Review 2: All Systems Go!
The primary goal of this final exercise is to have a functional satellite, doing just what you want. You could use an imaginary simple mission for this review to do it quicker or on your own, or you could do it with the actual flight hardware with your team.
Task 1: Specifications
Every space mission starts with a clear objective—so, what’s the mission for your CanSat? Why are you building it? What exactly should it be capable of doing to meet that mission goal? Define the mission requirements for your satellite. Think about what specific tasks or measurements it should perform, and how you’ll know when the mission is a success. If you need some inspiration, check out the example requirements in Review 1 for guidance.
Task 2: Preliminary design
Now that you have your mission goals, let’s break it down. What subsystems will you need to accomplish your mission? Consider everything: power, communication, sensors, data storage, etc. Also, think about your ground station—how will you receive and process the data? For the software side, make a plan for the different components your code will be made of. The goal here is to outline what each part of your satellite and ground station needs to do.
Task 3: Detailed Design
Here’s where the bulk of the work happens—now it's time to make it real. Start by designing your electronics, testing components, and soldering everything together. For your software, begin coding each of the components you defined in the previous step. Don’t forget to test each part separately as you build. This stage is all about integration—making sure all the subsystems work together as a cohesive unit.
Task 4: Testing
In the world of aerospace, no system flies without rigorous testing. You’ll want to start by testing each subsystem on its own in a controlled environment (classroom, lab, etc.). Then, push it a bit further—test it under more stressful conditions like vibration, temperature changes, and communication range (all covered in the last lesson). Create a test log to document each test: What passed? What failed? What did you have to modify to meet the mission specifications? This is your verification phase—making sure the satellite performs according to your original mission requirements.
Task 5: Flight readiness assessment
It’s time for the final assessment before launch! Are all your systems go? Check if every part of your satellite is functioning as expected. Do you have all the equipment, tools, and team members ready for a successful CanSat mission? This is your Flight Readiness Review (FRR)—a key step in aerospace missions to ensure everything is prepared for launch.
You’ve made it through the entire CanSat course! By now, you’ve gone from learning the basics of hardware and software to building and testing your own satellite. This final review isn’t just about making sure everything works—it’s about reflecting on how far you’ve come and what you’ve learned.
Congratulations on getting through the CanSat NeXT course! Was there something you found challenging? Did you find a typo? Anything else? Please let me know, this is the best way to improve the materials. Send me an email to samuli@kitsat.fi about the materials here, the kit, or just to say hi.
This concludes the lessons for now. You can find more information about using CanSat NeXT from the other Arduino examples, our blog and the software and hardware documentation. If you got this far, I would love to hear your feedback and ideas regarding CanSat NeXT and these materials, so don't hesitate to contact me at samuli@kitsat.fi.