Arizona State University’s CanSat Program

 Operate the satellites using a ground station to collect data according to customer requirements..  Launch satellites using amateur rockets – One satellite was launched from Flagstaff

Arizona State University’s CanSat Program

One problem inherent with big projects such as ASUSat1 and Three Corner Sat (3Sat) is thelength of time from concept through launch and operations In the case of ASUSat1, this was 6.5years and in the case of 3Sat, it is looking like at least 5 years The biggest difficulty with studentprojects is the high turnover rate of students on the team People leave at the end of a semesterbecause they graduate, the class is over (if they are working on the project for class credit), or theysecure other internship opportunities with industry Moreover, inexperienced students join the team

at different phases and cannot fully appreciate why the project is where it is IMPORTANT NOTE:The beauty of a project such as CanSat that can be completed within a semester is that a group ofstudents start and end a project together and they experience ALL design phases The team hasconcluded that this is a preferred mode both to maximize the undergraduate experience and mosteffectively use the limited resources usually available for student projects In the future, ASUSatLab will likely focus on shorter-term projects such as CanSat and Bob Twiggs’s CubeSat

B How to Build

Students from all backgrounds and experience levels are encouraged to participate In particular, it

is desirable to have some knowledgeable electrical engineers, computer scientists, and

mechanical/aerospace engineers working together A good number of students per CanSat is 6 So

if there are 12 people, build 2 CanSats However, there should be crosstalk, sharing of ideas, anduse of common parts wherever possible The instructor and industry mentors play “customer” andprovide a set of requirements and deliverables (see sample Product Definition Requirements - PDR,Appendix 1), and a budget not to exceed $1000 per CanSat The students play “seller” andorganize themselves into the various roles and responsibilities, set up meeting schedules andtimelines, prepare and maintain documentation, meet deadlines, and are free to select theexperiments It is the responsibility of the students to interpret the PDR, ask for any deviations, anddeliver by the end of the semester The final grade is based on their performance

For example, the Spring 2000 class developed three CanSats with a common architecture forstructures, electrical, and software Also employed in the design were considerations andallowances for future expansion Future CanSats can build upon and use all material produced forthis system The system consisted of:

 Common structure - A similar all-aluminum structure with a soda-can sleeve was used

 Common electronics - All of the electronics boards for the CanSats were the same withdiffering components populated on the boards The boards were student designed and sent out

to be manufactured The same power source of a 9V battery and a UHF transceiver werestandard on each “satellite”

 Common software - A common software architecture and packaging scheme were developedfor the project Each can sent its data using identifiers in the data and a variable-length datapackage was used

 Can1 - DATSat (Dual-Axis Tracking system) - Included two two-axis accelerometers and anelectronic compass used to provide a real-time ground track of the can while in the air

 Can2 - EyeCan - Included a temperature sensor, a light sensor, and a black and white analogcamera that transmitted cable channel 59, an amateur television frequency

 Can3 - Can o’ SPaM - Included a GPS unit which transmitted latitude, longitude, UTC time,altitude

 Ground station & black box - Consisted of a laptop computer installed with LabView software

to run the ground station, a UHF transceiver for communication, and a black box to control theradio and encode and transmit the commands on the uplink and decode and receive the datafrom the “satellites”

Figure 1 Mr Nathan Cahill with “DATSat”

The mission goals of the project were:

 Launch satellites using amateur rockets

 Recover satellites using portable tracking equipment

 Successfully develop, launch, operate and recover three (3) nano-satellites

 Provide results, lessons learned, and reusable hardware for future missions

 Operate the satellites using a ground station to collect data according to customer requirements

 Develop a CanSat system using course, campus and industry resources and learn the spacesystem development process

This project was considered a mission success because it satisfied every one of the mission goals tosome extent

 Launch satellites using amateur rockets – One satellite was launched from Flagstaff, AZ onMay 5, 2000 The other two satellites were launched from the Blackrock Desert, NV on July28-29, 2000

 Recover satellites using portable tracking equipment – This was accomplished by downloadingdata from the CanSats and using that data to find the CanSats On one can, a GPS receiver wasused and that data was used to recover that can

 Successfully develop, launch, operate and recover three (3) nano-satellites – Two of the threesatellites were successfully operated from the ground station and recovered, the third was lost

 Provide results, lessons learned, and reusable hardware for future missions – All of the workproduced from CanSat2 will be available for use as templates and examples for future projects

 Operate the satellites using a ground station to collect data according to customer requirements– The ground station was setup and successfully communicated with two of the CanSats

 Develop a CanSat system using course, campus and industry resources and learn the spacesystem development process – Future projects, including the current CanSat3 class will buildupon and refine the CanSatX system

The students are encouraged to design and manufacture as much as they can To this end, tutorialsin

 LabView

 Solid Works or I-Deas

 Orcad

 Electro-Static Discharge (a BIGGIE!)

 Web Page Development

 high-end workstations capable of detailed finite-element models and complex solid modeling

 software packages for printed circuit board design, solid modeling, finite-element analysis

 class 10,000 clean room

 fully functional ground station with high-power transmit and receive capabilities on amateurfrequencies

 knowledgeable team of engineering students with satellite design experience

Most universities, including ASU, can not provide the full range of resources needed for projectsuccess, so industry has helped fill the voids in many areas Industry is one of the main supporters

of the program through, not only through their generous monetary and component donations, butalso through their provision of many needed tools Some examples of tools accessible by theASUSat team include

 environmental testing facilities

 autoclave usage

 precision machining of composites and other exotic materials

 rigid and flex PCB and cable harness manufacturing and advisement

 professionals available for general advisement in all areas (e.g Lockheed Martin, Boeing,Honeywell, SpectrumAstro, Orbital Sciences, Dynamic Labs)

 electrical tools such as spectrum analyzers and logic analyzers

My past nine-plus years mentoring student projects and sixteen-plus years as a professor at ASUsuggest the following lessons learned from the instructor’s standpoint:

 Students thrive in an environment created around a real-world program in which results aretransformed into hardware and then launched or tested

 Set high standards and live by them Promote ethics

 Encourage students to take initiative and make decisions Give students as much responsibility

as is feasible

 Encourage students to explore different areas of the project They should not be confined towork on a problem that directly correlates with their major, they should be able to explore andgrow by learning other subsystems

 Involve as many students as possible in industry-related activities, such as tours,teleconferences, and technical reviews and exchanges

 Spend the extra time teaching a student how to properly do a task It seems faster as a manager

to do it yourself, but if you teach the student properly then he/she can continually perform thetask and pass the skill along

 Create and continuously improve a friendly and useful documentation system that makes it aseasy as possible on the various team members, and document everything For CanSat, anelectronic Blackboard proves to be a very valuable and friendly tool

 Provide access to state-of-the-art tools

 Interact frequently, patiently, and respectfully with students Listen to their opinions Mentorsshould include faculty, industry, graduate students, and undergraduate peers

 Involve students in outreach to local K-12 schools and community and professionalorganizations

 Promote diversity

C How to Use It (including launch methods)

One pleasant surprise realized over the years in working with student projects is that there are manypeople in the community who want to contribute to and enjoy participating in the experiences ofstudents It is a matter of getting the word out about the program and identifying thoseorganizations interested in helping out The ASU CanSat team has especially enjoyed itsrelationships with the Arizona High Power Rocketry Association (AHPRA), Skydive Phoenix, andAMSAT locally, and ARLISS and AeroPac through the efforts of Bob Twiggs

With AHPRA, the students can launch up to 3 CanSats at a time on an amateur rocket to 12,000feet above sea level in West Phoenix, and up to 40,000 feet above sea level in Flagstaff, Arizona Atypical trajectory is shown in the following figure

Figure 2 Typical trajectory for CanSat launch by amateur rocketThe CanSats are deployed at apogee and parachute back to Earth Descent time is approximately

20 minutes which is about the same amount of time that one has to communicate with a realsatellite passing directly overhead Students interact with an actual launch provider and the launchand deployment are violent events that the CanSat must survive In real situations, satellites mostoften fail because of launch and deployment events – shock and vibration AHPRA holds a launchevent the last Saturday of each month, so there is ample opportunity for testing mock CanSats prior

to the “final exam” The amateur rocketeers are excited to launch payloads Typically, the CanSatteam must build a CanSat carrier to fit within the rocket, buy the motors, and buy the parachutes

Another avenue for testing has been through a local skydiving group Skydive Phoenix They haveoffered to toss CanSats out of aircraft at about 1000 feet

To communicate with the CanSats during descent, the students build a portable ground station(laptop) and antenna Students obtain Ham licenses through AMSAT for communication

Opportunities are readily available around town to obtain a technician-class license.

Every summer, Bob Twiggs arranges an event with ARLISS and AeroPac in Blackrock, Nevada forstudents from the US and Japan to gather to launch CanSats to 12,000 feet above ground level.This is a terrific opportunity for students to meet their counterparts, share ideas, see a variety ofexperimental rocket systems, and show school spirit

D How to Use It in the Classroom

Spring 2000 saw the first offering of the course “Preliminary Mission Analysis and SpacecraftDesign”, aka “CanSat class” The three-credit course includes the building of soda-can-sized

“satellites” with the intent to launch these at the end of the semester on amateur rockets See thesample Course Description in Appendix 2 Participating in a real space program promotesexperience in systems engineering, multidisciplinary teamwork, communication and documentationskills, time and resource management, and industry interaction For example, for the first offering,

Mr Scott Askins, Ms Sheila Gover, and Ms Kate Nelson from Motorola; Mr Rich Van Riper, Mr.Ron Hundley, and Mr Brandon Williams from Honeywell; Mr Rusty Sailors from LockheedMartin; and Dr Helen Reed from ASU MAE were mentors Industry people provide templates forthe various documents required and information on the format and content required for the variousreviews The class meets twice a week and it is ideal if the industry people meet with and give thevarious lectures to the students

The students organize themselves into a team, determine roles and responsibilities, and determinehow to meet the PDR (Appendix 1) The document in Appendix 3 is a sample of how the studentscan organize to build and launch 3 CanSats They do trade studies; research various parts and makecontact with vendors; maintain contact with the launch provider; prepare and submit paperwork forapproval; prepare for the various reviews required; design, build, and test their CanSats; and launchthem To begin with, the instructors assist the students in learning the tools of the trade, e.g

 Configuration Management

 LabView

 Solid Works or I-Deas

 Orcad

 Electro-Static Discharge (a BIGGIE!)

 Web Page Development

Class 2 (James, Rob, Larry, et al.)

Former CanSat'eers discuss the previous semester's results, lessons learned, show where tofind previous info on server, document templates, discuss tips on getting going, get themaccess to server, emphasize importance of documentation and timelines These studentsprovide IMPORTANT mentorship for the current group – students tend to listen to otherstudents!

Class 3 through ? (Helen)

Spacecraft Research & Design

Discuss machine shop/Ham radio license/ESD

Class 4 through 30 (Helen and various)

System Development Process

 Phase I: Definitions & Requirements

 Phase II: System Design

 Phase III: Preliminary/Prototype Design

 Phase IV: Production Design

 Phase V: Production Fab & Qual

 Phase VI: System I & T

 Phase VII: Launch

 Phase VIII: Operations

 Phase IX: Disposal and Report Out

Class 12 (Helen)

Midterm evaluations

Class 31 (Helen - Dec 12 4:40 through 6:30 pm)

 Lessons Learned

 Final evaluations

 Teaching Evaluations

To make this project as “real to industry” as possible, the following is the grading philosophy:

Grading Philosophy (Points are out of 4):

15% Midterm Individual Performance Evaluation (class 12) – Team & Instructors

Composite (50/50) of peer and instructor evaluation by Performance Rating Form.Evaluation will be based on the deliverables expected up until week 8, attendance, meetingmilestones, and teamwork Grade will be “Does Not Meet Expectations (0-2.4)”, “MeetsExpectations (2.5-3.4)”, or “Exceeds Expectations (3.5-4)”

15% Midterm Team Performance Evaluation (class 12) –Instructors

Evaluation will be based on the deliverables expected up until week 8 All students will begiven the same grade as determined by the instructors Grade will be “Does Not MeetExpectations (0-2.4)”, “Meets Expectations (2.5-3.4)”, or “Exceeds Expectations (3.5-4)”

25% Final Individual Performance Evaluation (class 31) – Team & Instructors

Composite (50/50) of peer and instructor evaluation by Performance Rating Form.Evaluation will be based on the deliverables expected up until week 15, attendance, meetingmilestones, and teamwork Grade will be “Does Not Meet Expectations (0-2.4)”, “MeetsExpectations (2.5-3.4)”, or “Exceeds Expectations (3.5-4)”

25% Final Team Performance Evaluation (class 31) –Instructors

Evaluation will be based on the deliverables expected up until week 15 All students will begiven the same grade as determined by the instructors Grade will be “Does Not MeetExpectations (0-2.4)”, “Meets Expectations (2.5-3.4)”, or “Exceeds Expectations (3.5-4)”

20% Individual Accomplishment

Individual students will be evaluated by instructor Evaluation will be based on assignmentsand meeting deadlines Grade will be “Does Not Meet Expectations (0-2.4)”, “MeetsExpectations (2.5-3.4)”, or “Exceeds Expectations (3.5-4)”

Industry provides a Performance Rating Form for the students to do peer evaluation This review isdone twice: mid-semester and at the end A sample form is provided in Appendix 5

Appendix 1

PRODUCT DEFINITION REQUIREMENTS

For CANSAT

Prepared by:

Helen Reed

APPROVED BY:

Customer, CANSAT

<Insert CANSAT logo>

Total No Pages: 5 No of Last Page: 4

DOCUMENT ID:

PDR

Product Definition Requirements

Mission Subject

1.1 Mission Payload Experiment to be determined by the Seller.

1.2 Buyer must approve Mission.

1.3 Number of Missions/Satellites to be determined by the Seller.

1.4 Mission(s) must be completed on schedule and within Budget.

Satellite Design

1.5 Satellites supplied by Seller.

1.6 Soda Can Form 1 1.7 Weight: Each CanSat weighs no more than One Coke Can Filled With Coke 1 1.8 Engineering Development Unit, Demo, or Brass Board.

1.9 Data Acquisition: see Communications.

Launch System

1.10 Seller: Responsible for rocket/motor selection.

1.11 Supplier: Arizona High Power Rocketry Association (AHPRA).

1.12 1 Satellite per Launch Vehicle.

1.13 Seller is responsible for the design and fabrication of the booster adapter for the December launch.

1.14 Launch Date: December 2000.

Orbit

1.15 Descent by Parachute.

1.16 Loft Time: 12 minutes minimum.

Communications

1.17 Amateur Frequencies (Requires Ham Radio License).

1.18 Telemetry: 2 parameters minimum per satellite.

1.19 Latency: Received Data in readable format on the Ground Station Screen within 10 seconds of Ground Station command.

1 From Bob Twiggs: For Blackrock in July, a CanSat can not weigh more than a full can of coke, must have at least 90% of the Coke (any type of beverage as long as it conforms to this size) can original body, so must meet that can size We will

be furnishing the carriers this year and have already made some fiberglass tubes that will take a regular Coke can as is ~ 10" long.

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1.20 Data Acquisition configuration and storage required.

1.24 Preliminary Design Review (PDR).

1.25 Critical Design Review (CDR).

1.26 Test Readiness Review (TRR).

1.27 Schedule approved by Buyer.

1.28 Seller to notify Buyer 72 hours prior to Reviews.

Required Deliverable Documentation

1.29 System Development Plan (SDP) 1.30 Program Management Plan (PMP) 1.31 System Requirements Specifications (SRS) 1.32 System Specification and Design Description (SSDD) 1.33 Interface Control Document (ICD)

1.34 System Test Plan and Description (STPD)

Acceptance Criteria

1.35 Successful Acceptance Test prior to Launch.

Additional Requirements

Communication and/or Documentation Methods

1.36 Maintain an updated Web Page.

1.37 Complete a Lessons Learned.

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