This CanSat Transforms Into a Drone for Landing

The traditional way to land something coming from space is to deploy parachutes and, ideally, crash into something softish, like a Pacific Ocean (if one is present — Mars not applicable). In recent years, there has been incredible progress in rocket and spacecraft launch technology, with SpaceX in particular leading the way in partially reusable designs that can touch down lightly by using thrusters to slow descent and correct orientation. But most of us won’t ever have any involvement with that sort of thing, which is why John put his efforts into a CanSat that transforms into a drone for landing.

CanSats aren’t really satellites — they never reach space and they don’t orbit Earth or any other planet. They’re actually small rocket payloads the size of a 12oz soda can, designed to collect data through rocket launches at relatively accessible altitudes (typically around a kilometer or so) The name is a reference to CubeSats, which do go into space.

Most CanSats return to solid ground on parachutes, like the model rockets that carry them. But John wanted his to come down more like a drone. Not only would that provide more control over landing, but it would introduce the potential for much slower descents and thus more time to gather data.

Because John’s CanSat drone had to fit within that can-sized envelope, he had to put a lot of engineering work into making everything compact. The arms that hold the motors and rotors took up the most space, so John designed them to fold down into the CanSat’s body before deployment. A servo-actuated mechanism lifts a cover out of the way, then rubber bands pull the arms up.

Electronically, this is very much like other DIY drones out there. It has a flight controller, ESCs (electronic speed controllers), and motors. However, GPS guidance wasn’t possible — apparently putting that hardware in a rocket is a bit too close to missile technology for the government’s liking. But there is also additional hardware for data collection purposes. That hardware includes a DJI FPV video transmission system, sensors, and an Arduino Nano to read the sensors and send the relevant data through the transmitter to the ground station.

Working with a team of friends, who mostly handled the rocketry parts, John was able to launch his CanSat into the skies. There wasn’t a Pacific Ocean anywhere in sight, so the success of the mission relied on the CanSat’s drone capabilities.

…it mostly worked. The landing wasn’t as soft as John wanted, but he says that was due to pilot error more than anything else. Even so, it reached the ground without any damage and was able to continue flying that day, like any other drone.