Difference between revisions of "Project:HackSat One"

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(Replaced content with "right Development is well under way. Apologies for lack of wiki update, check back soon. In the meantime see https://flux.org.uk/proj...")
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[[File:Hacksat1-mission-patch.png|right]]
 
[[File:Hacksat1-mission-patch.png|right]]
  
'''See https://flux.org.uk/projects/hacksat/ for latest info. Dev board should be going to board house imminently. Flux will update the wiki in July 2013.'''
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Development is well under way. Apologies for lack of wiki update, check back soon.
  
'''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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In the meantime see https://flux.org.uk/projects/hacksat/ for latest info.
 
 
All the sprites in the KickSat swarm will have the same hardware design. So focus is on the software and ground station. Speak to [[User:Flux|Flux]] if you're interested in getting involved.
 
 
 
== Current Activities ==
 
* 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]].
 
* Working out the [[Project:HackSat1 Payload|payload]]
 
* Working out what's needed for [[Project:Hoxton Space Centre|Hoxton Space Centre]] (ground station)
 
 
 
== Sprite Hardware ==
 
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.
 
 
 
* 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)
 
* sensors: temperature + one other TBC (KickSat are taking suggestions)
 
** 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. (The MCU has a temperature sensor build-in)
 
* radio: we can transmit what and when we like (subject to solar power) but data rate is only a few bits per second
 
**Signals cannot be sent to the sprite: communication is strictly one way (from sprite to ground station)
 
 
 
''"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"''
 
 
 
== The Launch ==
 
July 2013 on Space X Falcon 9 rocket as part of ELaNa 5 / CRS 3.
 
 
 
== The Orbit ==
 
''"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."''
 
 
 
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).
 
 
 
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.
 
 
 
== Useful Resources ==
 
* [http://hackaday.com/2011/11/21/tracking-satellites-with-an-arduino/ Tracking satellites with an Arduino]
 
[[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.''
 
''Mission patch created by Nick Cramp.''
  
 
[[Category:Projects]]
 
[[Category:Projects]]

Revision as of 15:15, 27 June 2013

Development is well under way. Apologies for lack of wiki update, check back soon.

In the meantime see https://flux.org.uk/projects/hacksat/ for latest info.

Mission patch created by Nick Cramp.