The CanSat book

«The CanSat book» is a compendium written by Andøya Space Education originating from work done in cooperation with Aalborg University (AAU) and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).  The information in The CanSat Book is intended to be at a level to fit use by students and teachers in secondary school.

CanSat is used actively by the ESERO Norway project in teacher training courses (Norwegian) and competitions (Norwegian).

The CanSat book content is arranged and written so that you, as a secondary school teacher or student can start without previous knowlegde in the field and get a feeling of mastering the kit as you read through the pages. For each of the different CanSat versions included in the compendium, we start by describing how to get your microprocessor board (Arduino or Teensy) and sensor board up and running, and we go through the primary mission.

In most competitions in Europe, including the yearly ESA European CanSat Competition, you have a standard primary mission which is equal to all participants. In addition to the primary mission, the teams also have to complete a secondary mission of their own choice. The secondary mission will only be touched slightly in this CanSat book, but as an example of a secondary mission, sections on how to include a GPS are included.

In The «CanSat Book», two different CanSat kits are described:

  • The AAU version 6.2 CanSat kit includes an analogue temperature sensor and a digital sensor package GY-91 and is based on an Arduino Uno.
  • The Andøya Space Education 2018 version CanSat kit is based on a Teensy 3.5 microprocessor and includes an analogue temperature sensor and a digital sensor package GY-91.

Read an introduction to CanSat and more about the different CanSat kits HERE.