In recent years, CubeSats have gained popularity as secondary payloads in space missions due to their uniquely small size and minimal weight. This allows for the quick and inexpensive development of high-risk, high-reward investigations. The success of cube-shaped CubeSats has led to the development of a new class of small-scale and low-cost scientific platforms known as CanSats, which maintain a unique cylindrical shape. CanSats offer an even more economical alternative for conducting high-risk investigations, although they are typically constrained by having to operate within Earth’s atmosphere, which contributes to their reduced costs. However, the ability to test and improve space-bound hardware makes the CanSat a potential intermediary technology for continued space exploration. This survey paper seeks to provide a technical definition of CanSats and summarize the current state of the art in CanSat-based research. This paper covers the history of CanSats, their current mainstream applications, and their potential impact on the technology pipeline for space exploration. CanSats have proven to be versatile in various applications, including Earth science, aeronautics, and educational purposes. The lower cost of CanSats provides a wider range of researchers and educational institutions access to near-space science. Therefore, this paper also aims to explore the potential future applications of CanSats, particularly as an intermediary technology for testing and improving space-bound hardware, with potential benefits for future space missions. The findings from this survey could help to guide the further research and development of CanSats, as well as help to shape future space exploration efforts.
Advanced industrial assembly lines often utilize large-scale robotic arms such as the Fanuc S 420-F. Such arms, and their end-effectors, are typically constructed from high-strength steel, which gives the systems superior rigidity at the cost of being very heavy. A new cutting-edge composite material, carbon fiber, offers the strength of steel at a fraction of the weight. To improve energy efficiency, this research project analyzed the feasibility of replacing the steel structure in an end-effector with a carbon-fiber composite, in addition to equipping the end effector with revolutionary ‘Smart’ technologies. Simulations performed in Siemens’ Process Simulate Tecnomatix module helped to inform mechanical energy computations for an arbitrary pick and place task and energy cost estimations were analyzed with the end-effector constructed from both steel and carbon fiber. The projected change in energy consumption for performing the pick and place task was then compared to determine the potential benefit of the carbon fiber substitution. In addition to the advanced material use, this research project also investigated the possibility of implementing ‘Smart’ technologies in the custom end effector design to further improve energy efficiency. The proposed smart technology would utilize machine vision to actively direct vacuum pressure to only the necessary suction cups in a pneumatic gripper array. Possible energy savings associated with the smart end effector design were analyzed. Simulation results for a simple pick and place operation showed that the Smart Carbon Fiber End Effector required only 2.22 Kilojoules of energy, compared to the 3.92 Kilojoules of energy needed for a Passive Steel Framed End Effector. Through creation and simulation with Digital Design Tools, the feasibility of combining advanced new structural materials with integrated intelligence was explored to create a revolutionary new end effector design that could reduce the energy consumption for a pick and place task.
Thousands of balloon-assisted meteorological sensor packages, known as radiosondes, are launched every day from various monitoring stations across the continental United States. However, only a small fraction of these instrument payloads are ever recovered, with most ending up as hazardous electronics waste strewn across the country. By creating a terrestrial landing system that can be retrofitted to common commercially available radiosondes, the landing survivability of these instrument payloads may be able to be improved. Furthermore, such a landing platform could also support continued meteorological data acquisition and transmission, allowing the radiosonde to transition from high-altitude monitoring to surface level sensor monitoring. Not only would such a terrestrial mission extension module fitted to a radiosonde drastically increase the potential utility of an existing radiosonde, but such a device could also improve radiosonde recovery rates, and therefore reduce the electronics waste being produced by regular weather balloon launches.
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