OSA - winner of ESA CanSat 2021 competition

Project OSA

OSA is a minisatellite/ space probe the size of a can designed to participate in the ESA CanSat 2021 competition . Our project is called OSA (in Polish “Opadający Satelita Atmosferyczny” is loosely translated into “Falling Atmospheric Satellite”) and team - OSATeam

OSA is designed to carry out research while falling in the atmosphere. Space probe can be deployed from drone, rocket or droped from certain altitude. Parachute guarantees safe landing. Primarily device measures air temperature, pressure, humidity and send it via LoRa radio to the ground station. This data is used onboard satellite to calculate live altitude.

The main aim for OSA is to collect five air samples for later analysis. It is done by custom-designed mechanism, that injects needle into an autosealing sterile containers and micro-pump samples air into it.

Among other OSA has built-in GPS so after lunch it can be found easily.

Useful links

Full documentation - https://github.com/OSATeam-GitHub/Project-OSA-CanSat-2020-2021

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@projectosa3385

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/osateam_cansat/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/osacan.eu/

Printing

Material

We used Prusament PLA and it worked just fine. If OSA were to be used more often in demanding conditions, more advanced materials like ASA, ABS, or Prusament PC blend could be a better choice.

Supports

Most parts are designed for easy printing experience. Although the main-base can be a bit challenging. It requires some supports around the middle gear and under the stepper cable hole. Don't put any supports under the middle gear. After releasing it should spin freely. 

Gear placement

The support gear should be printed first and then inserted into its place while printing main-base. The easiest way is to add a colour change in PrusaPlicer just before the servo mount plate starts to print and when the print stops then add the gear.