CanSat 2009

Work is underway on CS01, the first CuSEDS entry in the AAS / AIAA CanSat Competition (Official Site).

CURRENT PROGRESS:

Photo Gallery (New!)

Sponsorship Package (New!): PDF

Presentation from the first project meeting: PPT

Competition Overview:
In this competition, which is open to high school and university students from Canada, the USA and Mexico, students are given the opportunity to take part in a design-build-launch competition for space-related topics. Similar contests exist in other fields of engineering, but the majority of Space related competitions, especially at the high school/undergraduate level are paper design only, much like the 4th Year Satellite project held at Carleton. While these are worthwhile activities, there are certain aspects of experience gained only through taking part in an end-to-end life cycle of a complex engineering project, from design to integration and testing, re-design, application, in this case launching, and finally a post-mission debrief and summary report.

The competition allows students to develop a deployable Satellite designed to fit into a large aluminum drink can, under the strict specifications released by the competition organizing committee.
The most basic of these specifications include:

1. Building a CanSat that will land in an upright position.
2. The descent rate cannot exceed 15 feet/sec and must be proven with sensor data.
3. Upon landing, release the parachute from the CANSat automatically.
4. Send telemetry data indicating altitude during descent in 5 second intervals or faster.
5. The CanSat shall not exceed 500 grams mass.
6. The CanSat shall be 2.6 inches diameter and not exceed 8 inches in height.
7. Parachute is to be automatically deployed when the CanSat is deployed.
8. The CanSat power must last for at least one hour.
9. The cost of the CanSat hardware must not exceed $1000.

Beyond these basic specifications, there includes two bonus assignments, such as 1) including a camera in the design to take aerial pictures of the horizon and 360 degree panoramic photographs, or 2) landing as close as possible to the latitude/longitudinal coordinates given to the teams after the CanSat has been deployed.

Being an Engineering project, full documentation must be kept, including a Preliminary Design Report (PDR) which must be submitted early on in the competition. Also, a Critical Design Report (CDR), which must be accompanied by a Presentation of the Team’s design, findings and failure analysis, if necessary, must be presented at the competition, generally held in June.

We’re still looking for interested and dedicated Team Members! Simply click the JOIN link or come out to a meeting! For more information check The CanSat Competition’s website.

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