore, a powerful computational unit with a small form factor and low power consumption is needed. One possible candidate, the NVIDIA Jetson Xavier NX is analysed and tested for a possible use in this mission. Thus, thermal vacuum chamber tests, total ionizing radiation dose tests, single event effect tests and vibration tests were performed to expose the module to conditions equivalent to space environment present in LEO. The module has been Total Ionizing Dose (TID) tested with a Co-60 source at a dose of 10,krad. Single Event Effect (SEE) testing has been done with protons at energy levels of 30, 50 and 68 MeV. In addition to that, vibration tests have been conducted on acceptance level for a launch with a Soyuz-2 rocket for a containerized CubeSat. The thermal-vacuum tests included an outgassing test and a thermal cycling test with 5 cycles from -30\($^\circ$\)C to 90\($^\circ$\)C. After the TID tests, the vibration tests and the thermal tests, no damage to the module could be detected. During the outgassing test, a total mass loss of at least 0.08,% was measured. During the SEE tests, two single event effects occurred, of which one caused the device to reboot and another one caused a memory error in the modules eMMC memory. Thus, it is recommended to implement a redundancy strategy for the content of the eMMC memory and operate the device, such that spontaneous reboots do not lead to critical failures.

  @conference{herbst2022testing, abstract = {SONATE-2 is a 6U+, LEO CubeSat mission, which will demonstrate the feasibility of in-orbit image processing using neural networks. These networks shall also be trained on-board. Therefore, a powerful computational unit with a small form factor and low power consumption is needed. One possible candidate, the NVIDIA Jetson Xavier NX is analysed and tested for a possible use in this mission. Thus, thermal vacuum chamber tests, total ionizing radiation dose tests, single event effect tests and vibration tests were performed to expose the module to conditions equivalent to space environment present in LEO. The module has been Total Ionizing Dose (TID) tested with a Co-60 source at a dose of 10\,krad. Single Event Effect (SEE) testing has been done with protons at energy levels of 30, 50 and 68 MeV. In addition to that, vibration tests have been conducted on acceptance level for a launch with a Soyuz-2 rocket for a containerized CubeSat. The thermal-vacuum tests included an outgassing test and a thermal cycling test with 5 cycles from -30$^\circ$C to 90$^\circ$C. After the TID tests, the vibration tests and the thermal tests, no damage to the module could be detected. During the outgassing test, a total mass loss of at least 0.08\,\% was measured. During the SEE tests, two single event effects occurred, of which one caused the device to reboot and another one caused a memory error in the modules eMMC memory. Thus, it is recommended to implement a redundancy strategy for the content of the eMMC memory and operate the device, such that spontaneous reboots do not lead to critical failures.}, address = {100 Avenue de Suffren 75015 Paris, France}, author = {Herbst, Tobias and Balagurin, Oleksii and Greiner, Tobias and Kaiser, Tobias and Kayal, Hakan and Maurer, Andreas and Riegler, Clemens and Schwarz, Tobias}, keywords = {myown}, pages = 7, publisher = {International Astronautical Federation (IAF)}, title = {Testing the NVIDIA Jetson Xavier NX Module for the SONATE-2 Nano Satellite Mission}, volume = {IAC 2022 congress proceedings}, year = 2022 }

• Entwicklung und Betrieb eines Technologieerprobungssatelliten für hochautonome Nutzlasten. Balagurin, Oleksii; Greiner, Tobias; Herbst, Tobias; Kaiser, Tobias; Kayal, Hakan; Maurer, Andreas; Schwarz, Tobias. In Deutscher Luft- und Raumfahrtkongress (DLRK) 2021. Bremen, 2021.
  • [ BibTeX ]
  @conference{balagurinentwicklung, address = {Bremen}, author = {Balagurin, Oleksii and Greiner, Tobias and Herbst, Tobias and Kaiser, Tobias and Kayal, Hakan and Maurer, Andreas and Schwarz, Tobias}, booktitle = {Deutscher Luft- und Raumfahrtkongress (DLRK) 2021}, keywords = {myown}, month = {09}, title = {Entwicklung und Betrieb eines Technologieerprobungssatelliten für hochautonome Nutzlasten}, year = 2021 }