PEC University of Technology undergrad students head into the finals of the CanSat Competition organised by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), American Astronautical Society (AAS) and American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).
"Team Udaan" is developing the first Nano-Satellite System of the college. After a number of rounds, starting from November last year, the team has secured 18th rank among more than 80 teams from different countries around the world. It is invited to the Final Launch Event scheduled from 10th-12th June 2016 at Burkett, Texas, USA.
Their mission is to design and develop a sensor payload travelling through a planetary atmosphere sampling the atmospheric composition during flight. The Nano-Satellite or CanSat system would be composed of two primary components, a science vehicle and a re-entry container that protects the vehicle. When deployed from the rocket the re-entry container shall descend with the vehicle secured in the container. The science vehicle shall release from the container and glide in a circular pattern while sampling the air pressure and temperature while simultaneously transmitting the data to a ground station. Position data of the sample data would also be recorded and included in the telemetry at the same rate. The speed of the glider shall be measured with a pitot tube and compared with GPS generated velocity data. The camera on-board will be used for terrain mapping and ground imaging.
"Meeting the complexity of the mission requirements while ensuring that the entire mass of the satellite is under 500 grams was quite challenging. We came up with innovative solutions involving the use of 3D printers and advance composites in the fabrication of the structure so that it could survive upto 30Gs of shock. Moreover, with the use of advanced polymers, we were able to design a very light wing, which could increase its span area using the internal actuation system" said Chirag Sachdeva.
"Team Udaan consists of eight undergrads from different branches, working together under the guidance of faculty advisors on this multi-disciplinary project"
The team is lead by Chirag Sachdeva, second year Aerospace Engineering, is responsible for the Satellite Structure and system safety at high altitudes.
Ashish K Gautam, second year Mechanical Engineering, is responsible for the Descent Control System along with the actuation mechanism.
Vivek Singh, fourth year Electronics and Communication Engineering, along with Archit Jain, second year Computer Engineering, are responsible for the Electronics system of the satellite and ensure proper functioning of the various sensors and imaging devices.
Sachin Sharma, second year Metallurgy Engineering, is responsible for the Flight Software and autonomous functioning of the system.
Deepanshu Gupta, fourth year Electronics and Communication Engineering, is responsible for the Ground station development and Telemetry operations.
Jitish Miglani and Amit Jain from fourth year Aerospace Engineering, are responsible for the aero elasticity and dynamics.
The team is advised by Prof. Rakesh Kumar, Prof. Kishori Lal, Prof. Tejinder Kumar Jindal and Prof. Tushar Siag, the faculty of the aerospace department of PEC University of Technology and is mentored by Mr. Jim Yen from American Astronautical Society (AAS). Nayhel Sharma Bhanot and Bharat Ankur Dogra, PhD students from the aerospace department are supervising the construction process.
The competition has five phases, the third phase was the preliminary design review (PDR) where the team submitted its concepts and designs to the reviewers from NASA and AAS. In February 2016, they presented their PDR through teleconference to the judging panel. In May 2016, after their critical design review (CDR) presentation, they obtained an aggregate score of 97.46% and were ranked 18th. The team is now heading into the final phase, where they have to launch their nano-satellite system in Texas.
"We received appreciations for our design concepts, which really boosted our confidence."
"It has been a great experience working together with the team since almost a year. Leading the team, sticking to deadlines, giving presentations and searching for sponsors was difficult while simultaneously managing the college academic loads. Working in a team, where each member had a different skill, was of great advantage as we not only got the understanding about various fields but also used this integrated knowledge to design the satellite system."
"Now we are looking forward for the final round. It has been a great journey so far, right from taking the initiative to make such a complex machine till finally getting selected into the finals." added Chirag Sachdeva.
