OUR TEAM
About Us
Proud representatives of the United Kingdom for the 2017 European Cansat Competition.
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We are the CanSat team from George Watson's College in Edinburgh, with seven members from years S5-S6. We have been awarded 1st place in the UK national competition and are representing the UK in the international competition hosted by a collaboration between ESERO and ESA.
Name: Kaveh Pezeshki
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Teams: Mechanical, electrical & software
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Roles: Team leader & mission manager
The Team
Name: Charles Cameron
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Teams: Mechanical, electrical & software
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Roles: Safety officer & mechanical engineer
Name: Morven Pennie
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Teams: Mechanical & outreach
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Roles: Mechanical engineer, graphic designer, outreach & social media representative
Name: Pedro Guimaraes
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Teams: Mechanical & electrical
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Roles: Payload manager & materials engineer
Name: Jack Hargreaves
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Teams: Software
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Roles: Base station software programmer
Name: Calder Maclean
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Teams: Software & mechanical
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Roles: Flight director & cansat software programmer
Name: Anna Lee
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Point of contact, organiser and accompanying teacher
Name: Salvatore Tomasino
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Accompanying teacher for cansat trips & GWC physics technician
Special thanks to the George Watson's College design, technology & engineering staff.
Team Photos
 Hard At WorkThe team working away in the George Watson's College Design, Technology & Engineering Department. |  Sizing UpMeasuring our cansat outer shell to the internal frame. |  Wiring Our SensorsThis is the perfboard housing all our sensors for our national competition design. |  Testing Battery LifeWatching and waiting for the battery to run down in our national competition design. It lasted 9 hours! |
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 Put it TogetherOur fully assembled internals for the national competition. |  UK national CompetitionThe competition took place in York on the 9th of March 2017 |  New CanSatThe CAD model of our new CanSat design for the European Internationals in June! |  New PCBsNew custom built PCBs ready for programming |
We believe that the CanSat competition will allow our team to experience the process and challenges of a real-world design cycle. As a student-led team, we will have the responsibility of selecting our CanSat's secondary mission, creating prototypes and testing designs, drawing CAD models for mechanical integration, and creating software for data logging, transmission, and analysis.
OUR SPONSORS
Kaiam Corporation specializes in photonic integration and high speed transceiver systems for data centers. Kaiam Corporation has been pushing the boundaries of photonics and high-speed transceivers since its inception.
Dassault Systemes, a member of the Dassault Group, is a multinational software company that develops 3D design and simulation software. Dassault Systemes has agreed to sponsor our team with licenses for their software.
Sketchfab is at the pinacle of in-browser computer aided design and provide a platform for creators to share 3D models with eachother. They have generously provided us with free reign over their services, allowing us to share our progress in the development of our cansat.
George Watson's College is a co-educational, independent school situated in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh, Scotland. As our team's origin school and base of operations, George Watson's College has provided us with valuable advice, equipment, resources and other help.
Enviromentor Ltd is a successful and unique type of environmental consultancy, specialising in high-impact campaigns, and created specifically for the modern market-place – to enable a flexible, responsive network of high skill partners form quickly to match exactly with the particular needs of each client. They have kindly sponsored us and offered us key advice and resources to aid our cansat development.
Croft Additive Manufacturing are a 3D printing company based in Cheshire that specialise in 3D printing metal items from all order quantities. The precise 3D printing machinery are capable of producing highly intricate components. Croft have kindly provided us with 3D printed components, such as our internal frame.
Tecbridge Circuits UK has been at the forefront of printed circuit board (PCB) manufacture and provide high-quality circuit board services to the electronics industry. Tecbridge have provided us with critical advice regarding our electronics and have also provided us with PCBs to use in our design.
London Manufacturing Ltd. has established itself within the Contract Electronic Manufacturing Services (CEM) industry as a high quality supplier of conventional and surface mount PCB assemblies, electrical and mechanical sub assemblies, and complete product box builds for a wide range of industries. They have kindly offered to assemble our PCBs free of charge.
Next Thing Co. is an innovative technology company providing low-cost embedded Linux platforms for makers and professionals. Next Thing Co's CHIP single board computer was at the heart of our UK CanSat design, and they have kindly provided us with five CHIP Pro units for the European Championships.
Spirit Circuits is a leading UK printed circuit board manufacturer, who have offered to provide our team with PCBs for our CanSat redesign.
Our model
Sketchfab is at the pinacle of in-browser computer aided design and provide a platform for creators to share 3D models with eachother. They have generously provided us with free reign over their services, allowing us to share our progress in the development of our cansat.
THE CANSAT COMPETiTiON
What is a CanSat?
As described by the ESA CanSat website, a CanSat is:
"A simulation of a real satellite, integrated within the volume and shape of a soft drink can. The challenge for the students is to fit all the major subsystems found in a satellite, such as power, sensors and a communication system, into this minimal volume. The CanSat is then launched to an altitude of a few hundred metres by a rocket or dropped from a platform or captive balloon and its mission begins: to carry out a scientific experiment and achieve a safe landing."
Why Participate?
We believe that the CanSat competition will allow our team to experience the process and challenges of a real-world design cycle. As a student-led team, we will have the responsibility of selecting our CanSat's secondary mission, creating prototypes and testing designs, drawing CAD models for mechanical integration, and creating software for data logging, transmission, and analysis.
Mission Goals
Primary Mission:
We will measure barometric air pressure and temperature, and report these values to our base station computer at a rate of at least one result per second.
Secondary Mission:
We will use barometric air pressure in order to calculate altitude, and include real-time GPS, acceleration, rotation, and humidity data in our real time telemetry. Video from a ground-facing thermal camera will be logged on an SD card.