VituSat-1 is a project based on ESA’s (European Space Agency) renowned design-build-launch space-related program – CanSat
- Arduino (Based on C)
- C++
- gnuplot
- Arduino IDE
- Code::Blocks
- Arduino T-Minus
- Accelerometer (x2)
- Pressure Sensor
- Temperature Sensor
- GPS Transmitter
- Micro SD Shield
During phase 1 we had to assign roles to everyone. I, alongside two other boys, choose to develop the satellite, because of our bigger experience with programming compared to the other two boys, who decided to design and test the rocket module, because of their advanced Physics knowledge. Soon after we divided the roles among ourselves, we began to plan the work process. We, the satellite development team, decided to split the work by testing the sensors simultaneously, while the rocket design team decided not to divide the tasks, but work on one task at a time.
After we finished the planning phase, the real work began! I began testing the accelerometers and the GPS, which later proved to be a hard work to do, especially when you haven’t soldered anything in your life :D However, my teacher taught me how to work with a soldering iron by giving me a learning kit with capacitors, relays, resistors, etc. That also helped me learn more in-depth how electrical circuits work. In the end, I managed to solder the pins of the sensors and test them successfully!
Even though this phase seemed to be the easiest, there were numerous difficulties we had to overcome. First, we experienced difficulties with the soldering of the sensors on the PCB (Printed Circuit Board), because of the uncommon connections between the pins on the board. That is why we had to unsolder, reposition, and solder the sensors once again. Furthermore, we had problems with the assembly of the various parts of the code, because even though the sensors worked individually, the whole code resulted in memory overflow. That is why we had to optimize the code by replacing cumbersome raw-data converters with faster and less-memory-demanding ones.
The final phase of our project was to set up the data stream from the radio module on the satellite towards the ground station receiver, where our computer would receive the data, gathered by the satellite. Then, by using COMFile, we would archive the received information. After that, a C++ app, written by us, splits that data into separate files, which are then put into a gnuplot program, which illustrates the data from each file in an XY-plane. The biggest problem we encountered during this phase is the processing of the corrupted data. We managed to overcome this difficulty by adding checkers in the C++ application.
We managed to create a fully working CanSat satellite and a rocket, which could be launched in the lower atmosphere.