CanACork
CanACork
The project
The CANACORK project has the scientific objective of collecting data on the conditions in which CanSat will be found from its launch until its return to Earth. This project is based on two missions, one primary and the other secondary, with a tripartite and bipartite structure, respectively. Our objectives are to understand the conditions that our satellite has faced since its launch until its landing, so, as a primary mission, we will have groups of sensors to measure temperature and atmospheric pressure, whose data will be transmitted by telemetry for later analysis. In addition, as CanSats are not always collected, polluting the places where they land, we decided to build our sustainable satellite, which is why we will use cork as the main building material.
Finally, the mission's main objective is to generate renewable energy during launch, flight and after landing.
Primary Mission
Data Reading and Transmission by Telemetry
The primary mission of the CANACORK project incorporates the reading of the temperature and atmospheric pressure values at which the CanSat is located and the telemetry transmission of these data to a ground station. These data, through their analysis, will allow us to reach the flight altitude of our satellite. To ensure greater reliability of the data, we will place two groups of temperature and atmospheric pressure sensors in an external location and an internal location, respectively.
At the ground station there will be a Yagi Uda directional antenna that will be built by our group in order to receive the data.
Secondary Mission
Cork and Transformation of Heat into Energy
Due to the severe environmental crisis, we decided to build our CanSat sustainably. Thus, after verifying that the main pollution factor in launching CanSat satellites is the non-biodegradable material they are made of, we chose to make a CanSat made of cork, a renewable material suitable for the experiment, as it is temperature resistant and good thermal insulator, as the air inside the cells makes cork an excellent insulator, promoting very low thermal conductivity over a wide range of temperatures.
We propose a secondary mission that will use the temperature created by the electrical components of the satellite, that is, the internal heat of the system, to produce energy, through a thermoelectric energy generator. This generator will use the Seebeck effect which boils down to the production of potential difference between two junctions of conductors of different materials when they are at different temperatures. So, to work, our generator must have one side on the cold side and the other on the heat side. Our heat source would be the internal heat of the satellite system, through the dissipation of heat from the processor, antenna, other components and the heat of launching the rocket itself. On the other hand, our source of cold would be the outside of the satellite, which as it rises, the lower the outside temperature and the higher the inside temperature, due to the increasing use of components.