Overview
Fall Quarter: consisted mostly of researching and design work, where we worked to complete the design for prototyping the preliminary design report which is additional documentation that the team needs to complete for the competition. Software development focused on creating a ground station capable of receiving and displaying telemetry data from the CanSat’s sensors, while hardware focused on having electrical and mechanical prototype designs for the following quarter to test. Winter quarter was dedicated to practicing our presentation for the Competitions Preliminary Design Review (PDR). All subteams worked focused on their forces to complete the presentation and practice presentation times. This Spring quarter involved us finally taking all our research and designing over the past year and implementing them into a physical solution. Electrical components were ordered, container segments were printed and assembled, and the various performances of our design were tested to verify requirements compliance.
Project Definition
Planning
Telemetry, an automated communication process for remotely measuring and monitoring data, has evolved significantly since its inception in aerospace during the 1930s. The CanSat competition, sponsored by the American Astronautical Society (AAS), offers students the opportunity to engage in the complete lifecycle of a telemetry payload system. The competition challenges university teams to design, build, and deploy a space-related system according to specific guidelines, culminating in a competitive launch at the end of the academic year.
Problem Statement
Design a container that will be stored in and deployed from a rocket. The container should have predetermined descent rates based on altitude, controlled by a total of 2 parachutes: at above 400m, the container should descend at 15m/s, at below 400m, the container should descend at 5m/s. At 300m, the container should deploy a payload, attached to the container by a tether and consisting of a camera, at a decent rate of 0.5m/s, until the payload is 10m away from the container. The camera from the payload should face South and 45 degrees below the horizon at all times. The container should report telemetry while descending.
Components
Top Cap
Houses and deploys the parachutes at designated altitudes, featuring a solenoid mechanism for secure deployment.
Body
The largest section, containing the pulley system that deploys the payload, ensuring stability during descent with a four-tether system.
Payload
The camera housing, designed for specific orientation and equipped with necessary electronics, protected to ensure survivability upon landing.
Conceptual / Preliminary Design
Major Components
The overall design consists of three key components in order for the CanSat to function effectively. They are separated into the three parts that make up the CanSat.
- The first part of the CanSat is the top cap. The purpose of the top cap is to stow both the first and second parachutes for deployment at their specific altitudes in order to slow down the descent rate of the CanSat. The key component in the top cap is the secondary parachute deployment mechanism.
- The second part is the body. Is it the middle cylinder that connects both the top cap and the payload (third component). It is the largest part which is used to house the pulley system, the key component of the body, which is used to deploy the payload via 10 meter long tether(s).
- The third part is its own key component: the payload. The payload is the “cargo” of the CanSat which sits at the bottom of the CanSat. It houses a camera that requires a very specific orientation (cardinal direction and angle) along with its necessary electronics.
Posters
Fall Design Review
Winter Design Review
