This Monday, we presented our Preliminary Design Review to the CanSat competition judges. Thanks to the efforts of our team members, the presentation went very well! Everyone was able to present confidently during their respective sections. The judges said that we had an “excellent presentation” that was “very professional.” Everyone on our team was thrilled upon hearing that. One concern …

With our upcoming teleconference next Monday, we have been practicing our Preliminary Design Review presentation multiple times throughout this week. Each member of the team is assigned specific sections from the following: Introduction, Systems, Overview, Sensor Subsystem Design, Descent Control Design, Mechanical Subsystem Design, Communications and Data Handling, Electrical Power Subsystem Design, Flight Software Design, Ground Control System, Integration and …

For the competition, it is necessary to have a function to control the descent of the CanSat safely and accurately. A design without any descent control is a very risky gamble. We started out with a passive control design with the intent of letting the shape of the CanSat and parachute do the work in slowing the system down, but …

The CanSat competition requires our probe to have multiple sensors attached to it. Below is an overview of our Sensor Subsystem. The acceleration sensor to measure the probe’s acceleration. We chose our sensor because of its efficient range for with its relatively low cost. The air pressure and temperature sensor to measure both the probe’s air pressure and temperature. For …

Hours of collaboratively working on Google Slides later, our 127-page Preliminary Design Review (PDR) is finally complete. From fact-checking content, fixing grammar errors, to creating tables and diagrams, the presentation required a great amount of effort and attention to detail from the team. Fortunately, all eight members of the CanSat team were able to make important contributions to the presentation …

As we enter a new quarter we are currently shifting gears from talking about the project and designing plans to prototype and create, into doing just that, prototyping and creating something that can be held and touched in the physical world This week, our sensor subsystem is complete after we came back from the break. We will definately be moving …

As the end of Fall Quarter quickly approaches, our CanSat’s development continues to progress. During our Week 9 Biweekly General Meeting, we discussed the four different mechanical designs that team members individually proposed: 1. Umbrella Shape 2. Electromagnetic Release 3. Inflatable Heat Shield 4. Small Air Tank (Solenoid) As each team member presented their ideas and SolidWorks designs for the …

And so, our brave heros of the UCI Cansat team trek onward through the treacherous week 9 with sights on finalizing the sensors to be implemented. The looming pressure from the Fall Design Review on the horizon has only strengthen our protagonists team bond. A messenger from the house of telemetry has arrived with the following news: Some developments for …

This week, the controls subsystem took three big steps forward. First, we proved that we can read the voltage of our battery accurately and with utmost precision with a simple 15-line code and a design that weighs 0.8g. All my fellow team members thought that the weight was too much, but I won them over when I told them to …

This week, our Mechanical sub-team came up with a new design for the probe structure, release mechanism, and speed control mechanism. At the general meeting on Monday, we received various suggestions from other members of CanSat that give us better insights on how to improve the overall design. Pros of the current design: The design is easy to manufacture with …