DELL/EMC, Ovens, Co. Cork – Friday Oct. 20th at 5:45pm (sharp) is the venue for Read More
2013 CanSat Competition
2013 CanSat Competition Final at Lifetime Lab
Coláiste an Phiarsaigh, Glanmire, was announced as the winning team at the final of the CEIA-ESERO National CanSat competition at the Lifetime Lab in Cork on the 16th March. The 9 students took on the challenge to create a CanSat – a simulation of a real satellite which fits into the volume of a soft drinks can. The CanSat includes all the major elements found in a satellite, such as power, sensors and a communication system. Students from seven schools have worked for a number of months designing, building and testing their CanSats in the lead up to the final at the Lifetime Lab in Cork. The National Final was sponsored by Moog, Horner APG, DSE, CEIA and volunteer mentors from UCC, Tyndall and CIT. The winning team – CaPSat – made up of Ronán Ó Cnoic, Ruairí Ó Ciaráin, Ruairí Ó Cinnéide, Robin Ó Donnchú, Marc Ó Crualaoi, Stiofán MacDomhnaill, Lúcás Ó Caiside, Seamus Ó Baoill and Cian Ó Donnabháin, will now go onto compete at the European CanSat final in The Netherlands in April, where their CanSat will be launched to an altitude of approximately 1km by a rocket. The travelling team will be sponsored on their journey by Cork Electronics Industry Association (CEIA), ESERO Ireland, the European Space Education Resource Office, co-funded by the European Space Agency and Discover Science & Engineering, Science Foundation Ireland’s (SFI) education and outreach programme.
Once the CanSats are launched, the teams carry out tests as it is descending back to the ground. The primary mission of the CanSat is to measure air temperature and atmospheric pressure – which is also used to estimate altitude – and transmit the data to the ground station (laptop). As well as the primary mission, the CapSat team integrated a GPS sensor to the CanSat for their secondary mission. After collecting the data the CanSat teams each made a short presentation about their CanSat preparations, including graphing and interpreting the data received from their CanSats missions.
The schools that took part in the final of CanSat 2013 at Lifetime Lab were:
Regina Mundi College (Cork)
Douglas Community School (Cork)
Colaiste an Phiarsaigh (Glanmire)
Laurel Hill Secondary School (Limerick)
Scoil Mhuire Gan Smal (Blarney)
