Justin Brannan Email & Phone Number

Laurel, Md, Us

Lead multi-body dynamics analysis and related control system tuning to meet performance requirements for the on-orbit capture and berthing of a client satellite.Manage technical task prioritization and milestone planning to evaluate engineering design unit and flight robot systems in preparation for on-orbit operations.Supervise development of post-processing tools and support test planning and execution as part of the OSAM-1 robot subsystem verification and validation efforts.

Nasa Goddard Space Flight Center

Supervised verification and validation analyses related to multiple control systems, a collision detection algorithm, an autonomous grapple trajectory, and a multi-body dynamics simulation of an on-orbit capture and berthing maneuver between spacecraft.Managed technical tasking and prioritization for a small group of individuals and communicate with systems engineers, software engineers, robot operators, and test leads to evaluate EDU and flight systems in preparation for on-orbit operations.

Nasa Goddard Space Flight Center

Managed a team responsible for performing subsystem-level critical design review (CDR) analysis, simulation, and testing of robotic arm algorithms including robot collision detection, compliance control, kinematics, visual servo, and gravity compensation.Led technical reviews to define the robot algorithm design and performance against requirements, with a focus on simulation environments used for formal verification.

Nasa Goddard Space Flight Center

Performed analysis, trades and hardware-in-the-loop tests to develop robotic arm subsystem algorithms related to autonomous grapple operations, robot kinematics and dynamics, and flexible-body spacecraft dynamics.Led the development of a robot collision detection algorithm, including the system concept of operations, requirements derivation, proof-of-concept study on a robotic simulation platform, and implementation within a flight-like software architecture.Completed autonomous grapple analysis to characterize the closed-loop visual servo robot motion, and collision detection analysis to determine bounding volume models.Developed math specification documents to summarize the autonomous grapple, autonomous release, and collision detection algorithms, and led the review of visual servo, inverse kinematics, compliance control, and gravity compensation documentation.Guided college mentees on their projects related to collision detection, path planning, structural dynamics, momentum transfer during capture, and contact dynamics testing.

Nasa Goddard Space Flight Center

Supported the robotic subsystem group within the Satellite Servicing Projects Division at NASA GSFC to advance the state of robotic servicing technology and enable the routine servicing of satellites that were not designed with servicing in mind.Conducted concept of operation studies and system acceptance testing of NASA robotic demonstration and testing software technologies to advance the state of the current ground testbeds used to simulate a nominal on-orbit robotic servicing mission.Collaborated with various academic partners to conduct research and development specific to the robot dynamics and controls field to advance the current state-of-the-art technologies related to robotic demonstration of an on-orbit mission.Performed hardware-in-the-loop robotic simulations of a satellite servicing mission for foreign dignitaries, local politicians, international artists and technical personnel to demonstrate the capabilities of various robotic demonstration systems.

Nasa Goddard Space Flight Center

Developed a real-time, hardware-in-the-loop simulation of the flexible-body dynamics of a client satellite to assess the modal excitation during a notional satellite servicing mission. Validated a MATLAB/C++ simulation of the combined rigid and flexible body response of a satellite with flexible appendages against an independently developed ADAMS model.Assisted with the planning and software development of a zero-gravity flight demonstrating the contact dynamics between a model satellite and a robotic servicer.Supported on-orbit operations during the Robotic Refueling Mission as part of a team to demonstrate the first on-orbit fluid transfer on the International Space Station.

Developed a rigid body spacecraft simulation of an attitude control system in Matlab/Simulink, including gimbal thruster models to enhance the performance and efficiency of thrust based attitude actuators to improve the control performance.Assisted with the modeling of spacecraft fuel slosh dynamics to examine the relationship between propellant tank location, fill fraction, and system stability.

College Park, Maryland

Designed a controller to drive a prototype lunar rover, implemented an electrical system embedded in the space suit and programmed the software to supply GPS coordinates of the space suit and control a head-mounted display with communication and AR/VR capabilitiesTravelled to NASA Desert RATS during the 2010 season to conduct a simulated EVA demonstrating the ability to control the RAVEN lunar rover via a head-mounted accelerometer, GPS mapping and tele-operationDesigned and constructed innovative convolute and toroidal elbow joint components, producing a test stand to compare space suit joint sections, with the goal of optimizing range of motion and minimal induced torqueModeled the human body with Catia engineering software to build patterns for the Inter-Ballast Garment layer of a next-generation prototype space suit, MX-AlphaPrepared the MX-2, an underwater analog space suit for manned research dives

Hanksville, Utah

Performed maintenance of the life support systems of a two-story habitat including power, water, waste and electrical systems to enable crew survival in an isolated, hostile environmentConducted a human factors experiment involving field testing of a prototype geological toolkit for astronaut use, to reduce astronaut workload during planetary exploration activities

Master Of Science (M.S.), Aerospace, Aeronautical And Astronautical Engineering

Bachelor Of Science, Aerospace Engineering

Activities and Societies: AIAA Space Operations and Support Technical Committee, Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society.