Difference between revisions of "Project:HackSat One"

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[[File:Hacksat1-mission-patch.png|right]]
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{{Project||created=10/10/2011|status=Mission Failed|members=[[User:Flux|Flux]], [[User:Datagramm|Samuel]]}}
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[[File:Hacksat-devboard-hand.jpeg|thumb|right|Dev board for HackSat One]]
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[[File:Radio-testing-at-london-hackspace.jpeg|thumb|right|Radio testing with Samuel]]
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HackSat One is a tiny [https://flux.org.uk/projects/hacksat/hardware.html satellite sprite], launching as part of the [http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/zacinaction/kicksat-your-personal-spacecraft-in-space KickSat swarm]. The sprite is powered by its own solar panel and is capable of broadcasting signals back to Earth. It launched on 18th April 2014 as part of a NASA mission to resupply the International Space Station. Due to issues with deployment (see mission update, below) the mission failed. There is a related project to build [[Project:Hackney Space Centre|Hackney Space Centre]]. For the latest information see the [[Mailing List|mailing list]].
  
'''HackSat1''' will be a sprite: a tiny independent satellite. It's due to launch in 2013 as part of the [http://kicksat.org KickSat] swarm. The primary goal of the project is to receive signals from HackSat1 at a [[Project:Hoxton Space Centre|ground station]] in the [[Laboratory 24|London Hackspace, Hoxton]]. In the longer term we hope to design and launch our own hardware.
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__TOC__
  
All the sprites in the KickSat swarm will have the same hardware design. So focus is on the software and ground station. The sprite dev kit is due by the end of June 2012. Speak to [[User:Flux|Flux]] if you're interested in getting involved.
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=== Mission Update: 14 May 2014 ===
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I'm sad to report that HackSat will not be stretching its solar panels
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after all. HackSat likely re-entered overnight whilst still inside
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KickSat.
  
== Current Activities ==
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HackSat launched on 18th April inside the KickSat satellite. KickSat
* Messing around with a [http://www.ti.com/LaunchPad TI LaunchPad] and learning the basics of [http://www.ti.com/msp430 MSP430]. See also [[MSP430 Mac Howto]].
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started out in an orbit of 299 by 331 Kilometers at an inclination of
* Working out the [[Project:HackSat1 Payload|payload]]
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51.65 degrees. This is a low orbit and subject to a significant amount
* Working out what's needed for [[Project:Hoxton Space Centre|Hoxton Space Centre]] (ground station)
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of drag.
  
== Sprite Hardware ==
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Sixteen days after launch, KickSat was due to deploy HackSat and its
We don't get to design the hardware on this mission, just program it. The current KickSat code is available on [https://github.com/zacinaction/kicksat GitHub]. Development of HackSat specific code is due to being summer 2012.
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other satellite sprites. The delay was required by Nasa to avoid
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interfering with ISS operations. This meant HackSat would have began
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orbiting on 4th May.
  
* MSP430 controller: [http://www.ti.com/product/cc430f6137 CC430F6137] (16-Bit Ultra-Low-Power MCU, 32KB Flash, 4KB RAM, CC1101 Radio, AES-128, 12Bit ADC, USCI, LCD driver)
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On 30th April the watchdog microcontroller that runs the KickSat timer
* sensors: temperature + one other TBC (KickSat are taking suggestions)
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reset, probably due to a cosmic ray. This pushed the deployment of
** According to a [http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/zacinaction/kicksat-your-personal-spacecraft-in-space/posts/247545 kickstarter update], the latest dev boards have a magnetometer and a gyro onboard. No mention of the temperature sensor.
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HackSat out to 16th May. Attempts to manually deploy HackSat via the
* radio: we can transmit what and when we like (subject to solar power) but data rate is only a few bits per second
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uplink failed: the KickSat batteries never reached a high enough
**Signals cannot be sent to the sprite: communication is strictly one way (from sprite to ground station)
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voltage to enable the uplink receiver.
  
''"For sensors, basically they have to be packaged in a tiny SMT chip and not use too much power (no more than a few mW). We don't have a list yet, but one example of something that would work is this magnetometer: http://dlnmh9ip6v2uc.cloudfront.net/datasheets/Sensors/Magneto/HMC5883L-FDS.pdf"''
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Since launch signals from KickSat have been regularly received by
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ground stations around the world. Recent orbital predictions suggested
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that re-entry was likely 13-14th May. No stations have reported
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hearing KickSat overnight, so it seems very likely it has already
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re-entered.
  
== The Launch ==
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- [[User:Flux|Flux]] ([[User talk:Flux|talk]]) 09:40, 14 May 2014 (UTC)
KickSat has been awarded a launch through [http://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/centers/kennedy/technology/elana_feature.html NASA's ELaNa programme]. KickSat is twenty-third in the queue (so a launch date isn't known yet).
 
  
== The Orbit ==
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=== Schedule ===
''"While we don't know the orbit, we're aiming for a circular low altitude LEO - around 300 km. altitude. That would mean a roughly 90 minute orbit with several daylight passes per day (usually 3 or 4 over any given location). Each pass would be somewhere around 5 minutes long."''
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After several launch delays, KickSat is now in low Earth orbit.
  
At that (low) a height - the orbit repeat cycle would really matter quite a bit; i.e. how many days before it passes within line of sight of a given ground station; and is there enough power to survive across such cycles; or if not - is there enough to be 'on' when doing an overpass (in daylight). The basic concept that as it circles earth in a bit over 90 minutes; each pass is a couple of degrees westward (on the illuminated side of earth usually) - returning to roughly the same orbit after a couple of days/weeks. Key is then having (had) enough power to charge any batteries to be able to power up the transmitter (and generally not having enough time/power to establish position - so you need to do this a lot - in a hit and run mode looking for the elusive ground station and then offload your wares quickly -- within the 10's of seconds you have (left).
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HackSat and the other sprites will be deploying ~ 20:00 UTC on 4th May.
  
B.t.w. [http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/freeabs_all.jsp?arnumber=4526281 "Criteria and Trade-offs for LEO Orbit Design" in IEEE Xplore] has a pretty good overview.
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Our satellite is contained with the bigger KickSat. 128 sprites are loaded into it. It has the names of contributors engraved on it, including "London Hackspace". You can see a [http://zacinaction.github.io/kicksat/engraving_photos/KickSat_minusY_Zoom2.jpg photo of the actual KickSat], complete with our engraving (we're on the bottom row, 4th from the right).
  
== Useful Resources ==
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=== Software Payload ===
* [http://hackaday.com/2011/11/21/tracking-satellites-with-an-arduino/ Tracking satellites with an Arduino]
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HackSat broadcasts a simple set of data on temperature, magnetic field and angular velocity. It will also broadcast the HackSpace URL: http://hack.rs
[[Category:Satellites|H]]
 
* [http://events.ccc.de/congress/2011/Fahrplan/events/4699.en.html Building a Distributed Satellite Ground Station Network - A Call To Arms]
 
  
''Mission patch created by Nick Cramp.''
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If you're interested in trying to receive the signal from HackSat (and
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the other KickSat sprites) yourself see [https://github.com/zacinaction/kicksat/wiki/Setting-Up-A-Ground-Station setting up a ground station].
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=== Hardware ===
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Below, you can see a photograph of the dev board and dev kit. The sprite board itself is outlined in yellow, with the solar panel taking up most of the left-hand side. The boards beneath beneath the sprite are the TI LaunchPad and connecting board. Key components on the spite are:
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* '''TI CC430F6137 microcontroller''' (red): 16-Bit [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TI_MSP430 MSP430], 32KB Flash, 4KB RAM, CC1101 Radio [[http://www.ti.com/product/cc430f6137 datasheet]]
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* '''InvenSense ITG-3200 Gyroscope''' (orange) [[https://www.sparkfun.com/datasheets/Sensors/Gyro/PS-ITG-3200-00-01.4.pdf datasheet]]
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* '''Honeywell HMC5883L Magnetometer''' (blue) [[http://www51.honeywell.com/aero/common/documents/myaerospacecatalog-documents/Defense_Brochures-documents/HMC5883L_3-Axis_Digital_Compass_IC.pdf datasheet]]
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* '''TXC 7Z-26.000MDG-T Oscillator''' (purple)  [[http://www.txccrystal.com/images/pdf/7z.pdf datasheet]]
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* '''Nitinol antennas''' (extend off top right of photograph) [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitinol nitinol info]]
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For more detail on the sprite hardware, including EagleCAD layouts, see the [https://github.com/zacinaction/kicksat/tree/master/Sprite/EagleCAD/Sprite KickSat Git repo].
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''NB. The dev board (pictured) has a different oscillator to that mentioned above.''
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[[File:Annotated-kicksat-dev-board.jpg]]
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=== Decal ===
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[[File:Hacksatone-mission-decal.png]]
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''Decal created by Nick Cramp.''
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[[Category:Projects]]
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[[Category:Satellites]]

Latest revision as of 09:41, 14 May 2014