VSSEC-KDS
CanSat France 2011
Team
The King David School (KDS) has been nominated by the Victorian Space
Science Education Centre (VSSEC) to be the Australian representative to the
CanSat France 2011 competition. We are therefore Team VSSEC-KDS.
Project Manager/Teacher
Milorad Cerovac (KDS)
Project Advisor
Dr Naomi Mathers (VSSEC)
KDS Students (Grade 12)
• Jarred Gerson
• Kieran Hirsh
• Josh Marlow
• Yarden Rais
University Mentors
• Boaz Ash
• Devon Boyd
• Michael Eisfelder
• David Mayevsky
Budget
• Our projected budget on the CanSat hardware and
software is approximately $1200 (Australian), which is
equivalent to 900 Euro.
• Other significant team costs are travel expenditure,
anticipated to be approximately $3500 (Australian) per
person, which is equivalent to 2600 Euro.
Mission 1- Atmospheric Sounding
This will be our primary mission.
We will attempt to complete the atmospheric
sounding whilst on our descent phase. Our
objective is to sample and transmit data
(pressure, temperature and humidity) every
2 seconds during the CanSat’s descent.
Mission 2 – Photo/Video
This we consider will be our secondary mission.
We will attempt to capture footage upon our descent and
hopefully continue to capture images after our landing.
We consider the orientation of our CanSat’s landing as not
being critical (compared to Missions 3 and 5). Completing
this mission will allow a second form of calibration and/or
positioning of our CanSat.
Our current concern is whether the transmitter/receiver is
able to handle the quantity of data being transmitted. Tests
will be conducted once a suitable device for capturing
images has been procured.
Mission 3 - RF Antenna
We consider this a possible third mission.
Our aim is to deploy our RF antenna upon landing and
hopefully transmit a signal for the duration of the mission.
Our current design concerns are focused on developing a
suitable “self-righting” mechanism for our CanSat, so that
the RF antenna is deployed vertically (and not into the
ground). This may involve incorporating a secondary
microcontroller, based on either the PIC or Arduino
platform.
One other question is: What are the constraints on the
‘flexible wire’ to be used for the RF antenna?
Mission 4 – Airbag Landing
It is unlikely that we will attempt this mission.
The aim of this mission was to deploy several
airbags during the final stages of the descent phase.
Several possible techniques for inflation were
considered. However concerns about the accuracy
of pressure readings used to deploy the airbags
could result in catastrophic damage to the CanSat, if
airbag inflation was not successfully activated at
correct altitude.
Mission 5 - Terraforming
This mission will not be attempted.
We consider this mission technically challenging,
due to the foreseen difficulties of “weight” (of the
terraforming tool to be carried aboard CanSat),
and the impracticalities of creating a planting
implement.
Several possible options were explored.
OzeSat
We will be using the Australian-made OzeSat to
capture and transmit data to our ground station.
OzeSat is a joint venture between Small World
Communications and the Victorian Space Science
Education Centre (VSSEC), which utilizes the
ATmega328P microcontroller.
OzeSat consists of three main parts:
- controller module (CM);
- transmitter module (TM); and
- sensor module (SM)
• The CM is powered by a 9 volt
battery. It contains the CPU
(ATmega328P) which controls all
facets of the CanSat operation
(including pressure, temperature
and humidity readings).
Programming of the CM will be via
the mikroPascal Pro compiler.
• The TM transmits a radio signal on
a 916.36 MHz frequency. Power
transmission, according to
documentation provided by Small
World Communication, is 3 mW.
• The SM collects pressure,
temperature and humidity data.
Photo of the single board
configuration, containing the
CM, TM and SM
Credit: Small World Communications