CanSat takes on the elements

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On Wednesday 11 March, three teams travelled to the regional CanSat competition near Aylesbury. For those unfamiliar with CanSat, it is essentially a simulation of a real satellite mission, except that all the components must fit inside the dimensions of a soft drink can. Our objective was to integrate all the essential electronics - including sensors, power and radio communications - into this can, while also ensuring it could survive a rocket launch and a descent from 400m in the air.

Our work started in December, when five teams were selected. Following this we wrote our Preliminary Design Review, documenting our mission and how we would achieve it. In late February, three teams were selected to progress to the launch event.

After the one-and-a-half-hour trip to the launch site, we exited the minibus and began setting up our equipment. After a few last minute fixes, we presented our work to the competition organisers, who gave us feedback and offered their insights to make sure our CanSat was ready for launch.

Unfortunately, in England there is one thing you can never be fully prepared for: the weather, and the organisers decided that it was too windy to launch the rocket safely. While this was obviously a disappointment, we made the most of the opportunity by listening to the organisers talk about how the rocket would have worked. This included a walkthrough of each component, some of which were made by the organisers themselves.

Finally, we would like to thank Dr Karamath for his invaluable support over the course of the competition – regularly staying at school long after the end of the day so that we could work on our CanSat and giving us invaluable support and guidance in every stage of the competition!"

Article written by Jishnu (Year 12)