Meet the team: Delacosa
| Teacher: | Jose F Romero (Physics Teacher) |
| Team members: | Rodrigo Aranguren (2nd Baccalaureate), Team Leader and Software Leader; Nacho Peña (2nd Baccalaureate), CanSat Leader; Jaime Cernuda (1st Baccalaureate), Outreach Leader and Software Development; Ramon Robledano (2nd Baccalaureate), Base-Station Leader; Nacho Martinez (1st Baccalaureate), Parachute Design and Descending Control; Alberto Gimeno (1st Baccalaureate), Software Development; Manuel Alonso Alejos (2nd Baccalaureate), Mechanics designer |
| School: | Colegio Retamar, Pozuelo de Alarcon |
| Country: | Spain |
Description of the CanSat missions
Our name is DeLaCosa CanSat Team in tribute to Juan De La Cosa.
Born in 1460 in the Spanish town of ''Santoña''. Juan De La Cosa was the captain and the owner of the ''Santa María'' ship, one of the three used by Cristobal Colombus to discover America. It was then when the queen asked him to explore the coasts of the Orinoco river. While going on this trip, he got shot by an Indian arrow. This happened during the year 1500. When he got back to Spain. He started making, by order of the king, the very first "Mappa Mundi", which is preserved at the ''Museo Naval de Madrid''.
The main objective of our CanSat is to make a 3D map of Andenes’s surface. To achieve this objective, we will use two cameras in order to obtain the photos which will be later processed to make the 3D map. Other sensors include a GPS, an accelerometer and a magnetometer. The measured data will be sent to the land-base by radio waves. Photos and other data will be stored to removable micro-SD cards on the CanSat. Data from these cards will be processed once the CanSat has landed. We are self-developing a MATLAB script which works with image matrices, in order to obtain the desired map.
After all technical work has been done, we should compare our own map with existing ones (i.e. Google Earth models).
The main achievement of this project will be to deploy the cameras out of the CanSat as well as to develop the MATLAB’s code which processes all the obtained information.
Progress
- We have completely developed the whole communication system, which covers design, construction and testing of a self-made-Yagi’s antenna.
- CanSat Kit has been built and programmed, as well as tested by checking whether data transmission was successful.
- We have been looking for all the necessary sensors and electronic components for our CanSat. Comparisons among possible chips and sensors have been made, along with choosing and purchasing all definitive ones.
- Cameras opening system has been completely both thought overdesigned, and built
- We have made a lot of progress on the way we're doing the 3D map of Andenes’s surface.
- We have made the 3D models of our CanSat so as the pieces which need to be ordered are now at our disposal.
- All procedures to get the sponsorship from enterprises have been already fulfilled.
- We have kept on contributing in spreading our proposal via Internet by reaching a large amount of visits in our team’s blog (http://retamarcansat2.blogspot.com), which publishes CanSat and Science news, thanks to our promotion on social networks (Facebook group and Google+ page), and our micro blogging account (@DeLaCosaCanSat on Twitter).
- We have publicly displayed our project in the National Museum of Science and Technology (MUNCYT), showing what the contest is about and explaining specifically the mission our CanSat is carrying out.
- We have managed to appear in some media and to arrange an interview with an important newspaper. The next week El Mundo will publish short news and when we will come from the competition they will publish a reportage. We are in conversation with another media.