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CANSAT - GENERAL INTRODUCTION AND EDUCATIONAL ADVANTAGES

Amund Nylund(1)

, Jøran Antonsen(2)

(1)Norwegian Centre for Space Related Education, P.O.Box 54, 8483 Andenes, Norway, Email: amund@rocketrange.no

(2 Norwegian Centre for Space Related Education, P.O.Box 54, 8483 Andenes, Norway, Email: joran@rocketrange.no

ABSTRACT

This paper gives a general introduction to the

Norwegian CanSat activities and points out some

educational advantages. In addition this paper also

describes technical and non-technical rules and

regulations for the Norwegian CanSat competition.

Students have to design and build instruments, place

them inside a soda can and launch it with a rocket or a

balloon. The soda can then falls down to the ground in

a parachute while doing different kind of experiments.

All this is to be done within one year and to a very low

cost.

1. ABOUT NAROM

Norwegian Centre for Space Related Education

(NAROM) is a subsidiary company of Andøya Rocket

Range (ARR), and is co-located with ARR on the

island of Andøya in Northern Norway at 69 degrees

North and 16 degrees East. ARR has over 40 years of

experience with scientific sounding rockets and

balloons. The observatory Atmospheric Lidar

Observatory for Middle Atmosphere Research

(ALOMAR) facility is also close by. In addition, the

Range has several other instruments that are used for

ground based geophysical measurements. The close

proximity to the infrastructure and personnel at ARR

provides important advantages with respect to

educational activities.

NAROM is partly funded by the Norwegian

government. A yearly state grant covers approximately

50% of the costs. Other costs are covered by revenue

from educational activities. The activities organized by

NAROM represent an efficient use of the investments

at ARR which have been partly covered by the

European Space Agency (ESA) during recent years.

2. INTRODUCTION TO CANSAT

The CanSat concept was first introduced in the mid-

nineties by the American professor, Robert Twiggs.

The idea behind the project was to let students be able

to deal with some of the same challenges in building a

satellite, but at the same time it had to be done over a

much shorter period of time and with small expenses.

The students have to design and build instruments,

place them inside a soda can and launch it with a

rocket. The soda can then falls down to the ground in a

parachute while doing different kind of experiments.

All this is to be done within one year and to a very low

cost.

Each year an annual CanSat competition is arranged in

USA. This annual competition allows teams from

different universities and highschools to design and

build a space-type system, according to the

specifications released by the competition organizing

committee, and then compete against each other at the

end of two semesters to determine the winners. More

information about the annual CanSat competition can

be found at http://www.cansatcompetition.com/

There are also several other CanSat competitions

taking place in America, Europe and Asia. In USA

there is also another CanSat competition called

ARLISS, which has an international approach. Read

more about ARLISS at http://www.arliss.org/

Figure 1. CanSat

In Europe there is a CanSat competition planned in

Spain, the Netherlands, Germany and UK. There is

also an annual CanSat competition in Japan, and more

are being planned in other Asian countries. So there are

many ongoing CanSat activities in the world and more

are planned. Even a global CanSat competition is being

discussed, latest at the International CanSat Workshop

in Tokyo. Read more about the workshop at

http://www.unisec.jp/history/intlcansatworkshop2007-

e.html

The beginning of the CanSat activities in Norway

started with a request from NAROM for students to

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design and build a quasi-satellite instrumentation

fitting into a soda can, a CanSat.

Figure 2. Instrumentation inside a CanSat

Two groups of students from Andøya Upper Secondary

School and Narvik University College took the

challenge during the summer of 2006. In mid-

September of 2006 these students presented their

CanSat at a workshop arranged by NAROM at Andøya

Rocket Range. The students from Andøya Upper

Secondary School where selected to represent Norway

in the ESA Education Department organized CanSat

demonstration which was held in October 2006 at the

end of the International Astronautical Congress (IAC)

in Valencia, Spain

Figure 3. Students at CanSat workshop in Valencia,

October 2006

3. THE NORWEGIAN CANSAT

COMPETITION

After the demonstration in Valencia, NAROM started

planning a Norwegian CanSat competition. The plan is

first to launch the CanSats from captive balloons or a

rocket from ARR. National winners will be selected to

represent Norway in any upcoming European or Global

CanSat competition.

Figure 4. CanSats shown at workshop in Tokyo,

February 2007

The Norwegian CanSat competition is scheduled to be

announced in the summer of 2007. Norwegian

students are invited to submit proposals, for a CanSat.

Based on the proposals NAROM will select

participants to the actual competition which will take

place at NAROM and ARR. The first launch of the

Norwegian CanSats is scheduled to be in May-June

2008.

The competition has a set of general and bonus

guidelines. The general guidelines have to be fulfilled

by all teams. The bonus guidelines are up to each team

if they would like to follow. However the team that

fulfils the most bonus guidelines will be the winner of

the competition. A group of experts is formed to do the

selection of the Norwegian CanSat winner.

Figure 5. CanSat

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3.1. General guidelines

- The instrumentation is to be built inside a

standard Norwegian soda can

- Maximum weight 0.6kg and the total cost is

5000 NOK

- The parachute is to be placed on the top and

antennas is to be placed at the bottom of the

CanSat

- Each CanSat has to have a ground station for

receiving data from the CanSat

- The CanSat has to be switched off before and

during launch. The CanSat is only to be

activated after it is separated from the balloon

or the rocket

- The communication system has to be within

the general rules of frequency use which does

not need any registration

- The CanSat has to withstand an acceleration

of 20G

- No explosives or highly flammable material

are allowed in the CanSat

Figure 6. “Rover” CanSat

3.2 Bonus guidelines

- The CanSat has to measure the position,

pressure, temperature and humidity once

every second

- The CanSat has to land as close as possible to

a specific target on land which will be

announced by NAROM

- The CanSat has to be standing after landing

on the ground

- The CanSat has to land softly on the ground

which has to be measured by the CanSat

There are also some competition rules which each of

the team has to follow which can be found in the

announcement of the competition.

The winning team of the competition will receive a

price of 10 000 NOK and NAROM will also support

the team in participating in any upcoming international

CanSat competition.

4. EDUCATIONAL ADVANTAGES

The CanSat program challenges innovative students to

get hands-on experience in a space related project

during one year or less. As a space engineering project

students will get experience from conceptual design,

through integration and test, actual operation of

the system. This will give the students experience of

taking part of one whole project cycle within one year

or less.

Figure 7. Closing of the CanSat workshop in Tokyo,

February 2007

One of the major advantages of the CanSat is the very

low life cycle cost of the project. Thus, universities

could involve more students to space related projects.

The CanSat is small, non-orbiting and with limited

complexity, but it is still like a "satellite" in terms of

many of the challenges real satellites faces.

Figure 8. Students at the CanSat workshop in Valencia,

October 2006

The CanSat has recovery, which is particulary useful

for educational projects, where failure analysis is of

great importance. CanSat projects also have

possibilities of getting sponsors from the industry. For

some CanSat competitions getting sponsorships are

even a part of the competitions rules.