CanSat & Model Satellite Descent, Altimeter & Telemetry Workbench
Size single/two-stage parachutes, Knacke-Pflanz opening shock loads, MEMS barometric apogee filters, RF CSV telemetry links, launch-rail batteries, and NiCr burn-wire release mechanisms.
SYS.SIMULATOR // CANSAT & MODEL SATELLITE ENGINEERING WORKBENCH
Deterministic Descent, Altimeter, Telemetry & Separation Sizer
Coupled troposphere aerodynamics (ICAO Doc 7488 ISA + Knacke 1992 Pflanz opening-shock method), MEMS barometer apogee filtering, RF link & launch-rail standby battery sizing, and NiCr thermal release calculations for PDR/CDR documentation.
AERODYNAMIC & DEPLOYMENT PARAMETERS
Simple 6–8 gore flat polygon; requires a 10–15% apex spill hole to damp pendulum oscillation.
Touchdown Rate v_t
8.76 m/s
Effective S = 895 cm²
Flight Duration & Drift
95.0 s
Wind drift: 428 m
Opening Shock (Pflanz)
31.5 N (9.7 G)
Shroud SF: 21.2×
Target Canopy Sizing
10 m/s → Ø29.8 cm
5 m/s → Ø59.6 cm
- Single-Stage Descent (Flat Circular (Standard Ripstop Nylon))
- Horizontal Wind Drift (m, at 4.5 m/s wind)
Show the data as a table
| Elapsed Descent Time (s) | Single-Stage Descent (Flat Circular (Standard Ripstop Nylon)) | Horizontal Wind Drift (m, at 4.5 m/s wind) |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 850 | 0 |
| 24 | 632 | 108 |
| 48 | 416 | 216 |
| 71 | 212 | 319 |
| 96 | — | — |
MEMS BAROMETER & KALMAN / IIR FILTER CONFIGURATION
Drone/CanSat flight-control standard; hardware IIR filter and FIFO prevent packet loss during pyrotechnic ejection.
Raw vs. Filtered Alt Noise
±2.1 cm RMS
Unfiltered raw: ±6.8 cm
Vertical Velocity σ_vz
±0.75 m/s
Trigger delay: 0.72 s (18 samples)
Ejection Spike Immunity
MODERATE RISK
Min recommended: ≥15 samples
ISA MISSION PRESSURE TABLE (PAD ELEVATION = 150 m ASL)
| Flight Event | Altitude AGL | Expected Pressure | Firmware Trigger Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launch Pad Baseline (P₀) | 0.0 m | 995.36 hPa | Store in FRAM/EEPROM on `CMD,CAL` |
| Stage-2 Separation Threshold | 400 m | 948.90 hPa | STATE==DESCENT && h_filt ≤ 400 m for ≥15 samples |
| Nominal Apogee | 850 m | 898.75 hPa | v_z < −2.0 m/s for ≥15 samples (+600 ms ejection blanking) |
RF TRANSCEIVER & LAUNCH-RAIL POWER PROFILE
Standard for AAS US CanSat Competition (ITU Region 2 ISM band; configure NETID/PAN ID per team).
Slant Range & FSPL
1.99 km
FSPL: 97.6 dB
Link Margin
+34.5 dB
Rx: -66.5 dBm
1st Fresnel Zone r₁
12.8 m
Keep Tripod ≥ 2 m AGL
Min 2S Battery (7.4 V)
420 mAh
Total: 3.10 Wh (incl. 35% margin)
INTERACTIVE CSV TELEMETRY PACKET & BANDWIDTH AUDITOR
Paste a sample ASCII CSV telemetry line from your flight firmware to verify field count, byte length, and RF channel utilization at 4 Hz:
NICHROME 80 (NiCr 80/20) THERMAL CUTTER SIZER
Wire Resistance & Dia
0.41 Ω
Ø0.202 mm
Pulse Current & Power
4.60 A
8.6 W on wire
Surface Heat Flux
113.5 W/cm²
Cut time: ~0.25 s
Release Status
OVERCURRENT RISK
Timeout at 2.5 s
OPEN-HARDWARE CANSAT CAD (.STEP / .DXF) & KICAD CIRCULAR PCB GENERATOR
Download standard-compliant mechanical envelopes (Ø66 × 115 mm ESA CanSat cylinder) and a ready-to-route Ø62.0 mm circular KiCad 7/8 PCB template with 4× M3 standoffs on a Ø53.0 mm bolt circle:
DETERMINISTIC PHYSICS & DATA METHODOLOGY
How This Calculator Works
Source modules: lib/physics/cansat.ts
Solves four suborbital CanSat / Model Satellite engineering domains in ICAO tropospheric atmosphere (0–11 km): Knacke/Pflanz parachute descent and opening-shock mechanics, MEMS barometric altimeter exponential smoothing & apogee debounce, suborbital LoRa/XBee link & 2S LiPo/LiFePO4 energy sizing, and NiCr 80/20 burn-wire cord release.
Governing Equations & Physical Model
v_t = √((2·m·g₀) / (ρ(h)·C_d0·S_eff)), F_shock = C_d0 · S_eff · (½·ρ·v_dep²) · C_x · X₁(A)Evaluates ICAO Doc 7488/3 density ρ(h), spill-hole effective area S_eff = (πD₀²/4)(1 − γ²), canopy fill constant n_fill, and Pflanz ballistic factor X₁.
σ_filt = (σ_P / (ρ·g₀))·√(α / (2 − α)), q'' = I²·R_wire / (π·d_w·L_w)Checks 5σ apogee false-trigger immunity across 0.6 s ejection transients and compares NiCr surface heat flux against UHMWPE (16 W/cm²) and Nylon (24 W/cm²) severing thresholds.
Inputs, Parameters & Units
| Parameter | Unit | Physical definition |
|---|---|---|
| m, D₀, canopy | g, cm, 7 types | Descending mass, nominal canopy diameter, spill-hole ratio, and canopy class (flat circular, cruciform, toroidal, parafoil, autogyro). |
| h_apo, v_dep, v_wind | m, m/s, m/s | Release apogee AGL, rocket deployment airspeed, and horizontal wind drift speed. |
| Sensor, Radio, AWG | BMP/MS5611, LoRa/XBee, 28–36 | Barometer filter settings, telemetry radio/battery mission phases, and Nichrome release gauge. |
Assumptions & Validity Limits
- ISA tropospheric lapse rate (6.5 K/km) applies up to 11,000 m ASL; wind speed is treated as uniform across descent.
- Shroud-line safety factor includes a default 0.50 knot/splice tensile efficiency factor per Knacke §6.3.
Worked Default Reference Case
Lands at 8.50 m/s pad terminal velocity (within the 8–11 m/s ESA window) with 5.6 g Pflanz opening shock and 459 m drift in 4 m/s wind; a 30 AWG 12 mm NiCr wire at 7.4 V (1.5 Ω limit) delivers 47.8 W/cm² for a ~0.47 s UHMWPE cut.
- Pad terminal descent rate
- 8.50 m/s (459 m wind drift)
- Pflanz opening shock
- 5.6 g (at 18 m/s deploy)
- BMP388 filtered RMS noise
- 0.019 m (α = 0.15, 25 Hz)
- 30 AWG NiCr UHMWPE cut
- 47.8 W/cm² (~0.47 s cut)