The school is working on the experiment Argonautex
State of the electronics
We have changed the satellite’s main board from the Raspberry Pi Zero W to the Pi 4, because of incompatibilities with the communication module. We have added the Raspberry Pi HQ Camera, with which we plan to take photos roughly every minute.
In addition, all the sensors are programmed and work individually; we only need to integrate them into the satellite and check that the data logging program works correctly. We did run into some difficulties with the GPS, but we recently got it to transmit the corresponding data.
3D design
The satellite design is finished. It is a pyramid shape with a hexagonal base, divided into two layers where the different components are placed. On the first layer, directly above the insulation, will be the Raspberry Pi 4, the batteries and the dust sensor. On the second layer are the camera, which points downwards to take photographs of the Earth’s surface, a BME280 sensor, the GPS and the connections for the temperature sensors, which are located at the ends of the grey bar shown. We do this because in the formula for calculating the refraction coefficient, the temperature measurements must be separated by a distance r, which we have decided will be 0.75 m. For the parachute cords, we have four rings on both the top and the bottom layer. The cord will be tied there, making sure it will not break during the flight.
Components and electrical diagram
The final components the satellite will carry for the flight will be:
- 2 high-precision temperature sensors.
- 1 Adafruit Ultimate Breakout GPS
- 1 SharpGP2Y1010AU0F dust sensor
- 1 Raspberry Pi 4
- 1 BME280 sensor
- 1 Raspberry Pi HQ camera
Telecommunications
As for telecommunications, we have had to develop our own gateway, programmed with Arduino and made up of a Raspberry Pi Zero and a TTGO 32.
Using the SX1278 we receive data at the gateway (and on an SD card as a precaution) and send it to TTN, where we intend to display all the information gathered by the sensors during the satellite’s flight.
The ground station will consist of these elements and an antenna that we are currently working on.