Blue Origin GNC Graudate Internship

I developed the company’s first high-fidelity, electromechanical actuation (EMA) Simulink model for a specific upper-stage rocket engine. This end-to-end model spans detailed motor current control, through cascaded loops, up to valve position commands that regulate engine thrust. It captures the plant’s electrical, mechanical, and nonlinear dynamics to closely match real system behavior, and was designed for both auto C-code generation and initial FPGA compatibility.

Highlights

• Designed and implemented cascaded position and current controllers with Field-Oriented Control (FOC).
• Built a dynamic plant model based off real parameters of the specific EMA used, capturing electrical, mechanical, and nonlinear phenomena.
• Conducted various command profiles (step, staircase, sinuosidal, chirp), frequency, and transient response tests to validate performance, safety requirements, and guide hardware integration.
• Integrated autogenerated C code scripts and iterated the model for robust hardware compatibility.

Impact

• Delivered a full EMA simulation platform for upper-stage rocket engine valve control and electrification R&D.
• Created comprehensive technical documentation and modeling assets for internal proprietary use.
• Established a scalable foundation for future propulsion system electrification efforts within the upper-stage engine team.