VSSEC-KDS

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