AGH Space Systems Team Best in World!

---

Students representing AGH UST achieved historic success at the largest and most prestigious international academic satellite technology competition. At the 2015 CanSat Competition held between 12 and 14 June in Texas, USA, AGH Space Systems Team beat 59 other teams from the whole world and won first place!

 

Students representing “Cyborg” Student Research Association (Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics at AGH UST) debuted at the contest organised by the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in collaboration with the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and NASA. The AGH Team was the only one to represent Poland during the event. AGH Space Systems made their way to the finals achieving spectacular scores throughout the competition: in the quarterfinals conducted by NASA specialists, our students scored 97,6% while in the semifinals (called “Critical Design Review”) the jury awarded the team an astonishing 99,2%. Following such excellent results, the team was invited to take part in the finals held at Burkett, Texas, USA, where they turned out to be in a class of their own, leaving all international competitors far behind.

 

The purpose of the event is to design simulation of a planetary probe mission through a planetary atmosphere, with simultaneously collecting comprehensive telemetric data during the fall. In the finals, the team of young constructors faced the challenge of presenting the possibilities offered by the probe they had designed. The probe, after being transported by a rocket to an altitude of 1 km, would collect planet and atmosphere data. The rocket used by AGH Space Systems was constructed by the Polish Rocket Association.

 

The planetary probe contained high-precision instruments for measuring altitude, temperature inside as well as ambient temperature, flight and stabilization parameters, power levels and the fall angle. All the data were sent to a ground station by means of radio modules. The measuring instruments were placed in a glass fibre casing, which also contained a parachute and a protective capsule with an extremely delicate test load – an egg (extra points to be awarded for delivering the intact egg back to the Earth).  

 

In the Texas finals the AGH UST team beat 59 other teams from a number of countries including the US, Canada, India, Great Britain or Turkey (e.g. University of Toronto, Istanbul Technical University, University of Manchester, University of California or University of Michigan).

 

The team consists of 7 members: Adam Kurzak (team leader), Bartosz Postulka (mechanical construction), Bartosz Moczała (electronics), Jakub Rachucki (ground station), Robert Betka (air control system), Weronika Mrozińska (load safety system) and Tomasz Fuchs (mechanics and organisation). The team is supervised by Professor Tomasz Buratowski.

 

---