ABOUT CFAR
At UVIC CfAR we catalyze innovation and develop unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and spacecraft buses, payloads and Earth stations for research, commercial and military applications. The design, development, manufacturing and flight testing of scaled air-vehicle demonstrators, as well as CubeSats and microsatellites allows for the low-cost opportunity to evaluate vehicle performance, novel aircraft and spacecraft configurations and emerging technologies in a reduced risk environment. Unique and cutting-edge payloads can be vindicated by placing aboard a range of already flight-proved fixed wing aircraft, small satellites, and multirotors built by UVIC CfAR.
Electronics and Instrumentations Lab
The Electronics and Instrumentation Lab addresses unique problems raised by different projects that have no off-the-shelf component solutions. Custom PCB designs, PCB manufacturing, harness manufacturing, microcontroller programming, short and long range radio communications are some of the in-house development capabilities. The management of flight control systems on the autonomous air vehicles requires the design and development of specialized and unique PCB designs for integration with the autopilot sub-systems
Spacecraft Development Lab
The spacecraft development lab, located on the UVic campus, is where the satellite buses, payloads, subsystems and components are engineered by the CFAR team. Capabilities include state of the art paste and reflow electronics assembly, rapid prototyping, thermal and ambient temperature vacuum testing, as well as a well-equipped electronics test lab.
Satellite Earth Station
The satellite earth station the team’s gateway to CfAR’s satellites. The station, custom built by the team for the ORCASat mission, is an Amateur ground station, designed for the VHF and UHF Amateur satellite allocations. It uses state of the art software defined radio technology, and top of the line, redundant IT, power and RF infrastructure and components to provide uninterrupted access to Amateur satellites in ISS, LEO and SSO orbits.
Aircraft Manufacturing and Integration Workshop
The workshop at UVIC CFAR includes a multitude of equipment for research RPAS as well as experimental apparatus. Large tooling for aircraft composite structures can be created using the 3-axis CNC router, and rapid-prototyping of aircraft parts is possible with our range of 3D printers. UVIC CfAR utilizes two types of 3D printing technology: FDM and SLA, which allow for rapid prototyping ability as well as the ability to create functional finished parts from engineering materials.
Flight Simulation and Flight Sciences Lab
The Flight Simulation and Flight Sciences Laboratory is responsible for the extensive development, testing, and tuning of complex flight control systems used on the RPAS at UVIC CFAR. Together with real-time HWIL testing, CFAR engineers work to optimize the performance of the aircraft, and are actively researching areas of flight path planning using deep-learning, multi-agent control and sense-and-avoid object avoidance technologies.
Satellite Integration & Test Lab
The satellite integration and test lab is the test facility which enables the system, subsystem and component level verification and validation of the satellite buses, subsystems and payloads what CfAR develops. The facility is outfitted with state of the art electronic / RF test equipment, and it is capable of simultaneously support the testing of up to three “FlatSat” type test benches, integrated engineering models, and flight satellites, inclusive of wireline testing of the RF communication interfaces, in an ISO7 cleanroom environment, or in an ISO5 laminar flow workstation, if additional cleanliness is required. In addition, CFAR also has access to the UVic anechoic chamber, for component, subsystem and system level testing of RF devices.
